Chicago union electricians make $67/hr?! Holy Obama!

[JEDI]

http://www.chicagounionnews.com/2010/10/chicago-ibew-official-opposes-plan-by.html

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers plans to add a new grade of employees in between apprentices and journeymen. Known as construction wiremen or construction electricians, these workers would not be required to complete the union's standard training program and, as a result, would earn less pay than certified journeymen. The goal is to lower the overall cost of labor so that IBEW can remain competitive in the markets that are currently dominated by non-union labor.

Local 134 journeymen make roughly $67 an hour including benefits.
The construction wiremen would likely start at 40 percent of a journeyman's wage


$135k/yr?!

 

[vi edit]

Including benefits are the key words.

 

[theflyingpig]

lol. Unions. lol. There's no electrician who's skill is worth $67 an hour. Everyone knows this.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

sounds about right.

 

[techs]

Do they work full time? Or is it by the job?

And, if the benefits are a third of the 67, then if they work EVERY week in a year they make 93,600 a year.

So, basically, take your American worker hating shit elsewhere.

 

[Zebo]

Including benefits are the key words.

Exactly. Usually reduce that by 2/5ths to get real salary. ~$40 an hour. More the merrier I say. More people that make close to that the better I do. I didn't sell houses to bankers getting $120million dollar bonuses on tax payer dime but average joes. Demand sucks right now for all businesses because few have money to spend. Even wal-mart is hurting - Dollar stores are kicking ass though.

 

[vi edit]

Yeh, I can't really hate on electricians. Maybe the guys doing residential stuff. But the linesmen working for power companies get a pretty rough rub. They definitely earn their pay. It's dangerous, difficult, and a major toll on the family life if you get shipped out for weeks doing repairs.

But still, these guys work in some fairly dangerous environments and aren't guaranteed a paycheck from one week to the next.

 

[Zebo]

You need to check out Longbeach's long shoremen union. 250K yr is not out of bounds. I have more disdain for them aiding and abetting importing good from slave wage countries, race to bottom.

 

[her209]

Including benefits are the key words.

This.

 

[mmntech]

Including benefits are the key words.

This. LIUNA members who are experienced foremen don't even make that.

 

[Bignate603]

My father in law is a union electrician. This isn't like a guy wiring your house, he does factories, power plants, and similar things.

While his hourly rate sounds pretty high the amount that he has to live off of is pretty modest. He has to pay for his own tools, all his travel (his idea of a "good job" only takes an hour or two driving each way, often he has to live out of a motel for out of town jobs) and cover the amount of time that he's in between jobs which often can span a couple months, especially lately with the bad economy. He can make a living if there are decent construction projects but the recession made it quite rough.

 

[WelshBloke]

*Outrage*

*RAGE*

wait, does trickle down count here?

 

[manimal]

They need these wages to supply themselves with overalls. everyone knows this..

 

[Red Dawn]

Sounds about right.

 

[Bignate603]

They need these wages to supply themselves with overalls. everyone knows this..

Those overalls don't come cheap

 

[RPD]

Apparently you don't see the rest of the pay scale in construction..

 

[JEDI]

Apparently you don't see the rest of the pay scale in construction..

examples?

 

[RPD]

Well I do live in California, but when I'm estimating time for a service contractor to work on a chiller or start-up on a package unit, I'm estimating $125/hr in my jobs.

I've seen tables for the various construction titles from superintendent, foreman, journeymen etc and I know some go as high as $115+/hr.

 

[halik]

Yeh, I can't really hate on electricians. Maybe the guys doing residential stuff. But the linesmen working for power companies get a pretty rough rub. They definitely earn their pay. It's dangerous, difficult, and a major toll on the family life if you get shipped out for weeks doing repairs.

But still, these guys work in some fairly dangerous environments and aren't guaranteed a paycheck from one week to the next.

For dudes doing high voltage maintenance with all the climbing and stuff I can see 80K easily.

 

[Bateluer]

lol. Unions. lol. There's no electrician who's skill is worth $67 an hour. Everyone knows this.

The services of a skilled tradesmen are worth what someone will pay for them.

 

[halik]

The services of a skilled tradesmen are worth what someone will pay for them.

You might want to look up the economics behind a union...

 

[DrPizza]

My son is an apprentice right now. Sounds like a reasonable wage. This isn't wiring switches and outlets in your house - this is one mistake and you die type of work. They have to pay for a lot of their own equipment out of pocket - his climbing gear alone is around $1000. Plus, they ship the guys all over the place. One month he might be working in city A, then when that job's done, they ship him to city B 300 miles away for a few months. Try renting an apartment and tell them "sorry, can't sign a lease - I don't know if I'll be here for a year. In fact, I probably won't be here for a year." A lot of the guys live in motels. 10 degrees outside - he's up on the pole, exposed to the wind, working with live wires energized to 1000's of volts. A few weeks ago, they were putting in new poles crossing a swamp. A bit muddy of a job. As they put in new poles, they had to transfer the live wires from the existing poles to the new poles. You don't get to shut the power off to a village for a few hours. There's a shitload of training to get to that point.

Think you can install a new substation without years of experience? Go for it. One mistake... things go boom.

Including benefits... $67 an hour is reasonable.

Go to about 3 1/2 minutes in. He shows what happens if you get a pinhole in your gloves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQBZfcEJtLM

 

[Attic]

The services of a skilled tradesmen are worth what someone will pay for them.

Do you work for a union by chance?

 

[Attic]

My son is an apprentice right now. Sounds like a reasonable wage. This isn't wiring switches and outlets in your house - this is one mistake and you die type of work. They have to pay for a lot of their own equipment out of pocket - his climbing gear alone is around $1000. Plus, they ship the guys all over the place. One month he might be working in city A, then when that job's done, they ship him to city B 300 miles away for a few months. Try renting an apartment and tell them "sorry, can't sign a lease - I don't know if I'll be here for a year. In fact, I probably won't be here for a year." A lot of the guys live in motels. 10 degrees outside - he's up on the pole, exposed to the wind, working with live wires energized to 1000's of volts. A few weeks ago, they were putting in new poles crossing a swamp. A bit muddy of a job. As they put in new poles, they had to transfer the live wires from the existing poles to the new poles. You don't get to shut the power off to a village for a few hours. There's a shitload of training to get to that point.

Think you can install a new substation without years of experience? Go for it. One mistake... things go boom.

Including benefits... $67 an hour is reasonable.

Shit. Good perspective.

 

[Riceninja]

thats a lot of money for a blue collar worker. pretty bullshit