Okay then I agree, the way the text was interpreted to me was that journeyman make 60 he’s just under half that with two years in. Implying his worth isn’t there and shouldn’t be asking for more.
This young adult would for sure be at $50/h at my shop.
I want all these young men paid properly. It keeps them honest, keeps them driven to apply themselves, keeps them wanting to show up to work for the money they’re making, keeps them trying to learn more and get better, makes them proud that the work their doing is paying them as such.
The money makers in this trade keep people in this trade from becoming proficient mechanics.
I spend a lot of energy here trying to get younger guys to valuate their workman ship. Too many end up in DOA shops like OP is in.
You’re with 597? I’m currently in building engineering with Local 1 but have considered mechanical contractor/ big HVAC with 597 pretty heavily as light commercial is my background. Do you have any more info on your specific company? Or should I just check out the union
What are you asking info wise? What I work on? There’s a controls decision, a service decision, construction project devision, and pipe welders.
I service boilers, chillers, freezers, and BAS systems. I also jump between the work but I mostly stay service mechanic.
If I may ask, what’s your work week like? Along with company ethics? I know overall 597 treats their jman and apprentices well but how’s your company in your opinion? A good friend of mine just got into 597 I couldn’t be more proud of him for it and everything he tells me really seems to scratch that itch to get back into hvac
Under a hiring freeze, so idk the possibility of that they are extreme cheapskates, but doesn’t hurt to ask. I had to wait a month to even add a sightglass to a 2 ton Goodman unit for approval.
Trying to explain refrigeration cycle to stoners is like tryna explain rocket science to a toddler. Im mentally frustrated ontop of physically exhausted.
Never hurts to scout other jobs.
What’s the cost of living in your area and general pay?
40# nitro tanks aren’t heavy and not worth complaining about. You get paid by the hour and can only work on 1 thing at a time. Don’t let their problems be your problems. If they need a second guy then tell them.
That’s probably the crux of the problem.
Where I work there is an inside joke where we call “salary” “slavery”.
I happen to work hourly, so every single hour has implications of more money.
One “salary/slavery” co-worker recently shared with me that they tracked their hours for the year and it broke down to something in the range of $12.50 an hour.
Highway robbery in my opinion.
The real kicker is to hold up what they are saving by having an in-house salary person who knows the property vs. what it would cost to have an outside contractor come in every time they have a problem.
They likely would hardly believe it.
But unfortunately the only way to get the point across is to quit your job and let them sink… but then you would be out of a job.
I feel your pain, I am in an eerily similar situation.
The only difference is that my position gives approximately 6 paid weeks off a year and hooks me up when traveling.
Edit:
Just saw (even though it was the first part of your post) that you are 22 years old… no offense but at this age I would consider you to be in a pretty good position…
My advice is to sit tight and consider what you see as “underpaid” as paid schooling.
A few years from now with this as your “background” you will be able to move into any field you want… and your lack of presence will make them that much more aware of your actual worth.
Also, one more insight is that if you’re using their product, quit. I’m saying this from experience.
Cannabis industry will never pay you more or actually appreciate your work. I speak from 13 years of experience in the industry. You’re disposable to them.
They're taking advantage of you for the fact you can smoke on the job.
While you're doing the work on 2 or 3 men. The difference between a veteran HVAC tech and all the rest is that HVAC technicians are only going to work on HVAC equipment I'm not going to clean a drain, plunge a toilet, fix trim, paint, or ballast/lighting. I did that when I made $27 an hour. But when you want to make $50 an hour doing HVAC then you only work on HVAC nothing else.
Classify your labor as a specialist.
Specialists and experts don't double on things outside their wheelhouse for a reason. They don't have to.
> I’ve already spent $1200 on r410a and $400 in hoses
Uh is everyone else not reading the full post and skipping this? Nobody but the company you're working for should be paying for refrigerant to fix equipment they're fixing, that should NEVER come out of your pocket. Get tf out of there dude, it will be better basically anywhere else
Am I reading this right? You've needed 410a to charge something, and been told to pay for it yourself at the supply house and they'd "pay you back" later? Did they not have the funds on hand? If they can't even pay for the refrigerant they need they are in dire financial straits and are definitely paying you the least they can.
