welder a great job

By Paladin (***)

Date 01-06-2011 02:49

Yeah, what hurts worse look at who made 195.
Floyd

By dbigkahunna (****)

Date 01-06-2011 12:00 Edited 01-06-2011 12:03

A garbage collector rates 178. And a dishwasher is 167.
Based on this survey the average wage for a welder is $15.38 per hour.
I noticed in the top 50, not one of these categories was a category that BUILT anything.

By Paladin (***)

Date 01-06-2011 13:37

The Garbage Collector was 195 just ahead of Welder. Drillpress Operator was 178.

This info seems about as accurate as the Welder Shortage that was recently reported.
Floyd

By Platinumbased (**)

Date 01-07-2011 23:03 Edited 01-07-2011 23:05

Welder shortage. I had to laugh when AWS was pumping that line. We had a company place an ad for $15.00'hr welding jobs near me and they had to turn people away at the door. They got hundreds of applicants. Lots of "grey hairs" with 20 years experience showing up also. There is and never has been a welder shortage. The USA is flooded with welders.

There's also no shortage of CWI's, CWE's, NDT techs, etc. The market is flooded with them also and many experienced inspectors are out of work. Good luck competing with these guys when you get your CWI.

By Cumminsguy71 (*****)

Date 01-09-2011 02:46

When I was a mechanic they used that same line, "mechanic shortage" but rarely saw a shop that was hurting for mechanics, maybe hurting for good mechanics that actually knew how to fix something but not a lack of wrench turners.

By FixaLinc (****)

Date 01-06-2011 19:04

Worked for a city before and those guys made more than the rest of police & firefighters ! I never saw them licking flames or dodging bullets either !

By okwelder82 (***)

Date 01-06-2011 20:08

Top level pay is $51000 for a welder??????? Where are they getting there information?

By Blaster (***)

Date 01-06-2011 21:06

I think "Welder" info is usually quite misleading and/or unreliable as so many jobs that use "welders" do so by a different name... Pipe Fitter, Boiler Maker, Iron Worker, Pipe Liner, Sheet Metal Mechanic, Fitter, Fabricator, Steam Fitter, etc.

By Platinumbased (**)

Date 01-07-2011 23:24

I agree. But the sad fact is that many of these trades have seen the work dry up as well. Especially Ironworkers, Sheet Metal Mechanics and Boilermakers. It will take a massive construction and power industry boom to make these trades what they were even 10 years ago. Very little work out there.

By stanantonio Date 01-12-2011 00:42

I say letem keep thinking that and take the cream of the crop. Let em keep thinking I make 15k a year.

By Metarinka (****)

Date 01-09-2011 23:02

guess it depends on your definition of "good" job, some people like physical activity some people hate it. Also the company or industry can have a lot to do with it. I'm sure it's not as fun being an accountant for a failing business type like newspapers or blockbuster.

I went on into welding engineering as I think it combines the best of being a welder and of being an engineer.

By Platinumbased (**)

Date 01-07-2011 22:58

Plumber top pay at $49,000? I know lots of plumbers, both union and non-union and they make way more than $49,000. Most make an extra $20K per year just doing side jobs!

Welder salary is just about right if you are talking shop work. Even high end aerospace welders make around $50,000 a year, +/- $5,000 or so.
I've been in construction for many years and getting older. Trying to get some company to train me in the latest technolgy like orbital welding, EBW, etc is next to impossible. I'm worn out from sending resumes on the computer. I really feel that anyone entering the welding trade today needs to get a college degree in mechanical engineering, metalurgy, etc in order to make the big bucks. You can make good money travelling like a gyspy pipelining or rolling around in fly ash in a boiler house but you'll wear yourself out fast and technolgy will eventually leave you in the dust. Tough trade to break into and make it big. For every welder out there making over $75,000, there are probabaly a hundred or more making under $40,000/yr. There are better ways to make a living.

By joe pirie (***)

Date 01-09-2011 03:21

i believe their is a shortage of top quality welders who can do x-ray quality work. I don't think theres a shortage of junk yard type welders
that can weld two pieces of steel together in the flat position. If you can do xray quality work GTAW /SMAW here is always some where in the usa hireing.
just a year ago the steamfitters local 250 in Los Angeles was so hard up for quality welders they started a 16 week weld training program and trained
people right off the street lol im sorry but the average person with no weld experience cannot learn to weld xray quality pipe in 16 weeks. after 16 weeks
about 25 trainees took and passed the UA weld test 2"xxheavy tig root 7018 out. they all passed two days later they sent these welding wonders out to
the refinery where they were all given the same test all but 1 failed lol. sure made the local look bad. now then they took these wonderboys and made them third year apprentices jumping them ahead of there own who apprentices who had put in three years of work and school. i guess they were preparing them for
the ass xxavsfddhh! they had to look forward to working union.

