Replymetal trades is a bad title for hvac service techs got to come up with a more accurate title for what we do, how about Mechanical Equiptment Service Technicians or even Mechanical Trades
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According to this, how would any HVACR Tech doing Com. work be Metal Trades?Originally Posted by wundumguy
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metal trades is a bad title for hvac service techs got to come up with a more accurate title for what we do, how about Mechanical Equiptment Service Technicians or even Mechanical Trades
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Forget about the titles! $15/Hr. less than the Pipe/Steamfitters and Pipe Welders is just ridiculous. Not to mention 3 times less pension contributions. I think NYC is a prime candidate for an HVACR Techs only Local!!
Professional Member
your wright but what always got me is we fix things and keep nyc running what do fitters do run pipe how is this deserve 15 more an hour when we have to be alot smarter to get paid less anybody can run pipe we should be the ones making the most money
Regular Guest
There's no way a Pipefitter or Pipe Welder can do HVACR work unless he went thru alot of training. At the very least an HVACR Tech Apprenticeship or trade school. An HVACR Tech can do Pipefitting or Pipe Welding work with little training.
You're right about the demand. Some say Construction Journeyman deserve more pay because they're out-of-work frequently. I'd say get out of the Construction side and into the Service side. Honestly, you're being feed bull ish because Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other markets have equal Jm wages be it Construction or Service. If you're in the same Local, there shouldn't be a difference - regardless of the trade.
Of all trades in the UA, which is the one that generates the most revenue in Repair & Maintenance Service?
Professional Member
supertek, nice new verbage there, go sell some work would ya?
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I came here to see some Tittles.
Don't pick the fly crap out of the pepper.
Professional Member
a friend of mine back east gave me the idea!
I was feeling pretty down and having a hard time staying grounded!
I feel much better and am sleeping much better now!
I just need to keep doing what I do and do it well!
I have many friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
just not at work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
true knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.
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seniorsooperdooperteck
is that a title?
true knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.
Professional Member
nevermind ::facepalm::
I thought if anyone would catch that, you would lol
Don't pick the fly crap out of the pepper.
Professional Member
It was originated as a fitters union, HVAC/R was an add on. Wage parity has always been an issue in our local as well. We finally have gotten within a quarter and considering the economic market place we are satisfied. HVAC/R guys have always been the red headed step child, but when times are tough we get props for bringing in the dough when construction is slow.
I STARTED WITH NOTHING, AND I STILL HAVE MOST OF IT!
Professional Member
I get it
Tittles!!!!!!
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My football coach was YA Tittle
Former nyg hall of fame qb.
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construction wages are supposed to be to give a living wage for typically 1200-1400 hours, depending on construction cycles. service wages are slightly lower, but usually result in year round work, PLUS a take home vehicle. total package difference? truck is generally worth about $-$$ per hour, depending on several factors.
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Is your Service Jm/HVACR Tech wages $15/Hr. less than the Construction Jm/Pipefitters?! Is you HVACR Techs pension 3 times less than the Pipefitters?! These are huge differences!!
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In my home Local; Construction Plumbers, Construction Pipefitters, Construction Pipe Welders, Service Plumbers and Service HVACR Techs are all level playing field. I believe that works best.
Professional Member
Same in my local, but the pipefitters sometimes have to take a pay cut of up to $5 an hour on projects to compete with non-union construction (right to work for less state). They make out better on an individual basis when they have full time work in a fab shop. I don't know any good HVAC mechanics in my local who can't negotiate several dollars above scale on their own, anyway.In my home Local; Construction Plumbers, Construction Pipefitters, Construction Pipe Welders, Service Plumbers and Service HVACR Techs are all level playing field. I believe that works best.
