Redhand9
07-31-2005, 07:20 PM
I have spent 32 years welding and have enjoyed it a great deal. It isn't really necessary to be in a union shop or walk high steel as I have seen mentioned here in order to get a good paying job. There are as many under as over paid union and non-union jobs to go around. In fact the trend if you have paid attention is higher pay in a number of non-union shops and lower pay in union shops. Case in point there are two facilities right next door to one another in my area one is non-union the other is not and the non-union shop pays more. There will always be trade-offs. I am not Pro-union or Anti-union they have their place and if it weren't for the unions this would be a much less health (if you can call it that) economy for the blue collar worker.
Welding is not a sit on your behind and think you can earn top pay for minimal skills and yes the skills in some cases verses pay can be a gripe. I mean hey Budweiser forklift operators were making $20.00 an hour in my home town and get beer breaks, when I was making $15.50. I had and have skills way beyond the average forklift operator then and now.
The issue if you want to bandy about pay scales being out of proportion with education, risk, etc. is the lack of and I hate to go here, but it is true. Welders need their own Union and always have. The problem with that is welders are the most independent bunch of miscreants you’re ever likely to find and hate to be told what, when, where, and how. This is so incongruent to the very fact they hire into a job and will do as told until they decide to layout or get run off.
If you want to command the "Big Bucks" you need diversity and or specialization. You also need to be able to go to where the work is. So unless your wife is a stay at home kind of gal (with no abandonment issues) or a pipe fitter you might want to re-think marriage. Unless you specialize as an example say Titanium, Hafnium, Zirconium, in or out of the Chamber. High purity welding steady hand purge walking the cup (or walking the dawg depending on your neck of the woods) kind of welding. Yes, I have heard the argument we can teach a monkey to do it...funny I have heard that for 32 years. I still don't see any monkeys "doing it." What I have seen is that welding has grown in demand upward from say ship repair (where it began, I did that for years and enjoyed it) to high end types of work (Aerospace, Airlines, Food Service, Nuclear etc.) as well as downward into applications that were not welded in the past. Robotic car body welding, racing frames for cars, washing machines etc. over time the process has worked its way into all levels of mfg. and production.
There is also thinking out side the box and becoming a CWI or Welding Engineer. God knows we need more reality based welding engineers verses the I got a degree so I be smart types. There are unfortunately too many of them around for my personnel liking. A Welder who over time and with patience becomes a welding engineer is worth twice his weight in gold and the people looking for them will tell you so. They will be filling your pocket books with the coin of the realm no matter the "country." The same applies for Certified Welding Inspectors and the requirements there keep climbing, but so does the pay. I have several friends making upwards of $45.00 an hour not including perdium. I have friends reading X-Ray film making the same money...so it is really up to you where and how you wish to proceed and how much you want to make. What do they have that you don't? They have 2 yr Degrees in Materials and Metallurgy with a 1yr Certificate in NDE/NDT and they started making between $13.00 hr. to start with little OJT to as much as $20.00 but they have time and OJT and they were welders, a now almost mandatory requirement in inspection.
Why you ask, well because the welders have become more educated so their not as easily BS'd as they were in the past. New types of welding have been developed Orbital, now that is supposedly a good high paying job. I intend to find out I'm going looking for a school even if it doesn't because I want to know.
So don't whine, don't holler, hell get even...life is like welding always something to learn there is an old saying that I'm sure you've heard. "Knowledge is Power,” it was as true then as it is now and it means more money. You can say well welding doesn't pay as good as it use to, too many interlopers willing to work for less... Well think about that, sure their working for less, but they aren't skilled in sheet metal layout and pipe fitting and any combination of additions to basic welding that make them more valuable. Trust me when they become good at those extras do you think they are going to be happy with $7.50 hr. The person who comes out of say Hobart Welding School he will make more than $7.50 an hour because he can do more than weld a vertical 1" plate and pass a bend test. Oh and if you are going to make the "Field"....of Welding a career then plan on not only learning, but staying physically fit, it is not an option.
My Background you ask.
Combo Welder, Pipe Welder, Leadman, Foreman up to 25 man crew...Todd Ship, South West Marine, Continental Maritime, Triple A Shipyards (72-89) Special Assignment Shell Oil Alaska Offshore. Trans America Delaval Engine and Compressor, Commercial and Nuclear Pipe (78-82) Peterbilt Truck, Tank Department welder, Shift Foreman 5 man crew (82-85), Contadina Foods (Nestle Corp.) Steam Plant Welder, Special Project Process Piping, Foreman 8 Man Crew (89-93). Field Hand, Boiler Makers, Independent Shop/ Field Welder, California/Nevada. Hosokawa/Micron Mfg. fabricator (95-02), Honor Student LBCC, Oregon A.A.S. Materials and Metallurgy, NDE/NDT etc (02-05)
And I need more education...LOL. Your education can cost you alot or a little over an extended period of time. It will ultimatly be up to you. I'm sure you've heard Pay me now or Pay me later...this applies nicely.
