Desperate need to change jobs

admin

First a little about me...Im 28 and am certified stick,mig, and tig with some aluminum spool gun experience.I started out pipewelding when I was very young doing mostly SS tig,carbon tig,and carbon stick pipe welding. Was young and couldnt handle the hours and heights so I quit after about 6 months and went to a fab shop. Ive been In fab shops MIG welding for 7 years now and am just sick and tired of the low pay and lack of challenges. I weld the same parts over and over year after year and after 5 years at my current employer - I am the top welder there and only make $14 /hr. Everyone there has been laid off but me and one other guy and right now am down to 30-40 hours a week and only bringing home $350 / wk.I am a family man with 4 kids and a home loan payment ,bills, and am the only one working and as you can guess I am barely scraping by and am just sick of being broke and depressed all the time. I like working in a fab shop because my feet are on the ground but just cant take being broke anymore.Im thinking of going back out in the field to weld but if I do I want to get paid well.Here in my hometown we have ADM, and Stayleys / Tate and Lyle Plants , and could start pipewelding again through a contractor for maybee around $14-$18/hr.I would love to get into a Union but have no clue how to do so or if there even is a local pipewelders union here.All I know is I need to do something, I went to welding school years ago thinking it would pay great but have been stuck in my deadend fabshop for 5 years now.Any suggesstions or advice is greatly appreciated!!!
Reply:Well you are in the same water as a lot of folks in any of the trades right now. Not much is going on, and that's a reality. While as the sole wage earner for your family you do need to explore getting a full weeks income rolling in, right now is not the time to get to bold in career decisions. Caution is the name of the game right now. Rock solid decisions.
Reply:I agree when I was young I quit my job and was off for 3 years supporting a wife and 3 kids(25 years old) and it was the most painful time I ever had(and the economy was bad back then too around 1981),I know it hurts that you aren't making what you need to get by on,but stick it out,maybe ask around or consider looking in another town or even a nearby state WHILE you have still have your job. It's better to have work and to clothe and feed your family than not right now.
Reply:Pick up after hours work. There are a lot of guys that are looking for part timers right now instead of full time.  If you can't hire on somwhere part time,  then start welding on the side.Wanting someone to drop a job in your lap (the union) isn't the solution to your problems.  Even unions are having a difficult time.  The only way you will work your way into a new situation is to show initiative and drive.  Worrying about it won't get the job done.   I know...I have tried that route.  I am constantly amazed at all these people complaining about not having a job if they are a welder. What amazes me more is that most of these "welders" don't even own a welder privately.  That tells me they are in the wrong biz.    I know this might offend someone, but a welder that doesn't own a welder or his own tools even for a part time hobby is like a mechanic that goes to work at a dealership that has his tools provided for him and doesn't even have a screw driver in his junk drawer at home.Are welders expensive?  No,  just look at the deals these guys are coming across.  Or for that matter,  look at a new inexpensive HF model or other well known chinese model.   Set aside 10-20 bucks a week and then you will have a new machine.  Yes, I know, many people live in an apartment or don't have access to a 220 plug.  But if creativity and ingenuity are still part of your American dream, then find a place.  A  corner in a small service station or corner of a friends garage bartered for a litttle freebee repair now and then can suffice. Put yourself out there.  Ride your job out for better times and stay busy as you can on your own time promoting your own skills and abilities.Esab Migmaster 250Lincoln SA 200Lincoln Ranger 8Smith Oxy Fuel setupEverlast PowerPlasma 80Everlast Power iMIG 160Everlast Power iMIG 205 Everlast Power iMIG 140EEverlast PowerARC 300Everlast PowerARC 140STEverlast PowerTIG 255EXT
Reply:Originally Posted by DeezDramaHere in my hometown.........
Reply:Originally Posted by DeezDramaFirst a little about me...Im 28 and am certified stick,mig, and tig with some aluminum spool gun experience.I started out pipewelding when I was very young doing mostly SS tig,carbon tig,and carbon stick pipe welding. Was young and couldnt handle the hours and heights so I quit after about 6 months and went to a fab shop. Ive been In fab shops MIG welding for 7 years now and am just sick and tired of the low pay and lack of challenges. I weld the same parts over and over year after year and after 5 years at my current employer - I am the top welder there and only make $14 /hr. Everyone there has been laid off but me and one other guy and right now am down to 30-40 hours a week and only bringing home $350 / wk.I am a family man with 4 kids and a home loan payment ,bills, and am the only one working and as you can guess I am barely scraping by and am just sick of being broke and depressed all the time. I like working in a fab shop because my feet are on the ground but just cant take being broke anymore.Im thinking of going back out in the field to weld but if I do I want to get paid well.Here in my hometown we have ADM, and Stayleys / Tate and Lyle Plants , and could start pipewelding again through a contractor for maybee around $14-$18/hr.I would love to get into a Union but have no clue how to do so or if there even is a local pipewelders union here.All I know is I need to do something, I went to welding school years ago thinking it would pay great but have been stuck in my deadend fabshop for 5 years now.Any suggesstions or advice is greatly appreciated!!!
