Is becoming a union carpenter a good career move?

[Michael Yadfar]

Right now I'm at a job I got out of college working as an operator at a titanium factory. It's a decent job, pays better then my major, and people that work there awhile make pretty good money, but I'm looking for something better still. I'm hoping to continue doing something blue collar.

My friends Dad is best friends with someone from the carpentry union, I think he said their top recruiter, and he said all I need is to give him my resume and I'll get in as a tier 1 carpenter. I'm not sure which union, but I'm in the Philadelphia area. I was curious about whether becoming a union carpenter is a good thing or not, my friends dad made it sound pretty good but he's never been one himself. I've read forums online where people were saying there were a lot of layoffs and union carpenters don't make much more money then non union.

I guess I could probably interview with the union and find out exactly what their career opportunities are, and ask about layoffs, but I was just curious from someone with first hand experience. BTW, I've done a lot of carpentry work, but never had any formal training in carpentry past high school or done any major work in the trade.

[Mike Henderson]

I'm not a carpenter nor worked in the trades. I have a couple of friends who are electricians and plumbers. In talking to them, their problem is feast or famine. When construction is going well, they have more work than they can do but when construction is off, they have real problems, not knowing where their next check is coming from.

If you have a good, steady job with above average wage potential, I'd stick with that if you think the company will be around for the long term.

The other thing my friends complain about is physical limitations as they get older. It gets harder and harder to climb and get into the places where they have to to do their jobs. And for almost all of us, as we get to about age 50 age discrimination starts to play a bigger factor in our ability to get a job.

Mike

[Frederick Skelly]

I'm not a carpenter nor worked in the trades. I have a couple of friends who are electricians and plumbers. In talking to them, their problem is feast or famine. When construction is going well, they have more work than they can do but when construction is off, they have real problems, not knowing where their next check is coming from.

If you have a good, steady job with above average wage potential, I'd stick with that if you think the company will be around for the long term.

The other thing my friends complain about is physical limitations as they get older. It gets harder and harder to climb and get into the places where they have to to do their jobs. And for almost all of us, as we get to about age 50 age discrimination starts to play a bigger factor in our ability to get a job.

Mike

+1 on everything Mike said.

[Andrew Hughes]

I'm a union Carpenter 2361 fully vested.Im really a roofer but they made us join the Carpenters Union because we still did shingle side walls and shakes once and a while.
It has a good side some job sites can be very nice to work at.And the bad ones dont last forever I had very good health coverage vacation pay and if your in with a good crew there's plenty of side jobs for slow times.
Its a good honest way to make a living working with your hands.
I owe my great handtool skill from useing them everyday hammers,knives,saws.
See my handsawen Dts.

[Rich Colvin]

John Ratzenberger, the actor who played Cliff Clavin on "Cheers", recently was on the Fine Woodworking podcast talking about how his carpentry skills enabled him to have a good fall-back whenever acting jobs weren't plentiful.

[roger wiegand]

I've managed (as the incoming tenant) a number of union commercial construction jobs and had quite a bit of chance to talk with the guys working on the jobs. They generally seemed very happy with their jobs, could afford nice trucks and fishing boats, and had good benefits. The typical 6:30am to 2:30pm workday got them out of commute traffic and home in time to do something else, coach soccer and baseball, etc. Lots of the guys on our jobs were in their 50's at least. I've encouraged my kids to consider such a career, to no avail.

I've also found the union guys to be uniformly competent, hard working, and productive. It seems that quality work is much less of a crapshoot with the union trades.

We're in a construction boom that has been pretty well continuous for most of the last 30 years, the picture may well be different elsewhere.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have come into install drug store equipment for both union and non union jobs. Some are better then others. Had one job in Chicago where I came from installing a store in West Virginia and a union carpenter said I bet you are happy to be on a union job those scabs don't know what they are doing. I looked at him and said that the store I just came from had less problems and better workmanship than this one.