I'm a journeyman plumber in my mid 30s in the GTA currently working in a small non union plumbing company. Mostly building/residential service with some commercial and residential renovations and repipes thrown in. I got my ticket around 7 years ago but been in the trade for total of 12 years or so. I'm wondering if the move to a unionized company in local 46 is worth it in order to better support my family and had some questions for any local 46 members here
- what does the current pay scale and benefits look like? All I could find online was information from 2021/2022?
- with my current company I get the use of a company truck and credit card/gas card. Wondering if the extra gas costs and parking costs of driving my own vehicle to union jobs will offset the bonus money from union?
- with the current slowdowns in the real estate market and potentially a looming recession are union jobs still going strong and always busy without any layoffs?
- what do the hours and work look like? Currently most of my work in winter is in heated apartments and indoors which is pretty cushy and there's a lot of downtime in between jobs/travel that's paid
- is it fairly easy these days to get a job in union having a journey ticket and backflow ticket?
Any other information I should know about benefits/downsides of joining union?