$35/hr non union tradie job but pay cap is mid 40s if you can work your way up

Vs.

Starting a 5 year apprentice ship in a union starting at $18hr with half year $1 raises and topping out at 56/hr after apprenticeship is over with

At your current age

union strictly from bargaining power. More likely you will get better benefits and pension and in the long run that is a massive difference. Take the 5 years at lower pay to learn financial discipline and then you'll be better prepared when you make the big bucks. Too many tradies go out and buy a big new truck and then in a few years they're still living paycheck to paycheck with maybe a boat in the front yard and a fishing trip once a year.

Is the apprenticeship the path to the same qualification?

I would do that and then start your own business

Qualified tradies here charge whatever they feel like and their tax planning opportunities are far superior to wagecels

Pension, benefits, bargaining power holds its weight
Eating chit for 4-5 years not so great

I did the math and in 10 years, the earnings without overtime would be about the same ($7xx,xxx)
But that doesnt take into account union benefits and such , or potential raises for non union

It a slightly different trade (fire alarms)

The apprenticeship is for electrician is harder on the body and ofc very risky versus the non union trade

I can start my own business / side hustle with the non union trade as well but I wouldnt say I know everything atm

At my age, as your question proposed... neither. I'm in my deep 30's and none of that pay is worth beating my body up. But I'm a white collar brah with a bad back from heavy deads.


Go union dude. Right now there are tons of good paying jobs for blue collar folks, but that won't last forever. When the well dries up in 5-10 years the non union guys that made made 50/hr will be fighting for jobs that pay 30% less and will have to contend with more immigrants than ever. Jose and Javier will work more hours for less pay in worse conditions than you would ever consider.

The union employees however, will have steady employment, good benefits, and consistent raises and overtime.

I grew up with a largely blue collar Midwest family with folks working HVAC, Carpenter, auto mechanic, building maintenance, electrician, etc.... and have seen it play out a few times for both union and and non union... with my own family.

If you plan to start your own business, then by all means, take advantage of the desperate need for workers and get the experience at the higher pay... just make sure you're stashing away to start that business.

If you want steady employment and long-term options then take the opportunity with the union. 10 years ago my friends that didn't go STEM were desperate to get into unions and many didn't and got fcked. It'll come back around.

Just lol @ being a non union tradie.


You literally get paid more, work less with a union.
Plus you can tell your boss to F off and not get fired.

Traqdies like my food

Is this a serious question?

Dedsrs
Damn
That sounds good

ask primarisin

5 years..

This must be ibew

The apprenticeship is no joke. I'm not quite sure why it doesn't get the advertising college does but it's arguably harder

You're going to class (forceably) every week (at least where I am) and working 40 hours. Its not like youre playing patty-cake at work either sitting ar a desk..Commutes can be long. The schooling, while not the hardest.. getting to DC or ac theory.. I wouldn't put on par with a deep analytic class but it's def harder than your pre-reqs in college

They're very strict on attendance and class so it's not like you can just blow school off

Have to maintain a certain grade %. Journeyman can grade you on work reports. Have to report your hours

You can't fib any of this chit

That being said.. I've worked both. The union electricians should run circles around non. Like it's not even close.... the amount of training has got to be quadruple because of aforementioned

Union will have a decent grasp of theory whereas non could have none

And the benefits and pension are better

If I had to do it over again I would do union first

You eat chit for a while but in the end you're making good money, have better training, retirement mostly taken care of and can literally call up any city in the United States and ask them for work and work there

I think it depends on how old you are. If you are younger, then you'd need to look at years 11+ when you'll be making $20,000+/year more than you'd be making as non-union.

Just so you know..

The ibew is struggling for Journeyman ALREADY

That forbodes well for wages going forward

BUT they're currently in talks about restructuring the whole program. This is the njatc so it's not specific locals. In other words, this speaks for the entirety of the ibew

They're wanting to shorten the program to churn out more Journeyman

They're wanting to change it to 4 years. What this means is that at each level the wage increase should be more

BUT it's less overall training. And that's the chit They're trying to figure out right now

It's probably going to happen

Damn I hope so
My biggest fear is getting rejected for the apprenticeship
My second biggest fear is not being dialed in for the full 5 years with attendance, school work grading
Like youve said, I cant fib any of this
Ive been fibbing all my life
My plan is to study and test for the njatc math so I can at least get into the program

my $0.02. join the union and stay in just long enough to complete the apprenticeship, work as a JW or master etc, to get whatever is required by your jurisdiction to get a contracting license, then leave and start your own business.

unless you're a deadbeat, there's no reason to stay in the union after that as everyone makes the same wage regardless of how good or bad you are.

I'm 36 not going to do that now

Union though it depends on how good the local union actually is tbf

The electrical union is scummy where I am and most of the union guys are laid off 6-8 months out of the year after they hit about 4th year

If the hall isn’t wormy and actually run right with a good amount of work … union all the way

I wouldn’t do a trade in todays economy though

You’re wrecking your body to still not be able to afford to live with Inflation and have to constantly work with literal pieces of ****

Plus a recession is coming …..

I can’t think of any city where 56/$hr is enough to live on your own

When you get to retirement age

You'll Wish you joined the union

Apprenticeship all day long. I'm a month away from 30 years as a union pipefitter and I highly recommend it. Started as an apprentice and never regretted it for a minute

The aptitude test isn't very hard

I had come from trade school, so I thought I had been exposed to what would be on the test but....nah

It was all algebra. Thank fuk I skimmed over some algebra, but that is all I did

I took the elevator union aptitude test as well and that was a little harder because it had physics and hydraulics in it

Not exactly sure where I placed on the list but I got a call like a month after my interview

The whole process can take a while

Yea, the apprenticeship is pretty strict. It's all a curriculum from njatc. So even if you're friends with the teacher... they're following the curriculum. So like when the time comes for your hands on test.. They're not really lenient. They have the guidelines from the njatc

You fuken stand by your board and they take a picture of it

There are lots of standards everywhere