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I was recently laid off from a job I really thought would help me land the career in marketing/PR/communications that I thought I always wanted. A friend of mine noticed my plight and suggested that I join an apprenticeship program through our local union to go into pipe-fitting. I welded in high school so I understand what the buttons and knobs do. My question is. What is Pipe-fitting actually like? At this point I know you use math (especially fractions) a lot to determine pipes and whatnot and i know the pay is pretty drat good. beyond that I know nothing.
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Jun 24, 2015 19:06
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:39 |
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Pipe fitting is in a dying breed of legitimate union labor jobs. I come from a long line of boilermakers and worked as one for a while on permit. Unionized grocery workers seems silly to me but in this sort of labor field it's a huge deal. The level of protections and benefits are pretty unparalleled compared to other areas of the workforce. I can't speak for pipefitting directly, but boilermaking had a few caveats that were pros or cons depending how you looked at it. True Hourly pay: This means you get paid for what you work. Overtime is 1.5x, holidays can be 2x. Slow periods where the business agent cant find enough work: 0x. Flexible locations/hours: Some boilermakers found steady 40hr work at a single location and built careers around it. Some 'preferred' to work back-to-back 12 hour emergency shifts on weekends and make a weeks worth of pay in 2-3 days gaming the overtime rules. Most people went where the work was, worked what the hours were. This entailed living out of hotels for weeks/months at a time and often having weeks/months off. There are subtleties to these preferences. There is cronyism and politics at the union local. There are people that know what jobs are available through the grape vine and screen their phone calls to dodge jobs they don't want. Pension: Pensions are awesome for security. Really. But the downside is it dies with you and your spouse beyond meager death benefits. You should supplement with private investment if you intend to leave meaningful inheritances to anyone. Insurance: Good policies (medical dental vision life) that cover the entire family. Dues: You pay for the privileges of the union, but you also pay for the bullshit politics of the union. I'd ask around at the local if you know anyone and get the full lowdown over some beers. Coming from non-union work could be a big shocker as far as deductions and union decisions go. Your reps are elected, but they can make life hell for everyone and sell people out for a revolving door to government politics or lobby groups. It happens. Grievances: You work for the union. You are hired and fired by the union. The union probably isn't a friendly open-door-policy HR route. Unions in many cases are a bit rough and tumble and you'll probably have to swallow a lot of poo poo that would normally be an enforceable issue in an regular environment. If the job site you are essentially being pimped out to has dickhead bosses, you keep your mouth shut and tell your foreman. This is all anecdotal and it's all second hand from family discussions. I'm interested to see how others view it. I am super pro-labor to the max but honest to God a union job isn't right for everyone for a variety of reasons. I wouldn't join until you've really thoroughly reviewed the pros/cons.
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Jun 24, 2015 19:27
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BossRighteous posted:crazy anti-union stuff internal union bullshit is no worse then the bullshit at any other job. If you don't believe that read the TPS thread. Being a pipe-fitter is a pretty good job and depending on your area you can spend your life working in the same plant 9-5 with crazy good call in money. it all depends on your mechanic skills and if you can put up with a bunch of racist old fucks teaching you stuff for 4 years.
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Jun 24, 2015 19:33
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sbaldrick posted:internal union bullshit is no worse then the bullshit at any other job. If you don't believe that read the TPS thread. I don't know where you got that I was being crazy anti-union. I was just passing along things I have heard from union family members for my entire life. I am pro union, but would advise anyone to look into what it actually entails? Sorry if I got anything wrong but I was just talking about possibilities and second hand anecdotes and invited others input. That's pretty rational to me.
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Jun 24, 2015 19:44
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BossRighteous posted:I don't know where you got that I was being crazy anti-union. I was just passing along things I have heard from union family members for my entire life. I am pro union, but would advise anyone to look into what it actually entails? Sorry if I got anything wrong but I was just talking about possibilities and second hand anecdotes and invited others input. That's pretty rational to me. I've reported you to the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution.
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Jun 26, 2015 20:10
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sbaldrick posted:internal union bullshit is no worse then the bullshit at any other job. If you don't believe that read the TPS thread. I don't think he's being "crazy anti-union." He's correct that union politics can be rockier than politics in the average workplace. But I think a big part of that is just that the prospective worker/union member will be spending most of their time around blue collar folks, who tend to be a little rougher around the edges. Comparing a union pipe-fitting job with a nonunion office job is going to be apples-to-oranges in a variety of ways.
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Jun 28, 2015 01:06
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They do make pretty good money, I'd say go for it.
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Jun 28, 2015 13:24
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:39 |
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Vox Nihili posted:I don't think he's being "crazy anti-union." He's correct that union politics can be rockier than politics in the average workplace. But I think a big part of that is just that the prospective worker/union member will be spending most of their time around blue collar folks, who tend to be a little rougher around the edges. Comparing a union pipe-fitting job with a nonunion office job is going to be apples-to-oranges in a variety of ways. Go read the TPS reports, really just Sundae's posts and union politics seems nice and cheerful.
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Jun 29, 2015 16:17
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