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When several large projects in the Portland-metro area concluded around the same time in late 2014, more than 600 union electricians were left out of work. Now the region’s largest electricians union is finally ready to resume training new apprentices, after a full year without adding one.

Gary Young, business manager for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48 (4,500 members), said work has picked up and that he hopes to start taking applications for low-voltage and sound-and-communications apprentice electricians after Jan. 1. Last week, only eight apprentice electricians were 鈥渁vailable for work;鈥� the high was about 80 a year ago.

He and other union representatives said electricians sitting out a construction boom is just another example why the building industry is so hard to fathom.

鈥淲e had a good run for about five years,鈥� Young said. 鈥淭hen things slowed down. Now they’re looking more promising and we’re getting ready to get more people back to work.鈥�

Young referred to a string of large projects that began around the tail end of the Great Recession 鈥� data centers, TriMet‘s orange line and a massive expansion project at Intel‘s Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro. After work stopped, hundreds of union electricians were added to its out-of-work list, Young said. By this time, open-shop firms were already at work at many of the other big job sites around town.

Young said it’s not fair to ask someone to take months off while learning a trade.

鈥淲ith no work, there’s no need to bring on apprentices,鈥� said Drew Lindsey, Young’s counterpart for IBEW Local 280 south of the Portland area.

The demand for electricians was so great at Intel’s campus, Lindsey and many others from Local 280 traveled to work on the project. Then, suddenly, it was over.

鈥淭hat left a lot of people scrambling,鈥� Lindsey said. “But in time this will all work itself out and people will go where they need to go.鈥�

Under the Taft-Hartley Act, the cost of training apprentices must be split evenly between management and labor unions. Tim Gauthier is executive manager of NECA, the management arm of the local electrical trade, with 110 contractors represented. He said there are 鈥渘o guarantees鈥� that an apprentice will roll through training unimpeded, even during a construction boom like the one Portland is experiencing.

鈥淚t’s a funny cycle we go through,鈥� he said.

Nike is preparing for a large expansion project, and other work exists on the horizon as well, union reps said. They expressed confidence that work at Intel’s campus will resume soon. Outfitting high-tech production facilities can keep a lot more electricians busy for a long time.

鈥淭he industry is really waiting for that one to come back,鈥� Gauthier said.

Intel spokeswoman Chelsea Hossaini said construction at the Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro is 鈥渙ngoing through 2015,鈥� but declined to provide specifics about work stoppages. She said the company doesn’t favor union labor over open-shop, but rather relies on a variety of contractors.

Up-and-down is just the nature of the building industry, and contractors always structure their crews based on current needs, according to John Mohlis, executive secretary of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council. Managing the rolls of a large labor union is made more challenging by a need to constantly train new members through lengthy apprenticeships.

鈥淚t’s not a perfect science,鈥� he said.

According to Mohlis, while electricians were hit hard by the slowdown at Intel, other trades were not. Likewise, electricians weren’t hit as hard by the completion of TriMet’s orange line, which he said disproportionately affected general labor unions, cement workers and bridge builders.

With the average wage for electricians falling between $30 and $40 per hour, the trade keeps attracting people, according to Young. But because of uncertainties embedded in the industry, apprentices must be flexible. Young, for one, is trained as a wildland firefighter; he plies the trade during the occasional long spells between jobs.

鈥淓verybody works as long as they can, when they can,鈥� he said.