Welding is not a sit on your behind and think you can earn top pay for minimal skills and yes the skills in some cases verses pay can be a gripe. I mean hey Budweiser forklift operators were making $20.00 an hour in my home town and get beer breaks, when I was making $15.50. I had and have skills way beyond the average forklift operator then and now.
The issue if you want to bandy about pay scales being out of proportion with education, risk, etc. is the lack of and I hate to go here, but it is true. Welders need their own Union and always have. The problem with that is welders are the most independent bunch of miscreants you’re ever likely to find and hate to be told what, when, where, and how. This is so incongruent to the very fact they hire into a job and will do as told until they decide to layout or get run off.
If you want to command the "Big Bucks" you need diversity and or specialization. You also need to be able to go to where the work is. So unless your wife is a stay at home kind of gal (with no abandonment issues) or a pipe fitter you might want to re-think marriage. Unless you specialize as an example say Titanium, Hafnium, Zirconium, in or out of the Chamber. High purity welding steady hand purge walking the cup (or walking the dawg depending on your neck of the woods) kind of welding. Yes, I have heard the argument we can teach a monkey to do it...funny I have heard that for 32 years. I still don't see any monkeys "doing it." What I have seen is that welding has grown in demand upward from say ship repair (where it began, I did that for years and enjoyed it) to high end types of work (Aerospace, Airlines, Food Service, Nuclear etc.) as well as downward into applications that were not welded in the past. Robotic car body welding, racing frames for cars, washing machines etc. over time the process has worked its way into all levels of mfg. and production.
There is also thinking out side the box and becoming a CWI or Welding Engineer. God knows we need more reality based welding engineers verses the I got a degree so I be smart types. There are unfortunately too many of them around for my personnel liking. A Welder who over time and with patience becomes a welding engineer is worth twice his weight in gold and the people looking for them will tell you so. They will be filling your pocket books with the coin of the realm no matter the "country." The same applies for Certified Welding Inspectors and the requirements there keep climbing, but so does the pay. I have several friends making upwards of $45.00 an hour not including perdium. I have friends reading X-Ray film making the same money...so it is really up to you where and how you wish to proceed and how much you want to make. What do they have that you don't? They have 2 yr Degrees in Materials and Metallurgy with a 1yr Certificate in NDE/NDT and they started making between $13.00 hr. to start with little OJT to as much as $20.00 but they have time and OJT and they were welders, a now almost mandatory requirement in inspection.
Why you ask, well because the welders have become more educated so their not as easily BS'd as they were in the past. New types of welding have been developed Orbital, now that is supposedly a good high paying job. I intend to find out I'm going looking for a school even if it doesn't because I want to know.
So don't whine, don't holler, hell get even...life is like welding always something to learn there is an old saying that I'm sure you've heard. "Knowledge is Power,” it was as true then as it is now and it means more money. You can say well welding doesn't pay as good as it use to, too many interlopers willing to work for less... Well think about that, sure their working for less, but they aren't skilled in sheet metal layout and pipe fitting and any combination of additions to basic welding that make them more valuable. Trust me when they become good at those extras do you think they are going to be happy with $7.50 hr. The person who comes out of say Hobart Welding School he will make more than $7.50 an hour because he can do more than weld a vertical 1" plate and pass a bend test. Oh and if you are going to make the "Field"....of Welding a career then plan on not only learning, but staying physically fit, it is not an option.
My Background you ask.
Combo Welder, Pipe Welder, Leadman, Foreman up to 25 man crew...Todd Ship, South West Marine, Continental Maritime, Triple A Shipyards (72-89) Special Assignment Shell Oil Alaska Offshore. Trans America Delaval Engine and Compressor, Commercial and Nuclear Pipe (78-82) Peterbilt Truck, Tank Department welder, Shift Foreman 5 man crew (82-85), Contadina Foods (Nestle Corp.) Steam Plant Welder, Special Project Process Piping, Foreman 8 Man Crew (89-93). Field Hand, Boiler Makers, Independent Shop/ Field Welder, California/Nevada. Hosokawa/Micron Mfg. fabricator (95-02), Honor Student LBCC, Oregon A.A.S. Materials and Metallurgy, NDE/NDT etc (02-05)
And I need more education...LOL. Your education can cost you alot or a little over an extended period of time. It will ultimatly be up to you. I'm sure you've heard Pay me now or Pay me later...this applies nicely.