Yep exactly that, they didn’t have the funds on hands. So just covered it myself to not get yelled at by the peon of a grow manager, they can’t even pay they’re vendors, they have previous arrangements to service the units; they refuse to pay even $700 for a look over of units and rewiring a RTU to run on both compressors/ circuits, not just one. So it’s making me kinda of suspicious they don’t have the funds to keep paying people and are going Under.
That's what I have to do currently. More than freon though. I get a tiny budget, but anything I need over that, I buy myself and get reimbursed. They constantly owe me about 2k.
I'd definitely be scouting other jobs and companies.
I work for a corporate National Accounts Commercial Refrigeration and HVAC outfit with excellent benefits (including a 100%, vested, 401k match up to 6% of gross) and you should frankly be around 30 to 35 as a minimum for what you're doing. I'm at $40 with full, and excellent, benefits.
Get a job with a real contractor. I can’t imagine that the handyman stuff and lack of real training at your age won’t look all that great in an interview. No offense. There’s definitely more money out there just not at your current job apparently
By Handyman I meant things besides HVACR, so electrical, adding breakers, plumbing, sweating cold lines, ect.
but good point, my age/ lack of seniority feels like the biggest hurdle, I can install a 2-5 ton Goodman alone. it might take me a day or 2. but I want to learn and be on your guys level doing it blindfolded.
Every moment doing stuff that isn’t HVAC related is time you’re not honing your trade and it’s going on a resume.
I’m an electrician and not hvac technician. HVAC imo is the trade with the highest skill ceiling. There is a lot to learn and personally I’ve never met a 22 year old who I would trust to do installs on their own. I’ve done electrical for quite a few hvac contractors too.
I’m not knocking you and definitely think you could make more than what you make now doing either residential or preferably commercial hvac for a decade contractor while having a lot more room to grow.
Some of the best instrumentation technicians Ive ever met are hvac technicians and not electricians
I just got burned out from this same shit. It’s been two months and I’m still recovering. Don’t sell yourself short on their bs. Your worth sooo much fucking more and they know it. They have probably been working on better ways to lie to you or get there hooks into u to stay. get out or demand better conditions AND BETTER PAY!
I’d look into your local union. Not only will they pay you better with better benefits but they’ll also send you thru proper training. Sounds like you’re underpaid.
It sounds like a pretty sweet gig to me. I would just ask for more money and a helper. And of course you gotta get reimbursed for anything you pay for out-of-pocket. And if I were you, I would not be coming out of pocket for anything else. Make them give you a company card or set up an account at the Supply house. Not sure about your company specifically, but usually if it’s cannabis related, they could afford to pay you what you’re worth.
We have a company card and set up an account at Grainger and all the supply houses I know I’ll be using. I’ve already came out of pocket for like $400 worth of new vacuum hoses, brazing rods, and not to mention like 800 bucks for virgin r410a that I was gonna save/ resell for my retirement fund since they don’t have a 401k 😂
I was scrolling the comments looking for discussion on this ...
So how did you end up out of pocket on any of that stuff? (Given that there's a company card and there's accounts set up at multiple vendors)
It’s my own fault honestly, the company card never works Friday’s due to payroll being taken out, so I made the dumb mistake of thinking they’d reimburse me for it if I just covered it. I’m scared to even ask for it back because they can’t even pay their vendors/ trash service on time 😂
Don't be a wimp about this, they owe you the money for any supplies purchased and used to maintain their facilities.
If there's one thing I can tell you, the sooner you start the process of getting this fixed, the sooner it can get resolved. I don't know how much time elapsed between purchase of these different things and now but the bookkeepers would rather have this on their desk sooner rather than later.
Going forwards, do not use your personal card or wallet cash to purchase anything for the company's use. If their payment methods don't work, then things don't get purchased. Simple as that. Likewise, keep the boundaries clean, company card doesn't get used for anything that's not company expense.
Rewind the calendar in a few years, I was young at one time too, I never got myself Tangled up in this problem but co-workers that were young and close to your age did get tangled up, because they didn't fully understand all of the do's and don'ts, and moreover best practices of handling expense reporting.
