Join Our Union

The benefits of being a Union Worker are countless, but here are some basics:

Collective Bargaining Agreement: (CBA or contract) A CBA spells out the hours of work, and the terms and conditions of employment. It provides for a grievance and arbitration procedure and so much more.

Wages: A contract establishes wage rates for the term (length) of the Agreement as well as for the different types of work done. Some higher skilled jobs deserve higher pay. This and other types of considerations are all spelled out in the contract.

Healthcare: The Collective Bargaining Agreements either spells out the healthcare coverage, or references the Summary Plan Description (SPD) or policy which gives you in detail what you benefit coverage is. The CBA restricts the employer from changing coverage without at least discussing any changes.

Vacation and Holidays: Many people don’t realize it, but if it were not for Unions we probably would not have vacations or holidays. Your Collective Bargaining Agreements establishes how vacation time and holidays accrue and the guidelines for them.

Retirement: The Collective Bargaining Agreements provides that money be placed into an approved Pension Plan or Retirement Savings Plan in the name of the member. If it is the Carpenters Mill Pension Plan members with just five years of service become vested in the plan.

Training: Not only does the Union provide in initial pre-apprentice training, which covers construction math, blueprint reading, safety training and other basic work practices, it also provides a four-year comprehensive Federally-approved training curriculum that will enable you to become the highly skilled Journeymen that today’s designs and technology demand. (click on careers for additional info). Once you have completed your apprenticeship and become a Journeymen, the training doesn’t stop there. The Union (and our signatory employers) provide for continuing education. Once you are a member you will automatically receive our booklet offering hundreds of skill advancement classes, which are free or at a low cost to you as a Union Member.

Placement: It doesn’t stop there. As a Union Member, you will have access to a Union-provided referral service for employment. If you get laid off, want to get closer to home, or simply want to make a change, your Local and your servicing Business Representative are your source for a smooth transition.

Hopefully you get the idea. Union is the way to go if woodworking is your chosen career or if you think it is the career path for you. Numerous doors are open when you become a Union Cabinetmaker/Millworker/Exhibit Builder or Industrial (Shop) worker.

Being a union carpenter means good jobs and wages for working men and women. More importantly it gives a carpenter the resources to provide for his or her children, secure for them a secure start in life and a bright future, and allow him or her the means to retire with dignity and respect.

________________

The difference being Union Makes in your paycheck

By organizing into labor unions, we gain many advantages. Sometimes it helps to put our benefits into perspective. How do we compare to others in labor, both unoin and non-union?

Look at the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The median weekly earnings figure for union workers nationwide last year was $833.
The median for non-union workers was $642. That’s just about two hundred bucks a week, for the workers at the mid-point of the national earnings scale.

The gap is even wider in some specific occupations, when you compare medians - the point at which half of all workers earn more and the other half earn less.
In service occupations, the gap is $234 a week: $638 for unionists, $404 for non-unionists. That’s a 58 percent union advantage.

In construction, the gap is $359 a week: $969 for union workers, $610 for their non-union colleagues. How would you like a 59-percent raise?

Even in utilities, the highest-paying of all regular occupations, the gap between the medians was more than $100 a week: $1,041 for union workers, $939 for non-union workers.
And it was just as wide in the lowest-paying occupation we saw: Bars and restaurants. The median or unionized workers was: $480. The median for non-unionists: $381.

The same pattern holds for working women. They still earn less than working men, but the gap is smaller if you’re union. And the medians for both are higher than the medians for their non-union colleagues.

The median for unionized working men last year-was $887, $129 more than the median’($758) for unionized working women. That produced a median pay gap of 14.6 percent in favor of union men.

The median for non-union working men last year was $717. That’s $138 more than the median ($579) for non-union working women. That gap is 19.25 percent.
Not only that, but the pay gap shrunk between unionized men and women from 2005 to 2006, and grew (slightly) between non-union men and women.

________________

How to join our union ….

Want to Start a Career as a Union Carpenter?
Our Apprentice and Training Program provides many separate four-year apprenticeships.
Click here to see the programs.

Union Carpenter Moving Here?

1. Clear your name from your previous union.

2. Have your former union refer you to a local here.

3. Contact that Local
    

Non-Union Carpenter Looking to join?

Have your Contractor send us a letter stating if you are a ….

1. Journeyman Carpenter – We will contact you to become a member.

2. Apprentice Carpenter – We will help you get a work permit and enroll you in the Apprenticeship Program. Click here to see the programs.

Contact Us