I work for a union contractor, and we are paid travel and shop rates...recieve no OT after 8 hours, Saturdays and Sundays are only time and a half IF you already have 40 hours.

Alot of guys are puzzled is this legal? Guys in the past who have asked the employer about this have sudenly been laid off, and with these times frankly people are too scared to stand up.

...recieve no OT after 8 hours, Saturdays and Sundays are only time and a half IF you already have 40 hours.

The only legal requirement under either federal or OH rules is the hours-worked-past-40-in-the-workweek rule.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs23.pdf

You mentioned that you are union. You may indeed have a contract with more requirements but there is no one on this website that has read your contract. What does your union say?

Poeple are nervous to even ask as their is speculation our owner is in tight with the main guy....is it true? Dont know for sure.

I guess I was hoping someone knew if these pay arriangments where normal, but as u said I guess it boils down to the contract.

Your union will have provided you with a copy of your CBA or it may even be online if the union or local has a dedicated site. The other person to ask about the provisions of the contract would the the shop steward.