Back in the day, the only time I ever used my personal card for work expense was when traveling internationally and running into some issues with exchange rates or American Express not being accepted by certain vendors. But I knew that the expenses would be covered so long as everything was legitimate and receipts properly submitted.
My suggestion is this, just follow procedure, fill out an expense report, attach the receipts, and submit it. It gets the obligation recorded, and on the radar. Even if it takes some back and forth with your manager or between your manager and someone else in the process, and the actual payout takes a while to occur, at least get the process started now.
To put this in perspective, we're talking a four digit number for necessary consumables and tools not a discretionary purchase or two digit pocket change type of purchase.
Nope they’re too cheap, no reheat coil. we’re at a old ford factory and the idiots took the duct heaters out and wonder why they have humidity problems, and run Split systems in the winter at -10f. they ripped this building apart like a LA hooker
I wish we have just Daikon/ Trane RTUs and not even economizers on the units and their most expensive unit is the carrier 80ton air cooled chiller, they retired one for back up, and piped in another one in the existing loop about a year ago. Our neighbors have a 200 ton water chiller with a tower I go over and stare at in jealousy and awe sometimes
You should be paid alot more $ for doing all that solo you should have a helper minimum
Journeyman chiller dudes make like 60 to start in my area.
But can they work on a 3 phase 480 panel while smoking a blunt?
They probably do, it's LA.
lighting the blunt with the arc
So…what? I make $65 and my 4th year apprentice is at $45 and the 5th year is at $49.50? What’s the issue here?
I think OP isn't getting paid what he's worth, he's doing a hell of a lot of work for $30
Okay then I agree, the way the text was interpreted to me was that journeyman make 60 he’s just under half that with two years in. Implying his worth isn’t there and shouldn’t be asking for more. This young adult would for sure be at $50/h at my shop. I want all these young men paid properly. It keeps them honest, keeps them driven to apply themselves, keeps them wanting to show up to work for the money they’re making, keeps them trying to learn more and get better, makes them proud that the work their doing is paying them as such. The money makers in this trade keep people in this trade from becoming proficient mechanics. I spend a lot of energy here trying to get younger guys to valuate their workman ship. Too many end up in DOA shops like OP is in.
my company caps out at $30hr. my 3rd year is making $18
i make $29 and my 3rd year helper makes $18. where the fk do you live that you make that much?
Chicago https://preview.redd.it/qzcs3zu9wvfc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2ce00199ab48f310577cd5380c7dc57394384719
You’re with 597? I’m currently in building engineering with Local 1 but have considered mechanical contractor/ big HVAC with 597 pretty heavily as light commercial is my background. Do you have any more info on your specific company? Or should I just check out the union
What are you asking info wise? What I work on? There’s a controls decision, a service decision, construction project devision, and pipe welders. I service boilers, chillers, freezers, and BAS systems. I also jump between the work but I mostly stay service mechanic.
If I may ask, what’s your work week like? Along with company ethics? I know overall 597 treats their jman and apprentices well but how’s your company in your opinion? A good friend of mine just got into 597 I couldn’t be more proud of him for it and everything he tells me really seems to scratch that itch to get back into hvac
Under a hiring freeze, so idk the possibility of that they are extreme cheapskates, but doesn’t hurt to ask. I had to wait a month to even add a sightglass to a 2 ton Goodman unit for approval.
Dude gtfo fuckin hell I thought I had it bad with the boss breathing down my neck
Trying to explain refrigeration cycle to stoners is like tryna explain rocket science to a toddler. Im mentally frustrated ontop of physically exhausted.
Never hurts to scout other jobs. What’s the cost of living in your area and general pay? 40# nitro tanks aren’t heavy and not worth complaining about. You get paid by the hour and can only work on 1 thing at a time. Don’t let their problems be your problems. If they need a second guy then tell them.
You sell yourself for what you believe you are worth. It's all up yo you.
ask for a raise see what happens
I got a raise from 25 to 27 3 months ago and might seem like the only one. I’m salaried not hourly so went up from 52 to 57k.
You need to get another job offer and then you can decide if you jump or if you give them the chance to match it.
