Trade School or Union? 🤔 #shorts

[arwel]

Apprenticeships teach the correct way not the fast way

[bengman]

I went through the union electrical apprenticeship and I'm glad I did. Welding may be different, but a trade school 2-year in electrical teaches the basics of code and theory. Plus you still need 6000 working hours (2000 credit for trade school) to become a journeyman. That's 5 years total. And you have to pay for that schooling.

I'm the union, you earn while you learn, and in my case, I got a raise to join the apprenticeship. 5 years later, I was making 50 bucks an hour on the check plus about 35 bucks an hour of benefits. Not bad...

[ryangrnya]

Retirement, medical benefits, no job searching and having a union to advocate for your pay, safety, and overall treatment from employers.

[edhcb]

That pension is HUGE! It’s the difference between retiring in your fifties when those aches and pains are unbearable Vs. potentially never retiring!

[dash]

I get the sense this guy isn’t the biggest on unions, but anyone out there who has an option please go the apprenticeship path. He talks about making that money immediately but not about you having to pay for your own benefits from your hourly wages as well as although you know how to do a task out of school you don’t necessarily have real working experience so your employer is still going to low ball you. Do not work 30+ years of your life and end up with a shit pension, go union apprenticeship if given the opportunity.

[mholly]

Each method has its pros and cons. Trade school is quick relatively speaking compared to a union apprenticeship, however in an apprenticeship your going to get full union benefits and start banking hours towards your pension. Think long long term. The older you get the sweeter those benefits and pension start looking

[dergadergaful]

Not in Cali, welders here typical make 25/hour non union. In my union we make 57/hour wage and 89/hour whole package with the 401+ medical+dental+ 2 pensions

[Mr_Gray_]

Apprenticeships don’t rush the training. Plus, they might make less in the beginning, but once they’re a journeyman, it’s big bucks 💰 💰

[TheJustReyes]

100% do an apprenticeship. Not necessarily through the union, but trade school guys don’t know anything. I did mine through a small shop that taught me everything. 5 years later, 120k base salary

[Indig]

My dad was a welder wanted me to go in the trade. Showed me how to stick weld with tungsten. He wanted me to get an apprenticeship and get the journeyman. Because it’s at that point your qualifications can give you opportunities for better positions. I know a guy who had somebody else paid for courses for welding and never even showed up or even tried. Sure. Sure wish I had some kind of opportunity like that.

[bsemwki]

Unions are good, but the sad thing about it is your laid off a lot more! You do want a better wage with the union and you do get retirement benefits, but you’re only allowed to work only union jobs! I’ve had family members work in the union and there were sometimes they were out of work six months at a time

[mikeingeorgia]

I spent just about my entire career in a union. Some a-hole that started the week before you did will ALWAYS have better assignments, better off days and better vacations than you EVER will, simply because he started working there slightly before you did. Whether or not you’re a good worker is irrelevant.

[Quickstop]

Unions are harder to get into… more work equals more pay. Here’s the thing the pay will always be the same union vs non union give or take a few dollars but at the end of a 10 year career path one is making 33.50 and the other is making 33.50 with a pension full heath dental vision and annuity so really union is 50 and non union is more like 37.50 it’s a big difference it’s honestly on average probably a 40-60 percent differential

[brysonpresley]

In union pipefitting at least if you can weld you get paid journeyman scale in your apprenticeship.

[humbertomacias]

6 months in at on my hvac union apprenticeship. I make 28 hourly take home and with OT it takes my check to 14-1500 after taxes. Journeymen make close to 49 and industrial starts at 55. Most guys that are good are paid over scale. It's very true about knowing somebody. It's hard to get into the union, I waited 8 months just to get the call and I knew the higher ups at the shop I was assigned to.

[bobrat]

Union pays you to learn, trade school is $10 grand for a 2 year associate degree.
Union starts you at 55% full wage and you get a 12% raise every year for 4 years. You do get top notch benefits after your 90 day probation. 95-5 health insurance great for a working family.
I'm making what I took home when I was working.
as a retired Union Journeyman
With free health care.

[unionmoney]

I’m glad you even brought this up you forgot to mention medical dental and vision insurance. In my local you get it as soon as you start and you and your family are covered. No out of pocket. UA local 469 till the wheels fall off.

[gswoztq]

At my local, apprentices can learn to weld on their time unless they want to turn out as a welder journeyman, you can make journeyman scale as an apprentice if you get certified through the union

[ENCAGED]

I definitely agree with this. It’s all situational. Can you afford to go through an apprenticeship? Can you afford to pay for school on top of your bills? I luckily got into USW as a utility worker, worked every hour of available OT I could until a position in the trades opened up. It was a two year program that included 10, 40 hour modules of classroom/lab theory plus a 12-16 week course on welding. All based on what we do to keep a steel mill running. Ten years later, I’ve learned a lot, with still so much to learn. I’m grateful for the opportunity I received, but as I look back, I wish I had taken up a trade like welding on my own. You don’t realize how much money you can make and save with proper welding knowledge alone. Good luck to all the future welders and tradesmen out there! In a world wrapped around computers, our skills are needed more than ever and companies are paying more than ever to fill those positions.

[phillipborbon]

Actually, union members usually get paid higher, not always, but usually, especially at the end when you reach journeymen. When I worked in sheet metal, I had no training and low pay, and union members made a couple of dollars more with training.