The union does not pay you, you pay them. And it's not cheap. They act on your behalf in bargaining for pay, benefits... Some are good and some just suck...
I get paid better through the union than I would most non-union job, between $10-$15 difference to give you an idea. I pay my monthly dues which are $30, but that will vary on your trade/union. Being a member of a union has granted me the ability to use their school facilities to practice when between jobs, at no cost and they supply me with everything that's needed to practice because I pay those monthly dues. The union will help me sort out any issues there is with a company. Being female this has happened it's not pretty but some companies still think that females have no right to work for them. Benefits are always a great thing to have access to. Can't forget the LOA if you have to leave town for work. Sometimes they will pay for the hotel room to stay in depending on the work contract. I have been in a union for a year and a half and they treat me pretty fucking good.
I used to work with a union. Paid our monthly dues which were about $250-300 a year id have to pay to them. In all honesty didnt do much for me or anybody i worked with. We could file grivances if somebody below you in seniorty got a more hours then you did. And if your lucky you'd get the pay you shoulda got in a few weeks to a couple months after the fact. But to go through the process most the time wasnt worth the hassle. In all honesty the only thing the union did for most of us who worked for/with them, Was that we couldn't get fired for some stupid ass reason. You couldn't get fired cuz the boss had a bad day. But you could get fucked with by the boss all day long and the union would just tell you to document everything and try n get witnesses n shiet and they'd 'handle' it but little to nothing ever came of it. Basically i payed them every month so that if somebody who had the powers to fire me couldn't fire me because i looked at them wrong or something like that. They could still fire you for many reasons, But not jus cuz they felt like it. And they made sure you were guranteed a minimum of 12 hours a week, Or 24 hours if you were scheduled friday saturday and sunday. Thats about it.. Edit: But this isnt how all unions operate, I hope.
DAHAHA the union for my line of work is like 3grand a year and they don't help you with jack fucking shit
Yeah I'm about to start a union job, and they said I pay 100 a month, and the guy interviewing me, he's been there for years, fucking HATES the union. And laughed when I said, I hear good things about working for the union. I start pay at 17.00 an hour, but at what cost really? My whole life, and 100 bucks a month to some UNION? They don't do shit for the employees though.
Well I completed my apprenticeship and got the tickets they wanted since they weren't taking any new apprentices at the time. So I met with the requirements they wanted applied and got accepted. I'm not entirely sure if the union will pay for your schooling directly since unions can vary as you can tell by other peoples responses. BUT the government on the other hand had a few programs that got me through my welding apprenticeship. They offered all sorts of tuition help, travel costs, even hotel/rent costs if you had to move to take the course. I even managed to get 4 grand worth of grants over the 3 years it took me to complete my apprenticeship. I believe the grants are offered to anyone who is taking a red seal course, which plumbing is. May have to pay the taxes on it but it helps a lot when the money comes through.