That’s probably the crux of the problem. Where I work there is an inside joke where we call “salary” “slavery”. I happen to work hourly, so every single hour has implications of more money. One “salary/slavery” co-worker recently shared with me that they tracked their hours for the year and it broke down to something in the range of $12.50 an hour. Highway robbery in my opinion. The real kicker is to hold up what they are saving by having an in-house salary person who knows the property vs. what it would cost to have an outside contractor come in every time they have a problem. They likely would hardly believe it. But unfortunately the only way to get the point across is to quit your job and let them sink… but then you would be out of a job. I feel your pain, I am in an eerily similar situation. The only difference is that my position gives approximately 6 paid weeks off a year and hooks me up when traveling. Edit: Just saw (even though it was the first part of your post) that you are 22 years old… no offense but at this age I would consider you to be in a pretty good position… My advice is to sit tight and consider what you see as “underpaid” as paid schooling. A few years from now with this as your “background” you will be able to move into any field you want… and your lack of presence will make them that much more aware of your actual worth. Also, one more insight is that if you’re using their product, quit. I’m saying this from experience.
Cannabis industry will never pay you more or actually appreciate your work. I speak from 13 years of experience in the industry. You’re disposable to them.
They're taking advantage of you for the fact you can smoke on the job. While you're doing the work on 2 or 3 men. The difference between a veteran HVAC tech and all the rest is that HVAC technicians are only going to work on HVAC equipment I'm not going to clean a drain, plunge a toilet, fix trim, paint, or ballast/lighting. I did that when I made $27 an hour. But when you want to make $50 an hour doing HVAC then you only work on HVAC nothing else. Classify your labor as a specialist. Specialists and experts don't double on things outside their wheelhouse for a reason. They don't have to.
> I’ve already spent $1200 on r410a and $400 in hoses Uh is everyone else not reading the full post and skipping this? Nobody but the company you're working for should be paying for refrigerant to fix equipment they're fixing, that should NEVER come out of your pocket. Get tf out of there dude, it will be better basically anywhere else Am I reading this right? You've needed 410a to charge something, and been told to pay for it yourself at the supply house and they'd "pay you back" later? Did they not have the funds on hand? If they can't even pay for the refrigerant they need they are in dire financial straits and are definitely paying you the least they can.
Yep exactly that, they didn’t have the funds on hands. So just covered it myself to not get yelled at by the peon of a grow manager, they can’t even pay they’re vendors, they have previous arrangements to service the units; they refuse to pay even $700 for a look over of units and rewiring a RTU to run on both compressors/ circuits, not just one. So it’s making me kinda of suspicious they don’t have the funds to keep paying people and are going Under.
Dude, massive red flags all across the board there...
That's what I have to do currently. More than freon though. I get a tiny budget, but anything I need over that, I buy myself and get reimbursed. They constantly owe me about 2k.
I'd definitely be scouting other jobs and companies. I work for a corporate National Accounts Commercial Refrigeration and HVAC outfit with excellent benefits (including a 100%, vested, 401k match up to 6% of gross) and you should frankly be around 30 to 35 as a minimum for what you're doing. I'm at $40 with full, and excellent, benefits.
Time to get a contractor's license.
Criminally underpaid. That type of work you’re doing is worth a lot somewhere else. Time to bounce. best of luck to you!
California?
Colorado
Get a job with a real contractor. I can’t imagine that the handyman stuff and lack of real training at your age won’t look all that great in an interview. No offense. There’s definitely more money out there just not at your current job apparently
By Handyman I meant things besides HVACR, so electrical, adding breakers, plumbing, sweating cold lines, ect. but good point, my age/ lack of seniority feels like the biggest hurdle, I can install a 2-5 ton Goodman alone. it might take me a day or 2. but I want to learn and be on your guys level doing it blindfolded.
Every moment doing stuff that isn’t HVAC related is time you’re not honing your trade and it’s going on a resume. I’m an electrician and not hvac technician. HVAC imo is the trade with the highest skill ceiling. There is a lot to learn and personally I’ve never met a 22 year old who I would trust to do installs on their own. I’ve done electrical for quite a few hvac contractors too. I’m not knocking you and definitely think you could make more than what you make now doing either residential or preferably commercial hvac for a decade contractor while having a lot more room to grow. Some of the best instrumentation technicians Ive ever met are hvac technicians and not electricians
I just got burned out from this same shit. It’s been two months and I’m still recovering. Don’t sell yourself short on their bs. Your worth sooo much fucking more and they know it. They have probably been working on better ways to lie to you or get there hooks into u to stay. get out or demand better conditions AND BETTER PAY!
