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Anyone here in the union trades? Would you like to be? Let's talk shop!
I'm a journeyman crane operator. I want to talk with people who are looking for a change, or folks that have already done it. Organized labor has long been a old white dudes club, young and diverse people joining already established labor unions helps in the fight against economic injustice. Let's talk about it.
I've literally never had a union job. My two main requirements for my ideal job would be:
And I just don't know how to find that.
Well, everyone's reprehensibility slider is different. But, if you're not too old or too horribly out of shape, and you don't live in the bible belt, a union apprenticeship could be a good route. Mine took three years. Aside from my union dues and a minimal fee to sign up, I got paid to receive an education I doubt I could purchase anywhere else. I started around 22 an hour, then around 27, then 33, and now about 40 an hour, lots of overtime. My partner is in a different trade, and between the two of us we make about 170k a year.
If you'd like some resources, send me a PM and I can do what I can to help.
I've been curious about transitioning away from my IT job into a trade. Most curious about electrical and HVAC.
Any tips for beginning this transition? I can't really afford a pay cut, so I'd have to keep my existing job till I'd be qualified enough to sidestep.
Is part-time apprenticeship a thing?
Unfortunately, not really. At least not in my area. In any of the trades a 40 hour week is minimum, and 60+ is much more likely in times of plenty. If you join an apprenticeship you're generally expected to dive in feet first and dedicate yourself to it.
I'll be honest, I've heard the exact same words from a lot of people in my life that are struggling making 15-20 an hour, worried about a 2 dollar pay-cut when they would likely be doubling their hourly income, likely tripling their annual income from the overtime, in the span of 3-4 years. I personally made 97k in the last year of my apprenticeship, before even making my current journeyman wage. 100% worth some short term sacrifice.
Edit: If you decide you're interested in at least checking it out, google the website of the nearest IBEW (electricians) or Pipefitters/Steamfitters union for HVAC. "steamfitters union Sacramento" should get you the nearest union locals website, where they'll likely have a page on how to apply for an apprenticeship.
Which country you are referring to is vital. The trade union movements in each country varies massively and even within one industry there can be multiple trade unions that cover a trade.
On reddit it was common that post like this would assume everyone was American. I'd really like if tildes moved past that.
I'm a journeyman plumber in Local 502. No non-union company in our jurisdiction offers the pay or benefits that are provided to me by the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the local. It really is just that simple.
It's a beautiful thing sibling. My wife is also a UA member. Solidarity Forever!
I'm in Idaho, where unions are scarcer than hen's teeth, but I do occasional stagehand work alongside my law school studies, and I recently got hired on-staff at an on-campus performing arts center. The manager is an old union guy, so he runs staffing and pay basically according to union rules (shift minimums, strict breaks, etc.) for all, even part-time and student employees like me. It's refreshing, and a neat taste of what could/should be.
Manager sounds like a good hand. It has its ups and downs but I would never do what I do for a living without a union behind me.
I am a member of AFSCME. I have previously been involved with my local DSA branch. If you are looking to start organizing and need some help, I would recommend reaching out to your local DSA branch or the IWW. If there's a particular pre-existing union you think would cover your workplace, you could reach out to them. Good luck!
I was not unionized, but a tradesmen, cable guy, electrician, plumber.
In theory, I fully support workers organization. In practice, I’m skeptical of unions.
This skepticism is partly due to my desire to get things done, so I like tondo whatever needs to be done on the job, regardless of trade, and unions can get in the way of that.
I was working electrical on a job once, and a friend of mine walked behind me and said in a low voice, “you got your union card son?” I nearly shit my pants, and i’m in a right to work state. And then there’s the story about a friend of mine’s uncle, who had a carpenter union job whose role was to go to every site and destroy any non-union carpentry, even temporary structures made to support a plumbing or masonry project, and also regardless of damage or safety risks.
So long as the fraternity is international and cross trade, I’m all in. But when it gets to be aboit seniority and trade v trade, I’m out.
So, the reason the union building trades have "jurisdiction" over the work of their trade is to protect their work from scabs. So, myself, being a union crane operator, if I caught a laborer or carpenter in my crane, I would be taking pictures of him in the rig, asking for his card, and making a couple phone calls to have him sorted out. Who has vetted his licensing? Are they licensed? Even if the person is certified, do they have experience with the type of work they're approaching? My union provides that vetting.
When the combined trades are working well, they protect one another's work. If I see a fellow operator getting out of their seat to swing a hammer, they're stealing directly from the plate of a union carpenter. If the job needs another carpenter they should hire one. I would expect that carpenter to look out for my work just the same.
As far as the sabotage shit, sure, I've heard about it happening in the past. Its not the right way to do things. The right way to do things, is to organize your future brothers by showing them the reasons to organize. Like a six figure income, BCBS, and an actual pension. Yes, pensions still exist.
I guess that approach is Ok in large commercial settings, but it’s not helpful in all places in all times, even for the laborers.
For example, if I’m on a residential electrical repair and I need to get into a wall, it’s problematic to have to procure and wait on a carpenter to come open it up, possibly to have to be re-procured as troubleshooting leads to further needs, and then come repair after I’m done. An upper west side condo might can afford that, but it can easily quadruple or more job cost, no way am I doing that to a single mom in Albany.
Yeaaaah. Totally makes sense. I'm only speaking from a large commercial and infrastructure standpoint because that's the vast majority of what union tradespeople do. We aren't out fixing furnaces in apartment complexes. We're specialists, not generalists.
I appreciate this thread, simple as it is, for clarifying my opinion (for myself) on unions, which, I think I don't support trade or industry unions.
I am definitely strongly in support of workers, and of shoring up the labor demographic as a whole. I also think corporate power is wildly unrestrained, and needs swift and firm constriction. But I believe "scabs" are laborers, and people, too. The unions should work for all labor, not just members.
I think the priority should be restraint of corporate power and consolidation. Next should be universal healthcare and a robust social floor that provides a dignified standard of living for the very least among us. I'm not sure where the phrase originated, but it's a creed for me: from each according to their ability, to each according to their need. Union "jurisdictions" seem like they would interfere with that. And thinking about laborers "taking food from each others plates" just seems an unhealthy paradigm.
Harrison Bergeron is an important tale here. There are workers who take pride in their work, do excellent work across multiple trades, and who suffer at having to engage the additional overhead to ensure jurisdictional purity. They shouldn't be restrained, just because they can do more and want to do more. Divert some of their contribution to support the families of those who can't or have different priorities. But don't stop them.
I was a unionized Lab worker and we paid $200 total to have our first child, US based.
My grandfather was a rail union member and the union was great for his family.
I strongly support unions and I want to be involved somehow in helping people unionize, but I don’t know where to start.
I am currently a proud union member despite my job not being one typically associated with unions — I am a graduate student researcher covered by the UAW.
Good for you! I was UAW once. Most people in that shop had no idea what their union did for them, and had never been to a meeting. Your union is only as good for you as you are for it! Be proud and be involved.
Yup! We went on strike on November actually and secured decent raises along with some other (sorely lacking) protections. I don’t think we won as much as we could have, as the raises don’t even keep up with the cost of living for many of our members.
The ownership class takes away from us little by little, and sometimes that's the only way we can get it back. Keep up the good work sibling.