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Lenny2belts t1_j28lb0l wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Why are homes in the Seattle/Bellevue area so expensive? by [deleted]

Commercial electrician (EL01) here with local 46

I worked some over time sprinkled in with a few sundays here and there ( double time)

I was on stand by for about a month in January , missed some work because of Covid , Went on a couple vacations. So a rough tally, I probably didn’t work for a little over 2 months this year.

I still cleared just over $130,000 gross.

However I still don’t see how anyone can afford to live in the city . That is just bonkers

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[deleted] OP t1_j29mf9s wrote

[deleted]

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FishNotCow t1_j2aeefv wrote

They said they are Local 46; that's Union. Look up Local 46, find out when they are accepting apprenticeship. In Portland, Local 48 usually has openings in July, maybe also January. It's a four year apprenticeship (maybe five years). Combination of classroom and job training. I think you work on the job four days, classroom one day per week. When you get through the apprenticeship, you are making Journeyman wages, same wage as my partner who has been a journeyman for 30+ years.

Also, the Teamsters have great benefits, too. A lot of companies are hiring trainees, on the job training while getting paid. My dad was a teamster, and drove local. If you get a CDL, there are a lot of jobs. A friend of ours is a garbage truck driver and makes almost as much as my electrician partner.

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[deleted] OP t1_j2ajuak wrote

[deleted]

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FishNotCow t1_j2anc1c wrote

I personally am not union. And, I am not sure if Local 46 is the same as Local 48, but they are probably similar. They all fall under IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers).

Not all electricians are union. But, I don't know how apprenticeship works outside of a union.

I think for electricians, if you need a job, you get your name on the list at the union hall. First person on the list gets placed at a job site, then they continue going down the list.

My partner hasn't been on the list since the 1990s, as there has been steady work for Journeyman Electricians and he has been working at the same company for about 15 years.

Yes, the union helps to place you. And, the benefits are awesome.

There is low-voltage, residential, commercial and lineman. They are all different. My partner, as a journeyman, can do commercial and residential. Commercial just means that he is not working residential. He does electrical maintenance for a large corporation. If Corporate America needs a TV installed, they schedule the job for both low-voltage and commercial electricians. This is probably required by either their organization or the union, because as a journeyman, he can do low voltage.

My nephew recently went to lineman school/training in Idaho. I don't know much about it, but I know that linemen work with high voltage.

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Lenny2belts t1_j2azn03 wrote

Yes there are multiple classifications of electricians, each with their own restrictions of what they can and can’t do ( ie 02 residential “ think houses and apartment buildings under 5 stories”, 06 low voltage “ fire alarm, multimedia systems”) as well as a few others. Those classifications can for the most part only stick to that certain specialty. An 01 typically does any commercial space or industrial ( think high rise buildings, schools, factories) but they are unrestricted, so can legally do the other classifications of work as well.

The best way to become an electrician is to go down to the union hall and apply for the apprenticeship, however there is also an avenue to go the non union route which can be less wait time , but you won’t get as good of benefits or things like a triple retirement.

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