What Is a Union Hiring Hall? The Dispatch System Explained

The dispatch system is how union work gets handed out. It is not random and it is not based on who knows who — at least not in the locals run right. It is based on a list.

THE OUT-OF-WORK LIST

When you sign the book at your local hall, you are placed on the out-of-work list. Calls come in from contractors. The dispatcher offers work to brothers in book order — Book 1 (home local members) first, then Book 2 (travelers from sister locals), and so on.

BOOKS

Book 1: home local members. Book 2: travelers from another local in the same international who have signed your hall's book. Some halls have a Book 3 or Book 4 for permit workers and other classifications. Read the local's bylaws — every hall is a little different.

ROLL CALL

Many halls hold a weekly or daily roll call. You show up in person, your name gets called, you confirm you are still looking. Miss two roll calls in a row in some halls and you go to the bottom of the list. Know the rules of the local you are dispatching out of.

TRAVEL

When your home local is slow, you can travel. Sign a sister local's book, get on their list, take whatever dispatches. Traveling brothers built this country. It is also where the interstate hours trap lives — see Chapter 9.