Reply:yes, go to UA.org.We need good welders in the trade and a good pipewelder never is out of work for long. Scale in my area is 41.09 an hour plus fringes.Good luck.
Reply:Originally Posted by DeezDramaEveryone there has been laid off but me and one other guy and right now am down to 30-40 hours a week and only bringing home $350 / wk.Any suggesstions or advice is greatly appreciated!!!
Reply:Your one of thousands in the same boat. Around here there are a few production welders getting$14 but people are standing in line to get that. To make more money you're going to have to deal with heat,cold, hieghts, confined spaces and working under things. Unions don't insure that you won't go weeks or months without work. Iknow I'm not helping you any but if I had the answers I wouldn't need to grab my helmet and gloves.Tough as nails and damn near as smart
Reply:Pick up a 2nd job man. I've been there. We have laid off half of our shop workforce already and I'm getting the impression that another half are about to go. You have a family man. I once worked 2 full time jobs and had a side gig working another 10-15 hrs a week to make ends meet. There really arent that many places hiring right now. If you can't do that it's time to adjust your expenses to live at your current income. I know it sucks but I've had to do the same thing in the last 6 months.
Reply:If you havent been to UA.org yet, go there. You have very desirable skills that contractors will pay you well to use. Or you can listen to some of the people in this thread telling you to suck it up because its bad everywhere. If you have certifications in the processes you said in your first post, then you are in a good position to improve on your lifestyle for you and your family. It may require moving or not. All good things come with some amount of sacrifice. Good luck.
Reply:Originally Posted by WHughesIf you havent been to UA.org yet, go there. You have very desirable skills that contractors will pay you well to use. Or you can listen to some of the people in this thread telling you to suck it up because its bad everywhere. If you have certifications in the processes you said in your first post, then you are in a good position to improve on your lifestyle for you and your family. It may require moving or not. All good things come with some amount of sacrifice. Good luck.
Reply:Originally Posted by WHughesIf you havent been to UA.org yet, go there. You have very desirable skills that contractors will pay you well to use. Or you can listen to some of the people in this thread telling you to suck it up because its bad everywhere. If you have certifications in the processes you said in your first post, then you are in a good position to improve on your lifestyle for you and your family. It may require moving or not. All good things come with some amount of sacrifice. Good luck.
Reply:I was just layed off and have decided to go back to collage and work part time. Gov is helping some. The thing is you just have to do it. Scary you bet ya but hay we cant control what is going on in the economy but you can always make yourself better. Yep got a wife and 1 kid left at home. It is a bad time and it isn't going to get any better for 3 years and a few months....LOLBrandonLincoln Tombstone 225 A/C Steel StickerOld Victor O2/Acetylene setupMiller Syncrowave 250 Tig/PC-300 PulserMiller Millermatic 212 Mig HTP Invertatig 201 Giant Teck D50 Plasma cutterLots of HF grinders
Reply:There is a Steamfitters Local 353 in Peoria. Good bit of Nuke work lately, I hear.Steamfitters Local 353, Pat Fahey, 6403 W. Development Drive, Peoria, Illinois 61604, 309-633-1353Not sure how recent the contact info is...
Reply:Im a lead man on a crew of 20 plus. I would have to get a 2, yes TWO as in more than ONE but less than THREE, dollar an hour raise to make 14 an hour. I was approved for a raise last week, but we will see. Glad to be workin but where Im at is the lowest payin place in drivin distance and aint nobody hiring. Lead welders top out 12.75 after 3 years, first class welders 11.75 and so on. First class start at 10 an hour.Ranger 250 GXTSmith Gas Axe
Reply:Yea, Topic agreed jobs are few and far between. Hold on to what ya got. I work for a co. building pressure vessels in north tx making 16/hr as a leadman. I am just Grittin my teeth and slowly puttin my rig together. So when things pick back up ill be ready to blow this junk they mis-pronounced as a job!!!
