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So slb8101,what did you do?

Originally Posted by slb8101

Are the benefits better than the union retirement and insurance along with salary?

Nothing is better than UNION

Originally Posted by freonrick

You would need to compare your local union with what mcquay offers to you. McQuay has a 401k with company matching up to a certain percentage. Insurance is alot better than the local I worked for. Yes you pay a small amount compared to what the union charged me. People will say it doesnt come out of your pay with the union but it does, it is before your pay check. IF the union wants 5 dollars an hour for insurance that is part of your benefit on top of the pay. You just dont see ot on the paycheck. The problem I have with it is I always worked alot of over time. So if you work 60 hours a week then you pay 300 dollars that week, in a month that is 1200 dollars that could have been on the pay check. I pay under 100 dollars every 2 weeks with low deduction. At the union it was 1500 per person.

Your local union may be different so check on it to compare.
email me and I can give you more info.

You make some good points freonrick ...but if I understand the example,it seems incomplete and the comparison needs to factor the dollar amount that the Co. is paying per hour for the health insurance that you also will not get on your paycheck .

The example included the $5 an hour as part of your benefit package on top of your paycheck union wage (scale is getting close to $30hr on the check here-thats the minimum they can pay,some are higher) that goes to pay health insurance, but did not include a $ amount that you are also not getting on your paycheck for insurance if you worked McQuay,which probably is a similar amount minus the co pay.
The copay for a guy at McQuay I knew was paying was $1.50 or so an hour (spouse too,but don't think a child) added likely totals up to approx the same $5.
Even figuring your lower amount of less than 100$ every two weeks,numbers are not significantly different.

There is also another significant factor with OT that should be considered.
If you work over a certain amount of hours(believe its 130 at my local) per month, the hours over that are banked,and can be used if you are laid off,or can't work whatever the reason.You can easily build up a huge bank of hours and coverage.I believe its at all locals but not sure.


Cobra or individual health insurance will eat up a lot of cash quick,so this benefit is huge.
For union insurance am not paying anything out of pocket and am not losing any money that the example asserts would have been mine,except for possibly a small extra that would go to insurance amount from OT. You work a lot of OT ,but is OT at your office/region a common thing? I have heard it is not in several at McQuay locales.


If a tech can work a lot of OT,then it sounds like you will come out ahead.

You'd have to make back the $2400(?)for you or the 3000 $ ($1.50 X 2000 hours -friends example) in OT every year to cover the extra cost first,then OT after that is going in your pocket.

Definitely not a black and white issue, but unless you are working 40-60 hours of OT every year,the insurance co pay comes right out of your pay. Plus you are not getting to keep that first OT money for yourself.



McQuay is a good company that has several good people working for it and some good products- but for service people it does depend on who's in charge of the local office,there are some significant differences .
Imagine your office is a good one or you wouldn't have stayed.

Originally Posted by slb8101

Are the benefits better than the union retirement and insurance along with salary?

You would need to compare your local union with what mcquay offers to you. McQuay has a 401k with company matching up to a certain percentage. Insurance is alot better than the local I worked for. Yes you pay a small amount compared to what the union charged me. People will say it doesnt come out of your pay with the union but it does, it is before your pay check. IF the union wants 5 dollars an hour for insurance that is part of your benefit on top of the pay. You just dont see ot on the paycheck. The problem I have with it is I always worked alot of over time. So if you work 60 hours a week then you pay 300 dollars that week, in a month that is 1200 dollars that could have been on the pay check. I pay under 100 dollars every 2 weeks with low deduction. At the union it was 1500 per person.

Your local union may be different so check on it to compare.
email me and I can give you more info.

I agree its all about the branch you work for. The branch here in town has lied to me several times when i order parts. They are never on time sometimes a week late. It they cant keep their word to their customer i would not want to work for them.
Check around , personally i think their systems are junk , with the exception of some of their package systems and chillers. The abortion they called a residentail furnace should be removed on sight.

Depends on which office you work for,some are good some are a real pain-
but often you will drive the wheels off,and OT has to be approved, often hard getting up to date info especially on controls(they change a lot), get every promise in writing, you will most likely pay for insurance which is something that union members do not do- and you will most likely be paid less than union,and raises are likely small.

California had some good reports, as did some offices in the north east.

Which office are you looking at?

Originally Posted by freonrick

I cant complain, not much travel but when I do I enjoy it. I might see my boss 2 or 3 times a year. It is a whole lot better than working for Carrier.

Are the benefits better than the union retirement and insurance along with salary?

I'd imagine any of the major OEM shops would be a great place to work. McQuay's probably one of the best to work for, from what I hear.

I cant complain, not much travel but when I do I enjoy it. I might see my boss 2 or 3 times a year. It is a whole lot better than working for Carrier.

Originally Posted by sabre11134

What area are you from ?

Iam from Georgia.

McQuay as a career:

I worked at a maintenance department for a while that had 2 McQuay ALS-155a chillers. A guy from McQuay would come in to work on them....I questioned him extensively about what McQuay was like as an employer....he lives in PA and does work in pretty much all of Ohio, PA, and other areas. The bottom line is that McQuay service guys have a lot of travel due to the territories they cover. I am sure that varies depending on the customer base of course. But on the other hand, the money is decent and work is constant, and you get to work on some big stuff (centrifugal chillers, etc).

works for me!Everything is competitive with other companys.

UUhmm, yes! If they'll take you on, you will learn a lot about commercial HVAC.

What area are you from ?

McQuay International as employment

Would McQuay be a good place to work as a service technician ?