Trade Award Wages

[Pickle']

hi all just wanted to complain a little and see if anyone else has done the same shit.

basically i started as a Graphic arts (printing) apprentice 4 years ago. last week i recieved my certificate only to realise my pay only increased $0.90 upto $17.01. I have worked my arse off the whole apprenticeship dealing with the horrid money issues ive had thinking when i finish ill get something decent. this is approx what i've been earning:

0-6 months $235 p/w ($8ph)
6-12 months $270 p/w ($8.90ph)
12-24 months 320 p/w ($10.30ph)
24-36 months 360p/w ($11.50ph)
36-42 months 420 p/w ($14?)
42-48 months 510 p/w ($16.10)

now have been increased to flat 17. i feel like i have wasted the last 4 years of my life for nothing. my sister is earning more then me on the dole.

just venting.. anyone else done an apprenticeship and feel the same way?

[Stressball]

Now you've got your certificate, look elsewhere for a better position?

[soop]

Yes and yes.

You're better of working at woolies. 4yrs of being treated like a dog to be insulted at the end of it...

[burnz]

a lot ppl have left their trades due to low wages, i earn double the money as a labourer than my trade payes..

[elmaso]

thats the way it works man, bricklaying, i was getting $280p/w my sister working at nandoes was getting over $400p/w and i was working 50+hours a week.

[DLFHUB666]

It comes down to what trade an where you do it i guess, when i was 17/18 i did a traineeship with then alcan now riotino alcan, did 9 months of a 12 month traineeship (finished it early) was on $8.50/hr they gave me a job jumped stright to about $35/hr.

[soop]

Most basic trades, you've got two chances of that happening.

[ClairBear]

I believe this article in today's paper will interest you

Tradies the winners in apprenticeship revamp | Adelaide Now

[FstStig]

Quick question is how old are you? Your age also reflects on how much you earn. Its totally stupid just because you are younger you get treated differently yet you work twice as hard as the guy that doesn't work twice as hard and still earns more its BS.

[soop]

Once your fully qualified it should make no difference how old you are.
It will come down to how good you are at your trade.

Not that it ever does, its just who licks balls the best. If you aren't prepared to suck the boss off, you get no where :P

[Pickle']

Once your fully qualified it should make no difference how old you are.
It will come down to how good you are at your trade.

Not that it ever does, its just who licks balls the best. If you aren't prepared to suck the boss off, you get no where :P

thats exactly how it is.. not tryna make out like ive done my 4 years so i know everything that i will ever learn about it.. but i run with another just gone tradie a machine that there is only one of in australia of its size.. people in another factory in melbourne same company earning $42 p/h doing the same thing on a smaller machine.. i believe im best off with another job but ive only ever been here so i dunno what ill be walking into.. sounds stupid but its how it is..

Also ive just turned 21.. ill reply to other posts later as im still at work =P

[MasterOfReality]

Did you not research your future earning potential?

Sounds like you need to shift employers if you are convinced that other places pay better for an equivalent person such as yourself.

[soop]

Did you not research your future earning potential?

Sounds like you need to shift employers if you are convinced that other places pay better for an equivalent person such as yourself.

You find me ONE 16yr old apprentice who has. Seriously. I hate comments like this.

[IBLOWN]

Depends on the company you work for. I pay my tradesmen on their ability and versatility.

[Stressball]

You find me ONE 16yr old apprentice who has. Seriously. I hate comments like this.

Wait, what? Are you suggesting that most young apprentices have not looked into how much they would make when they were fully qualified? Every single person I know who went into a trade looked very, very carefully at what the earning potential was before deciding on a trade.

[minux]

Once your fully qualified it should make no difference how old you are.
It will come down to how good you are at your trade.

What a load of shit. Just because you have the paperwork, doesn't make you skilled. Experience with age can only get you this. By your logic a person who does a Bach of bus management should be on 16 million a year, after all they have qualifications to be a CEO of a mining company.

Like everything in life, the longer you do soemthing the better you get, which in turn means more money.

OP if you are not being paid enough, leave.

[soop]

LOL WTF?
Age has nothing to do with it.
I've seen MANY old tradies who are useless as tits on a bull. Yes its more probable that with age you're going to be better at it, but its not the rule.

Age shouldn't have anything to do with pay rate. It should be based on your ability.
That aside, award wage is a joke.

[FstStig]

Yes Soop and that's why when I turned 21 my pay goes up from $577 a week to $600+ a week. Nope not qualified to do this Job either. Age does come into it, like it or not. Maybe you should do your research first.

[soop]

urgg, yes it does go up with age when you under age. But if you're fully qualified you should be paid the same amount of money as the next TQ'd tradie. Provided skills are on the same level.

