How the pay works
Not an offer. An agreement.
What the trade pays across Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent and Sarnia is set by a negotiated schedule, not by whoever is hiring. Here is how that works, what rides on top of the hourly rate, and why the figure you found online isn't it.
The rate is negotiated, not offered
Members work under the Local 235 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which sets the terms and conditions of employment across the local's four trade classifications: Sheet Metal, Roofing, Decking & Siding, and Air Balancing. Wage schedules are negotiated provincially through the Ontario Sheet Metal Workers' & Roofers' Conference, with the employers represented by the Ontario Sheet Metal Contractors' Association.
You don't haggle for the rate and the contractor doesn't set it. That means two things a job ad can't offer: everyone working a given classification is on the same scale, so experience decides where you go rather than who bargained hardest on hiring day; and the rate is written into an agreement, enforceable, not a promise made at an interview.
When the agreement is renegotiated, the increase reaches every member covered by it at once.
It steps up as you qualify
Apprentices are paid from their first day on the job, working under the same agreement as journeypersons. An apprentice earns a defined share of the journeyperson rate, and that share steps up as levels are completed, reaching the full rate on certification.
The progression is written into the agreement, so the raise arrives when you complete the level. Nobody has to ask for it, and it doesn't depend on how the year went.
Because the classroom portion is part of the apprenticeship rather than tuition you take on first, you are earning across the whole period instead of paying to qualify and starting afterwards. A High School Diploma or GED is required to start.
What rides on top of the hourly
The wage is the visible part. Members and their families are also covered by medical, dental and vision care, short- and long-term disability, life insurance and prescription drug coverage, alongside a defined pension plan. Coverage is managed through the Union Benefits member portal.
Those are funded through the collective agreement rather than being a benefits package you opt into and pay for yourself. The agreement also carries the conditions around the rate: overtime, and the travel and tool terms for the jurisdiction.
This is the biggest reason a union rate and an online salary average are not comparable numbers. The survey captures an hourly figure. It does not capture the pension being funded beside it.
Why the number online is wrong
Search what this trade pays and you get figures from job boards and salary aggregators. Those are averages across everyone with a similar job title in the province: union and non-union, apprentice and journeyperson, full-time and seasonal, blended into a single number.
An average built that way sits below the negotiated journeyperson rate almost by construction, because it is dragged down by apprentices partway through their progression and by work covered by no agreement at all.
If you are weighing this trade against another, that is the comparison that matters and the one the aggregators can't give you. Call the hall and ask.
Straight answers
- How are wages set for Local 235 members?
- Members work under the Local 235 Collective Bargaining Agreement, covering the local's four trade classifications: Sheet Metal, Roofing, Decking & Siding, and Air Balancing. Wage schedules are negotiated provincially through the Ontario Sheet Metal Workers' & Roofers' Conference, with employers represented by the Ontario Sheet Metal Contractors' Association. Rates are not negotiated individually and are not set by the contractor. Call the hall at 519-945-0500 for the current schedule.
- Do apprentices get paid while they train?
- Yes. Apprentices are paid from their first day on the job and work under the same collective agreement as journeypersons. An apprentice earns a defined share of the journeyperson rate, stepping up as levels are completed and reaching the full rate on certification. The classroom portion is part of the apprenticeship rather than tuition paid up front. A High School Diploma or GED is required to start.
- What do members get besides the hourly rate?
- Members and their families are covered by medical, dental and vision care, short- and long-term disability, life insurance and prescription drug coverage, alongside a defined pension plan, all funded through the collective agreement. Coverage is managed through the Union Benefits member portal. The agreement also sets overtime and the travel and tool terms for the jurisdiction.
- Why is the union rate different from the average I see online?
- Salary aggregators and job boards publish a blended average across everyone with a similar job title in the province: union and non-union, apprentice and journeyperson. That average sits below the negotiated journeyperson rate, because it is pulled down by apprentices partway through their progression and by work covered by no agreement. It also captures only the hourly figure, not the pension and benefit contributions funded beside it.
- Where do I get the current wage rate for Local 235?
- From the union hall. Rates change when the collective agreement is renegotiated, so the schedule held at the hall is the authoritative source rather than any figure published online. Call 519-945-0500, or for confidential organizing enquiries call 519-980-6235.
For the current schedule, call the hall at 519-945-0500. More on how the apprenticeship works and member benefits.
Considering going union?
Call the Organizing Department.
Every call is strictly confidential, never tied to your employer.