This is the Sparky Life! With your host, Lia Lamela; today, when Trade Tales continue.
To join the union, to not join a union: this question is asked often with anyone who is interested in getting into trades work, and unfortunately there is no right answers. I wish I could just magic wand, and see into the future, and say, “okay for you: union is best option; for you, non union is best option”, but there's, not too realistic. I do not have a trade fairytale powers, although I'd like to believe I do.
So basically, I'm going to break down for you some pro and cons of union and non union.
Alright, let's begin with unions. So they're supposed to represent the best interests of the workers. Unions will negotiate with contractors on your behalf to receive higher pay, and on average union pay is 11.2% higher typically than non union counterparts. Unions offer benefits like pensions and retirement and health care coverage. They ensure safe workplaces, they provide job security. Unions claim that their apprenticeship programs are superior, and that the level of job performance and craftsmanship is higher than non union apprenticeship.
One of the particular things I love about unions is that there is a strong culture of brotherhood and sisterhood; being a team and the camaraderie. Sounds great, right? Well, hold on. There are disadvantages to joining a union.
Unions are a bureaucracy. They are rigid and regulated. And there wouldn't be anything wrong with structure and rules and regulations, except they're not progressive, and they maintain old beliefs. And even though some of those beliefs have been proven poor practice, the good old boy mentality is still strong with the unions and they refuse to let go of old practices. Unions, although originally intended to be run and organized by the workers, the voice of the people, a lot of unions unfortunately have developed into big business unions, or what union workers described as some locals being rat locals. A rat local, or, like a union that's big business, basically presents as though they have the workers best interests at heart; however, the imperial structure provides the organization to be run by a select few in power, and unfortunately, favor the contractors and don't really support the workers. How did some of these unions get this way? Well, with us humans, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Now, in order to provide all of these great benefits and pensions, that's just not given to you. You must pay for it out of your pocket with the union dues. Not only are you paying typically annual union dues, but they also do quarterly. Unions also have an old school mindset that promotions should be based off of seniority, and a lot of the training programs are geared towards having whatever trade you're in being like a jack of all trades and master of none. So like, if you're in a plumbing union, you learn all different types of plumbing. If you're an electrical union, you learn all different types of electrical. And there are several different fields within each trade that specialize. Now, by creating workers that are jack of all trades is valuable to the union because they can throw you out (manpower) to any contractor they like. However, that does not benefit the individual at all. The most successful journeymen and journey women that I have seen in the trades maneuvered themselves into positions where they end up specializing, which made them indispensable and highly regarded. Contractors really wanted those specialists. So obviously, it's increased their value.
All right. What about non union workplaces? Well, if unions are focused more on the community, non union work places are focused more on the individual. In a non union environment, the benefits, safety and workplace are solely dependent on the culture of the company. Find a great contractor, and you'll enjoy the fruits of that environment. However, these contractors are few and far between. In a non union, you're not required to pay any dues, potentially boosting your take home pay, which is nice.
So I just want to clarify about pay regarding union and non union. More often than not, if you're a part of a union, your hourly wage is going to be higher than a non union. However, you will have dues taken out of your pay. In a non union, you're not having dues taken out of your pay, so you might have more to take home. But it's probably going to be a less hourly salary than if you were a part of a union. So you need to kind of keep that both in mind when you're considering. And I definitely would recommend that you check out your area because every state is different. Every town is different. Some towns have a stronger presence of unions, some towns don't. So it's important to know what's in your area so you can compare. As non union worker, you can get more freedom and less restrictions, the contractors tend to be more progressive. Some of the disadvantages of a non union are typically because it's less regulated, workplace environment can be questionable, unsafe. And if the environment is focused on the individual, any challenges regarding your rights are going to be a lot harder to fight as opposed to being in a group coming together, fighting for your rights. There is always more power in numbers. But as I originally said, a lot of this depends on the culture of the company. It comes down to what works best for you. If you want something that's more structured, and has a militant style, with guaranteed equal pay, as well as your path to a journeyman, journey woman license mapped out for you, I'd go union.
And if you'd like more information about being in a union, or what the structure of a union looks like, I highly recommend you check out the Carmyn Stanko interview. She's an electrician for over 40 years, and union organizer, that will definitely give you some more information on unions. But if you want to be paid by your merit and work ethic, if you have a desire to specialize and hone your skills in a particular aspect of your chosen trades, find a great company who will invest as much in you as you will be investing in them and go non union, with the knowledge that getting your journeyman journey woman's license will be primarily up to you. You're gonna have to do a lot of the work and planning and studying of becoming a journeyman on your own time. Both paths are valid. All you need to do is find the right path for you.
Thank you for joining us. If you felt a spark in today's episode, I invite you to write a review. I'd love to hear what lit you up. Take what resonates with you. And if you'd like to hear more of the Sparky Life, please subscribe, like, follow and share. Until next time, create the sparks in your life.