Anyone here a Welder?
 

Been looking for shops in the lower mainland as well as unions; man it's tough out there! I applied at 40 places so far and no call backs.

All the trades I've noticed are slow right now.

After the olympics is all done with, we'll start to see a little more work in most trades, but who knows. The lower mainland sucks for wages and job stability with trades people...

I work as office staff at a steel fab shop. I tell you mean.. it's been SLOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW. It's been so slow that I'm actually quite surprised that as a night worker I didn't lose my job

What are your credentials? How much experience do you have? Do you have your IP or CWB all position stick?

Im a member of the local 488 northern alberta pipefitters union, and I know for a fact there is a TON of shutdown work in edmonton/fort mac coming up VERY soon. Our hall as well as the boilermakers 146 will be looking for guys across north america for these big shutdowns.

$10,000+ a month take home with the right certs...

^shit i wouldnt mind doing what you guys do and love out of town work, too bad im not a welder im just carpenter. sighhhh work in Van is definitely really slow though

The problem with welding is that unless you live in alberta, you will most likely make shit money living anywhere nice and working in this trade.

I was making $20 an hour at my last job in kelowna a couple of years ago, a difficult wage to really get ahead on.

Its either make a fortune in places like Fort mac, Calgary or the surrounding Edmonton area, or make garbage most anywhere else.

As a carpenter, you could always look into getting your scaffolding ticket and working up north... scaffolders are always in demand in northern alberta and I think the upgrading course is very short to make the transfer.

scaffolding is not for me its too "boring" i like to do different stuff if you get what i mean

Im a 3rd year plumbing apprentice and i got laid off in november and there was like no work at ua 170, and the dispatch guy said dont expect anything until summer, so i decided to drive to alberta, got a job here, making 10$ more and hour than i did in BC and i get to work 10 hour shifts and saturdays if i want, its pretty good money. its commerical stuff btw. I know if you work at the industrial sites such as shell scotsford like my buddy here who is an journeymen he is taking home 2200$ a week!

Im at Shell Scotford right now, looking to transfer to Suncor/Syncrude in the next few weeks for the shutdowns.

The money in BC is an absolute joke.... I highly recommend to anyone who has a trade that can be transfered to the alberta industrial sector to do so right away if they dont have any kids.

How is shell, i keep hearing that you stand around for 10 hours haha is that true? Im sure some days things are slower than others, just makes for a long day i guess. What company are you with KBR? Bantrel? They dont seem to take apprentice plumbers very often which kind of sucks, because i know i could do whatever a steam apprentice could do, like some of the calls are for just hydro testing but they only want a steam apprentice. The commerical side is going good for now, but god the money in industrial with the living out allowance makes me wanna switch

Ive been at Shell Scotford on and off for the last 9 months, working for both KBR and TIC, but Im most likely going to do a job test for the Suncor shutdown this week.

Yeah it makes for a long day with the traveling back and forth for sure. Im renting a place in Fort Saskatchewan so its only a 20 minute bus ride to work but I feel sorry for guys who are commuting from the west/south side of Edmonton, who are having 12-13 hour days with traveling time.

I cant speak for any of the hydro testing or commissioning, but Ive worked with plumbing guys who were able to pick up on some of the trade and other guys who didnt have a clue how to use a grinder.

Drop your resume off at Wartsila Canada located on Savage road in Richmond, just off of river road.

^ get outt here darnold, im staying in fort saskatchewan too! haha my buddy is staying there so its close for him to get to shell, and that were i thought id go too. fuck theres nothing to do in this town, hang out at the walmart, seems like the place to be haha. Does TIC or KBR ever hire plumbing apprentices, they always seem to want steam guys.

Yeah its not too exciting around here, im heading out in the next few days for Suncor anyways.

TIC just got booted out by Bechtel a few days ago, which was awesome for me because i was going to quit this week and have to take a 90 day ban from all Shell sites, so i was very fortunate for getting the layoff instead.

I know KBR does hire plumbers, but its all up to the union hall/contractor whether to dispatch you as a plumber for a steamfitter position or not.

Go down in person and talk to the local 488 pipefitters hall and ask them.

I def will if i get laid off, im liking working at CCIS, at the U of A. Its a pretty good site, with good guys, plus it counts towards my apprentice hours, i dont believe working industrial does, for plumbing anyways. Where is Suncor? is that up in Fort Mc Mac?

Suncor is one of the biggest players in Fort Mac, along with Syncrude, Shell, Nexen, CNRL and Esso.

Its an old dirty tarsands facility, and the only reason im going there is because of the massive shutdown that is going on this spring.

will u be making more than at shell scotsford?