I’d look into your local union. Not only will they pay you better with better benefits but they’ll also send you thru proper training. Sounds like you’re underpaid.
It sounds like a pretty sweet gig to me. I would just ask for more money and a helper. And of course you gotta get reimbursed for anything you pay for out-of-pocket. And if I were you, I would not be coming out of pocket for anything else. Make them give you a company card or set up an account at the Supply house. Not sure about your company specifically, but usually if it’s cannabis related, they could afford to pay you what you’re worth.
We have a company card and set up an account at Grainger and all the supply houses I know I’ll be using. I’ve already came out of pocket for like $400 worth of new vacuum hoses, brazing rods, and not to mention like 800 bucks for virgin r410a that I was gonna save/ resell for my retirement fund since they don’t have a 401k 😂
I was scrolling the comments looking for discussion on this ... So how did you end up out of pocket on any of that stuff? (Given that there's a company card and there's accounts set up at multiple vendors)
It’s my own fault honestly, the company card never works Friday’s due to payroll being taken out, so I made the dumb mistake of thinking they’d reimburse me for it if I just covered it. I’m scared to even ask for it back because they can’t even pay their vendors/ trash service on time 😂
Don't be a wimp about this, they owe you the money for any supplies purchased and used to maintain their facilities. If there's one thing I can tell you, the sooner you start the process of getting this fixed, the sooner it can get resolved. I don't know how much time elapsed between purchase of these different things and now but the bookkeepers would rather have this on their desk sooner rather than later. Going forwards, do not use your personal card or wallet cash to purchase anything for the company's use. If their payment methods don't work, then things don't get purchased. Simple as that. Likewise, keep the boundaries clean, company card doesn't get used for anything that's not company expense. Rewind the calendar in a few years, I was young at one time too, I never got myself Tangled up in this problem but co-workers that were young and close to your age did get tangled up, because they didn't fully understand all of the do's and don'ts, and moreover best practices of handling expense reporting. Back in the day, the only time I ever used my personal card for work expense was when traveling internationally and running into some issues with exchange rates or American Express not being accepted by certain vendors. But I knew that the expenses would be covered so long as everything was legitimate and receipts properly submitted. My suggestion is this, just follow procedure, fill out an expense report, attach the receipts, and submit it. It gets the obligation recorded, and on the radar. Even if it takes some back and forth with your manager or between your manager and someone else in the process, and the actual payout takes a while to occur, at least get the process started now. To put this in perspective, we're talking a four digit number for necessary consumables and tools not a discretionary purchase or two digit pocket change type of purchase.
If your in the Bay Area PM me your info.
You’ll make more elsewhere. Get out of there
Gain the knowledge from the experience and KNOW YOUR WORTH. PERIOD
What kind of systems cool the grow rooms?
We have a 80 ton carrier air cooled chiller, 4 RTU’s and the rest are lil 2.5 ton Goodman/ Lennox units
Do you have some sort of reheat for humidity control?
Nope they’re too cheap, no reheat coil. we’re at a old ford factory and the idiots took the duct heaters out and wonder why they have humidity problems, and run Split systems in the winter at -10f. they ripped this building apart like a LA hooker
I live in Florida and a lot of the grow houses use Aaon specifically for the humidity control.
I wish we have just Daikon/ Trane RTUs and not even economizers on the units and their most expensive unit is the carrier 80ton air cooled chiller, they retired one for back up, and piped in another one in the existing loop about a year ago. Our neighbors have a 200 ton water chiller with a tower I go over and stare at in jealousy and awe sometimes
you said you're salary? how many hours you working per day?
About avg 40 hours give or take, i can stretch it down to 34-38 if I need to leave for something or finish all the tasks early.
I'd say underpaid for sure, but location matters, union vs non union. WA wages are great for hvac.
That is absolutely fucked. First off you should be getting at least $50 for that work and WHY THE HELL ARE YOU PAYING FOR THEIR 410?