What am I missing here? Why do people even bother with privately owned shops? I went through the 4 year IEC program, turned out and have been part of a shop for a little over 5 years, 1 year as a journeyman. The other day I ran into some Union workers on the job and they sold me pretty hard.
Right now I'm getting severely underpaid and our shop has put a halt on all pay raises. Not only that but I make $7.50 less than my local union. On top of that I pay $60/week for health insurance. My company matches 401k but they take the $ out of our bonus pot. So you can hardly even call it "matching". There is no pension. No matter what it is regular pay unless I'm 40+ over. So if I'm not at 40 yet and I'm working on a holiday at 3am in the morning you best believe it's straight pay.
The pros are that I do have a van and a gas card, and my company does keep me busy with 40-45 hours a week. That's been consistent even through the rough times we're going through with covid. We are basically a service shop, we don't do any ground ups. I like the work, I don't get stuck bending pipe for 2 months straight, or changing out lamps and ballasts all day. The work I do is something new every job.
What am I missing though, why would anyone join a private shop? Did the Union guys lie to me just to show off the incredible benefits they told me they have... Anyone know the local benefits of joining the Union in the Houston area? I'm just so blown away at how night and day different Union and private shops are, am I thinking correctly? Did I join a cheap private shop? It's the only one I've been a part of so I can't really compare it to anything else.
**Using a throwaway account, would like to stay anonymous. Some of my co-workers be coming on here.
Right now I'm getting severely underpaid and our shop has put a halt on all pay raises. Not only that but I make $7.50 less than my local union. On top of that I pay $60/week for health insurance. My company matches 401k but they take the $ out of our bonus pot. So you can hardly even call it "matching". There is no pension. No matter what it is regular pay unless I'm 40+ over. So if I'm not at 40 yet and I'm working on a holiday at 3am in the morning you best believe it's straight pay.
The pros are that I do have a van and a gas card, and my company does keep me busy with 40-45 hours a week. That's been consistent even through the rough times we're going through with covid. We are basically a service shop, we don't do any ground ups. I like the work, I don't get stuck bending pipe for 2 months straight, or changing out lamps and ballasts all day. The work I do is something new every job.
What am I missing though, why would anyone join a private shop? Did the Union guys lie to me just to show off the incredible benefits they told me they have... Anyone know the local benefits of joining the Union in the Houston area? I'm just so blown away at how night and day different Union and private shops are, am I thinking correctly? Did I join a cheap private shop? It's the only one I've been a part of so I can't really compare it to anything else.
**Using a throwaway account, would like to stay anonymous. Some of my co-workers be coming on here.