If you have a 22yr old trades man at X skill level and a 42yr old at the same level. Then I see no reason why the older worker deserves more money.

[elmaso]

urgg, yes it does go up with age when you under age. But if you're fully qualified you should be paid the same amount of money as the next TQ'd tradie. Provided skills are on the same level.

If you have a 22yr old trades man at X skill level and a 42yr old at the same level. Then I see no reason why the older worker deserves more money.

depending on the trade most tradies contract out, and they have they younger fellas working for them. so the older tradie controls the younger tradies pay, hence why younger gets paid less.

[JMP]

I believe the whole trade system is screwed. When I did my trade years ago there were guys completing their trade that were just as hopeless or worse than kids doing tech in high school, when I asked the teachers how come they pass kids this bad and let them get their certificate the reply I got was that there was too much crap to deal with if they failed them and they were encouraged not to fail them. Now that pissed me off back then cause there were guys qualified as tradesman that couldn't even work by themselves unsupervised.
Now if you ever go to a factory you will find unqualified guys earning almost as much as tradesman so you have to wonder whats the point of studying for 4 years just for a little more money. There are very few trades that reward you for being qualified with a decent wage unless your trade is in a field that you must be qualified to be employed in then your screwed basically and to truly benefit from being a tradesman anyway you need to think about going out on your own.

[MasterOfReality]

You find me ONE 16yr old apprentice who has. Seriously. I hate comments like this.

This sort of shit is taught in schools. When I was 15 I was packed off to the steelworks for 3 weeks, and one of the assignments we had were to find out what the pay scales were for the duration of an apprenticeship.

Why do you hate comments like this? Surely it would be too much common sense for a 16 year old kid to ask questions about how much he is going to earn?

At 16 you are old enough to do a bit of homework. If one can't be bothered to do a simple bit of groundwork then maybe thats all one deserves. You simply do not leave school flying blind.

Not all kids are that farkin dumb are they?

[FstStig]

urgg, yes it does go up with age when you under age. But if you're fully qualified you should be paid the same amount of money as the next TQ'd tradie. Provided skills are on the same level.

If you have a 22yr old trades man at X skill level and a 42yr old at the same level. Then I see no reason why the older worker deserves more money.

That makes more sense, and I can agree on that 100%

[Pickle']

This sort of shit is taught in schools. When I was 15 I was packed off to the steelworks for 3 weeks, and one of the assignments we had were to find out what the pay scales were for the duration of an apprenticeship.

Why do you hate comments like this? Surely it would be too much common sense for a 16 year old kid to ask questions about how much he is going to earn?

At 16 you are old enough to do a bit of homework. If one can't be bothered to do a simple bit of groundwork then maybe thats all one deserves. You simply do not leave school flying blind.

Not all kids are that farkin dumb are they?

LOL i laugh at you saying havnt you checked what you'd be earning.. average pay for my trade is around $30 an hour... AWARD WAGES ARE ALWAYS SHIT NO MATTER THE JOB... apprenticeships pay was going to be shit either way.. i didnt care for that.. but my point is.. my tradie.. who now does #### all but watch me and has done this for about 2 years now since i can do the job is on $39p/h im not even on half that and im doing the whole job.

LOL WTF?
Age has nothing to do with it.
I've seen MANY old tradies who are useless as tits on a bull. Yes its more probable that with age you're going to be better at it, but its not the rule.

Age shouldn't have anything to do with pay rate. It should be based on your ability.
That aside, award wage is a joke.

thats pretty much what i wanted to say.. my 'experienced' tradie is 52yo earning $39 and cannot run my machine whatsoever now just watches quality... (when his not on facebook) and the other guy im with is on $22ph his 23yo and im doing the exact same thing as him... when i asked why his on more i got told his older and more 'experienced'

[Stressball]

LOL i laugh at you saying havnt you checked what you'd be earning.. average pay for my trade is around $30 an hour... AWARD WAGES ARE ALWAYS SHIT NO MATTER THE JOB... apprenticeships pay was going to be shit either way.. i didnt care for that.. but my point is.. my tradie.. who now does #### all but watch me and has done this for about 2 years now since i can do the job is on $39p/h im not even on half that and im doing the whole job.



thats pretty much what i wanted to say.. my 'experienced' tradie is 52yo earning $39 and cannot run my machine whatsoever now just watches quality... (when his not on facebook) and the other guy im with is on $22ph his 23yo and im doing the exact same thing as him... when i asked why his on more i got told his older and more 'experienced'

So what you mean to say is... You have a shit boss. Not that the award wage is too low. Award wages are low for everything, as you said. The problem is global for award wages, they serve no purpose other than to set the lowest bar you can expect to reach. If you expect more, and your current employer won't pay you what you're worth, you find another employer. This is not specific to trades.

Start looking.