Ironworkers were responsible for building iconic modern structures like the Golden Gate Bridge, Sears Tower, and other modern landmarks like they do today. Ironworking requires balance, sure-footedness, good hand-eye coordination, and basic math knowledge to accomplish.
Start Your Journey as an Ironworker Today
Apprenticeships
Journey-level ironworkers typically enter a registered apprenticeship program as the pathway to becoming master ironworkers. An apprentice earns while they learn, working alongside experienced journeyman ironworkers while receiving technical classroom instruction. Apprentices typically receive a salary during this phase; veterans can use GI Bill benefits towards paying for training costs.
Apprentices typically begin their job responsibilities with simple assignments before progressing to more demanding ones. Apprentices learn skills like reading blueprints, welding steel structures, and erecting them correctly; they are also asked to assemble safety rigging, direct crane operators, and set reinforcement bars – these jobs often necessitate scaffolding or walking narrow beams at great heights where balance and eye-hand coordination are vitally important.
Apprentices typically attend ironworking classes for classroom instruction and on-the-job training, which naturally occurs during daytime or evening hours and is designed to complement the on-the-job experience. Courses allow apprentices to hone newfound welding skills in a controlled environment while receiving feedback from instructors and fellow students. Each apprentice is evaluated every six months to assess his/her progress on the job and in class; otherwise, they could be dropped from the program or sent back for additional training.
On-the-Job Training
On-the-job training differs significantly from classroom-based education in that learners can immediately put their newfound skills to actual work without disrupting production or changing work routines, and is much more cost-efficient in terms of materials, equipment, and labor savings.
Apprenticeship programs usually last four years and are split evenly between on-the-job training with contractors and classroom instruction that may occur two nights per week, four weeks of instruction per year, or one weekend per month. On-the-job training typically requires a high school diploma or GED certificate and physical strength above average, as well as drug screening and safety classes to qualify. Once accepted into a union ironworker apprenticeship, all its benefits, including health insurance and pension plans, become immediately accessible to them.
Structural Reinforcing and Ornamental Ironworkers use decorative metals to form and support buildings and structures such as bridges, highways, hotels, stadiums, water towers, skyscrapers, and more. They can also build precast concrete. Reinforcing ironworkers install post-tensioning cables between supporting columns in concrete forms to span greater distances before tensioning them to strengthen the strength of concrete structures – increasing their strength by stressing these tendons further.
Once a tradesperson reaches journeyman status, their interest and drive for their craft can lead them into supervisory roles such as foreman or superintendent; alternatively, they could choose to teach and mentor apprentices. To further their careers, tradespeople must continue upgrading their skills through continuing education classes similar to engineers and lawyers do – certification in welding, rigging, or crane signaling can enhance an ironworker’s skill set, making them even more attractive contractors or employers.
Education and Training
Ironworkers continue their education through apprenticeship and on-the-job training. In addition, they attend classes offered through both unions and third-party providers – these may include welding classes, blueprint reading lessons, and crane signaling/safety courses. Ironworking industry stakeholders continue to face a shortage of skilled labor, which they have responded to with education, training, and career development initiatives such as IMPACT’s paid maternity leave benefits for female ironworkers. The Union invests its IMPACT grant funds in mobile training trailers for burning, weld certification and classroom instruction, and advertising on construction sites and job fairs to promote its trade. ClickSafety is also an educational and training resource, helping ironworkers stay current with OSHA certification requirements and future training opportunities.
The union offers a four-year apprenticeship program to give participants a chance to obtain an associate degree in Apprenticeship Technology: Ironworker and become journeyman ironworkers with benefits like health and dental insurance, short-term disability pay, retirement annuity plans, and vacation plans – not to mention becoming part of one of the nation’s premier construction trade unions. Becoming an ironworker also means becoming part of one of its respected construction trades unions and being acknowledged as a qualified journeyman ironworker nationwide!
Networking
Ironworkers take great pride in their profession, which combines highly esteemed professional standards with an “earn while you learn” apprenticeship system. From the Golden Gate Bridge to the World Trade Center, nearly any modern structure was constructed by skilled journeymen ironworkers.
Ironworkers who enter the trade can use their skills and drive to advance quickly, becoming foremen, superintendents, contractors, or foremen themselves. Furthermore, many unions provide leadership opportunities so these professionals can reach out to new apprentices while promoting its benefits to prospective applicants.
Structural ironworkers are among the most prevalent, responsible for creating and installing steel framework for large buildings, metal tanks, and bridges. Reading blueprints and signaling crane operators to lift prefabricated beams into position. Reinforcing ironworkers (rodmen) set steel bars into concrete forms to reinforce them further, while others install and assemble stairways, railings, gates, canopies, or decorative ironwork as part of their duties.
Recruitment can be challenging for unions, yet it remains an essential element. Ironworkers’ recruitment of new members is no exception – reaching out to potential apprentices involves instilling the idea in high school students that ironworking offers career security as they enter retirement age or showing disgruntled factory workers that the ironworkers union is there to assist them.