Reply:To those that think the UA welder may just have to hang on and wait for a job........Not so much. I've seen the out of work list at 322 men. The same week, #'s 318, 315, and 301 (men at the bottom of the list) went back out to work. A welder with certs won't be out of work for long in Atlanta's market and I suspect there are other places that are similar
Reply:Originally Posted by tresiBy all means if you're only getting in 30 hrs use your off time trying to improve your situation but don't assume just becuase its union that you can bank on it. Talk to the working men in your area, not just the taking your money for a union card. I'm not knocking unions. Many of my uncles made out very well with unions but times are tough all around. There will always be local hot spots of oportunity but they might be few and far between.
Reply:Don't feel alone, you're not.  I'm in the same boat.  All I can find is temporary welding jobs that pay anywhere from $12-15/hr and last time periods of only months.China has a lot to do with it (for many in this boat).  The last place I worked at, welding up industrial oil and gas heaters, many of the parts came pre-welded from China.  It was actually cheaper for them to have it done over there then shipped here, then it would be to have it just all done here. As long as they're willing to do a $20/hr job here at $10/hr over there, companies are going to take the cheapest route.Not until North America starts putting HUGE tarrifs on goods that are imported from countries with lax labor and environmental laws, are we ever going to be able to compete.  Sorry, I'm running off on a tangent here..If moving to an area where there's more/better welding employment isn't an option, I would run down to your local chamber of commerce and see if they know what sectors are expanding and looking for skilled work in your area - or what will be in the near future.  It might be time to be looking at getting out of welding - or the manufacturing sector entirely.  I know that's what I'm looking at.I'm almost 37 and I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel, as it stands."A winner isn't someone who doesn't lose, a winner is someone who doesn't quit."
Reply:Originally Posted by z0diacNot until North America starts putting HUGE tarrifs on goods that are imported from countries with lax labor and environmental laws, are we ever going to be able to compete.  Sorry, I'm running off on a tangent here...
Reply:I disagree with you on that one Pyro...  The US gov't has cut the throat of it's own people by continuing to allow products of countries that use extremely llax or even no labor and environmental laws and letting them compete with us products.  One reason so much manufacturing has gone overseas is because they can produce the same products for far less because they pay the workers little to nothing, care nothing about the environmental impacts, and here we can't do it.  Now if we are gonna be held to a higher standard then it's time to hold the others who are selling to us to the same standard.  If those countries had to deal with OSHA, or the EPA , minimum wage etc...  you can rest assured so many jobs would not have left the US.  This has shown to be a HUGE problem in the US agriculture.  The US is buying crops from other countries that have had chemicals used on them that have been outlawed here for decades, picked with slaves basically, and if it continues then the US farmer will be a thing of the past.  I see farmers on a yearly basis folding because of conditions that they can not control, and a great deal of it is to blame on imports by the US.  It's time for the US to start worrying about ourselves and let everyone else worry about themselves.  Even if they go to a consumption based economy it is still NOT gonna create jobs or manufacturing here because they can do it so much cheaper for not having to deal with the labor laws.  If they need more they put more people to work for a dollar a day...I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:Originally Posted by Hammack_WeldingI disagree with you on that one Pyro...  The US gov't has cut the throat of it's own people by continuing to allow products of countries that use extremely llax or even no labor and environmental laws and letting them compete with us products.  One reason so much manufacturing has gone overseas is because they can produce the same products for far less because they pay the workers little to nothing, care nothing about the environmental impacts, and here we can't do it.  Now if we are gonna be held to a higher standard then it's time to hold the others who are selling to us to the same standard.  If those countries had to deal with OSHA, or the EPA , minimum wage etc...  you can rest assured so many jobs would not have left the US.  This has shown to be a HUGE problem in the US agriculture.  The US is buying crops from other countries that have had chemicals used on them that have been outlawed here for decades, picked with slaves basically, and if it continues then the US farmer will be a thing of the past.  I see farmers on a yearly basis folding because of conditions that they can not control, and a great deal of it is to blame on imports by the US.  It's time for the US to start worrying about ourselves and let everyone else worry about themselves.  Even if they go to a consumption based economy it is still NOT gonna create jobs or manufacturing here because they can do it so much cheaper for not having to deal with the labor laws.  If they need more they put more people to work for a dollar a day...
Reply:I suggest you start building stuff at home.  Take your experience and use it to make you some side money.  Bar-b-q pits will always be in demand.  I saw a guy on the side of the road selling small grills that were about 2 feet long this past weekend.There there is stuff like tractor, boat and bush hog welding services.