By Platinumbased (**)

Date 01-09-2011 15:48

I hear you Joe. I've been a welder for over 25 years and it took at least 10 years working in numerous shops and factory settings before I became proficient. I left the factories and got into pipe and tube field construction. That's where I finally started making some money. 16 weeks of training gives you an entry level welder you can team up with an experienced guy in the field. It will be several years before they'll become real welders. There are exceptions of course. Some pick it up real fast, most do not. The younger guys I see in the field today are just there for the paycheck only. They could care less about craftsmanship and pride. Once the xrays start failing, they get laid off fast. I know....I sound like an old fart complaining about the youngsters.

By joe pirie (***)

Date 01-09-2011 23:51

from what ive seen one in ten wants to really learn to weld and that one usually has a dad or other relative in the trade
and they are very proud of every thing they learn. the other nine just go through the motionsbefore i left the steamfitters
the apprentices would start out with a class of 100 after 5 years about 35 would be left out of that 35 you might get
5 welders. there are few jobs for a fitter to travel to the local hands gobble them up, but if your a combo welder tig/stick
carbon/ stainless x ray quality theres work some where. illinois had a nation wide call just a couple months ago
local 364 in colton ca has 4 solar plants about to kick off and thetre gonna need a bunch of welders. the problem with these entry level
welders teaming up with an experienced guy is at least on as union job the contractor has to pay the same wages. if im a contractor
paying well over 50.00 an hr wages and benefits i want a man that can do the job not some hand they just picked up at home depot and taught to
weld in 16 weeks and dispatched as a journeyman welder . I know if it was my company id be looking folr another source of welders real quick
and the unions wonder why they don't have as much work as they use to lol .

By Platinumbased (**)

Date 01-10-2011 00:47

I hear you again Joe. The unions (which I am a member of) had better smarten up or they'll have no work at all.

It goes both ways when it comes to union members getting their children in the trades. I've seen some come in and become the best of the best.
I've seen others come in and think they are entitled to the position and become the worst slugs you've ever seen. They get promoted because of a family name but don't know squat. Either way, union trades need to change or they'll go the way of the dinosaur.

Union work is not what it once was. It's pretty ugly out there and the less work there is, the uglier it gets. The backstabbing and famliy/friends plan is causing serious friction. We're losing members left and right and these are not the kind of members you want to lose. The slugs stick around because they have no place to go. The Aces are leaving in droves. I'm still a member but don't work in the trade these days due to lack of work. Working in an unrelated field.

By 99205

Date 01-10-2011 01:37

Absolutely right on all points Platinum. I've seen straight up, good, qualified people laid off and and substandard buddies brought in. Makes me wonder how some of these businesses keep from going under.

By joe pirie (***)

Date 01-10-2011 12:03

100 % on the money i had a buddy got a call by name once because his last name was davies
Ba thought he was related to the davies clan and hooked him up lol. he got laid off when they found out he wasn't
one of them lol. our business manager appointed his worthless godson to business agent. local 250 no longer
votes on agents the manager gets to appoint all his buddies and theres lots of rumors the jobs are for sale.
How bout a bus mgr giving certain contractors 100% call by names of course they only hire from the list given to them
by the BA's I think the contractors are finally starting to wise up that these referred hands are the ones who can't make it
on their own skills . 250 use to be one of the best locals in the country now theyre the joke of the UA they'll be back in
trusteeship real soon lol glad to be gone

By Stringer (***)

Date 01-11-2011 01:28

I'd like to respond but I have to go make a bank deposit.

By Platinumbased (**)

Date 01-11-2011 02:31

Your unemployment check? Most are direct deposit these days.

By stanantonio Date 01-11-2011 15:44

I cant help but just :) Gotta have enough money to have a bank account. lol

By tighand430 (***)

Date 01-11-2011 02:51

It is true that the unions are losing their edge on alot of fronts. They just had a come to Jesus meeting about some of the ATRs passing cert tests that some 2nd year apprentices I know could make look better.......and these are supposed to be wither journeymen welders or pipewelders with experience that are organizing in???? The pride that used to be in the trade just isn't hardly there anymore, nobody want s to learn anything new, and the contractors are getting sh*ttier every year....Bechtel being one of the worst offenders. I've worked both sides, non-union and currently union; and the new hands we're getting in just don't want to work. Seems nobody does. Hell, the shop my dad works for (non-union) pays their non code welders with experience about 20-22 an hour and they can't even find good help even though they are prolly paying the highest in the area. Seems like nobody wants to put in the overtime, to do the job right the first time like they should, or can consistently pass a piss test..and then they say the contractors are being too demanding.