But, yeah, that's not right. I worked in pipefitting until I was twenty, and fitting pipe isn't rocket science. Being a service mechanic requires a hell of a lot more education and reasoning skills than figuring out take-offs on a pipe, and it kinda pisses me off knowing that I've got brothers in the trade making that much less than pipefitters. I don't understand this rationale of "working fewer hours a year, so we need to be paid more". Hey, you know what? I'd much rather do my trade, too, and work 800 fewer hours a year for $15 an hour more.
Professional Member
And as it relates to the thread, my card/book reads "DVJ MES Journeyman". I "bought" my book several years ago after testing out at the journeyman level.
As explained to me...
MES -- mechanical equipment service
DVJ -- I've been told this means "divisional journeyman", but that makes "DVJ MES Journeyman" rather redundant. Also, the guys down at my hall aren't exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer.
On my dues receipt, though, it says "Trade: Divisional" and "Job Class: Mech Equip Service Jrnymn".
So maybe that's exactly what it is. The first three-letter field on your card is whatever the UA has beside your "trade", and the second three-letter field is your "job class" (with the redundant "journeyman" thrown in afterword).
There's also the consideration that it's probably whatever the hell the lady that collects your dues typed in for the field under your name on your book, that it's highly likely that she doesn't know what the hell it means either because it's just what she was told to put there because "that's the way it's been done in the past", an even better likelihood that NO ONE knows what it means, and that anyone at the hall that tells you that they know what it means is absolutely, totally full of crap, like they are about 99.99% of the things they talk about.
OH MY GOD, I FINALLY UNDERSTAND IT ALL. I'M READY TO WORK FOR THE HALL FULL-TIME.
Regular Guest
So there's Construction, Service & Divisional? Would MES be classed as Service? Bldg. Trades, Metal Trades, etc., now I'm lost! Isn't MESJm the same as an HVACR Tech Jm?!
Professional Member
Hold on a sec ... *drinks more beer*
So...I'll just share with you my observations on my local union as a bare-minimum participant. Your mileage may vary, because obviously in some of the locals you other guys are in, journeymen are not all equal. In mine, a journeyman is a journeyman is a journeyman, none of this Animal Farm "but some animals are more equal than others" bullcrap. And I think that's where part of the problem comes in. It's not the same at every local union.
I did not go through the complete UA apprenticeship program. I did something like three and a half years of it, and then I was offered a job overseas, and I said, "See ya later". No regrets at all. Ten years later, I move back to my home city. I decide that I want to work as an HVAC mechanic there again after a few semesters at the city university, and the local offers to test me out as a journeyman because of all my experiences. Day long test on HVACR service work. I pass with flying colors. All HVACR stuff. No welding. No fittting. Just straight up service work.
So as it's explained to me, that's what the "divisional" -- for me -- means. I don't fit pipe. I don't weld. I'm certified strictly as a mechanical equipment services (HVACR) journeyman.
In my local, when we have meetings at whatever company we work for, we usually initial our job class beside our name on the roll. The overwhelming majority of the HVAC guys went through the apprentice program, and they put "BTJ" (Building Trades Journeyman) by their name. In addition to learning the HVAC trade, they had to learn to fit pipe and weld. For most of them, that doesn't mean crap. The only time they ever fit pipe or welded was at the apprentice school. There are a few that can weld like nobody's business, and they're the guys you need when you need to run a hot tap on a chilled water line. Most of them -- no. They waited to take their welding class until the last semester so they wouldn't be rusty on their break-out test, and that's the last time they welded.
I'm in the minority that puts "MESJ" (mechanical equipment services journeyman) by my name. I've heard that can be a source of snobbery in my local from the guys who get to put "BTJ' by their names, but I've never gotten that personally. Mainly because I usually end up as the guy in the service department that's doing other mechanics' callbacks. I may not be able to weld, but I can sure find what you missed on a service call, and I can be your buddy or burn you over it. So it's best not to be a snob to me.
So there you go. I don't do any construction, and I'm not an HVAC mechanic that doubles as a pipefitter or pipewelder. I just have the ability to figure out what's wrong with crap, so I'm a journeyman.
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