Do you have a high school diploma or equivalent? Are you physically fit? Are you looking for a high-paying job that doesn’t require a four-year college degree?
Becoming an ironworker might be a good fit for you. The local Ironworkers Union 549 Joint Apprentice Training Committee (JATC) program located in Wheeling, West Virginia, gets you working during the day and doing classwork/training in the evenings.
JATC apprentices can start getting paid for on-the-job training immediately after signing up for the program and joining the Ironworkers Union 549. You’ll get fully qualified after completing a three-year program with 612 hours of classroom training.
You’ll earn while you learn and you’ll soon learn that demand for your newly learned trade is high and the pay is good.
A new apprentice starts out at $21.11 per hour (which is 60% of journeyman wage), plus $26.10 in benefits per hour for a total package of $47.21 per hour. You’ll get a 5% increase every six months.
By the time you qualify as a journeyman your pay package will be $63.47 per hour.
You’ll learn a trade that will keep you employed for the rest of your working life. A fully vested Ironworker's income is more than $72,000 per year, PLUS benefits, PLUS a retirement pension.
If you’re younger and just starting out in the workforce, retirement seems like it’s a long way off. Believe us when we tell you that getting a retirement pension is a big deal. You’re older self will thank us when the time comes.
But back to right now. Here are the facts: Construction companies are having a hard time finding skilled ironworkers to do all of the new infrastructure and building projects going on in the region.
There’s already a shortage of ironworkers in West Virginia and the Upper Ohio Valley. There are currently an estimated 70,200 ironworkers in the United States and it’s still not enough. The ironworker job market is expected to grow by 12.8 percent through 2026.
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in 2022 that it is planning to invest $420 million in 132 infrastructure projects across 31 states – including $14.1 million for eight projects in West Virginia.
This builds on a $6.3 million investment for West Virginia projects already announced in 2021, bringing the total investment to $20.4 million in 26 projects through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Projects include rehabilitating dams, flood prevention, and watershed restoration projects.
Through Ironworkers Union Local 549 you can start learning and earning immediately. You don’t need a four-year college degree. You don’t have to take out a loan to pay for the course. You can start learning the trade and get paid while doing it.
The JATC apprenticeship program application fee is $20. The total fee for the 3-year, 612-hour training course is $260.
You’ll take classes at the training site in Wheeling and go out to work on job sites with experienced journeyman ironworkers to put your newly learned skills to work in a safe environment.
During that time apprentices learn the trade both in the training facility and while on the job, working in safe conditions with journeyman ironworkers.
The Union retrains and certifies all its journeymen to keep up-to-date on new techniques and OSHA and MSHA safety recommendations.
What is an ironworker? What do ironworkers do?
Ironworkers are men and women of different backgrounds. They build bridges and buildings and roads – anything that has an iron or steel support needs ironworkers to put it together.
It’s physically demanding outside work that sometimes takes place at great heights. Those skyscrapers don’t build themselves. Ironworkers are trained to scale those heights safely and do the work that needs to be done.
Wheeling Ironworkers Local 549 apprenticeship program jurisdiction is in the following states and counties:
West Virginia
Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Randolph, Wetzel, Tyler, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Taylor and the western third of Barbour counties.
Ohio
Guernsey, Harrison, Belmont, Monroe, Jefferson and portions of Muskingum counties
Pennsylvania
Greene and portions of Washington counties
Local 549 also partners with the Recovery Centers of America to support members who may be struggling with addictions to alcohol or other substances.
The Union also partners with Helmets to Hardhats, an organization that works directly with members of the armed services returning home. The Local 549 arms these men and women with specialized skills to retool their abilities to fit the needs of the Ironworker.
So whether you’re a high school graduate, a returning vet, or someone who has gone through the system or rehab and is looking to rebuild their life, an Ironworker’s career might just be for you.
