Union wages. Union protection. Union respect.
Union-only listings across the trades — pension, healthcare, and a wage floor that non-union shops can't touch. This guide breaks down real pay by experience level and what actually moves the number.
Union Trades
Union pay works differently than open-shop pay, and that difference is the entire point. Your wage isn't individually negotiated — it's set by your local's collective bargaining agreement, and it applies equally to every worker at your tier. BLS wage surveys only capture base hourly pay, which means published median wages for union-heavy trades consistently understate real union compensation once pension and annuity contributions are added.
Entry (Set by local wage scale) — union apprenticeship wage scales are published and fixed, not something you negotiate on day one.
Journey-Level / Experienced (Set by local wage scale) — full scale for your local, the same rate every journeyman in that local earns for that classification.
Master / Top End (Set by local wage scale + pension) — full scale plus employer pension and annuity contributions, which can add the equivalent of several dollars an hour in value beyond the wage itself.
Union pay isn't negotiated per-worker — it's set by the collective bargaining agreement your local negotiates, and it applies equally to everyone at your tier.
Union total compensation includes employer pension and annuity contributions on top of the hourly wage — often the equivalent of several dollars an hour in value BLS wage data doesn't capture.
Union apprenticeships (IBEW, UA, and others) follow a fixed, published progression — no guessing what your next raise looks like.
Wage scales vary significantly by geographic local — a journeyman's rate in one city's local can differ substantially from another's.
This guide describes the work editorially rather than using invented worker testimonials. In union trades, pay tends to move with demonstrable experience, harder-to-find skills, job conditions, geography, credentials where relevant, and the amount of responsibility you can take on safely.
Use the salary guide as context, then choose the path that actually fits you.
Build a role, location, experience and credential profile for possible employer matching.
Get Matched →Send Careers In Trades a structured hiring brief instead of a generic job-board post.
Submit a Hiring Need →Jobs In UnionTrades is one of 13 trade-specific sites in the Careers In Trades network.