Salary??

[Rune Petersen]

 

Hey there.

 

I´m a scaffolder from Denmark (who now lives in Sweden).

Just curious:  How much does a scaffolder earn in the States??  Is there a big difference throughout all the US??

Just wondering :-)

 

By the way, a danish scaffolder is paid approximately 36.5 $ an hour (thats before taxes) :-)

But we do often get paid by the piece, and we are then able to make up to 55 $ an hour.

Be safe out there....

Rune

[Dave Glynn]

just wondering indiana, do they use scaffolding on the on-shore u.s. oil rigs and if so what type?  also what width spanner do you blokes use over in the states?  cheers

[Dave Glynn]

thats what i call wages indiana!  sounds like it would be worth the trip but you might find the money aint as good come the spring.  i reckon theyre getting paid so well cos of the extreme winter.  i'd give it a go though.

dave

[Indiana Gividen]

I asked about Alaska at work today.  Some of the guys said they were making $2800 a week working on the pipelines 80 miles south of the arctic circle.  They are working in 12 hour shifts.  Apparently it is negative 50 Celcius and they are limiting exposure to 15 minutes at a time.  Some of us are thinking of heading up there this spring.

[Rune Petersen]

Thanx a lot for the comments Indiana and Dave ;-).

The 36.50 is US Dollars.....thats appr. 200 Danish Kroners.  In Denmark we usually don't have benefits included in the salary.  We pay high taxes here (40-50 %), but then we don't have to pay for social security.  We don't have to pay anything when going to the doctor/hospital.  We don't pay anything to go to school/college, and if you loose your job, you get a monthly check from the state.  The only benefit included in the salary is pension ;-).  It's probably a lot different "over there" in the US :-).

Denmark is such a small country, so the salaries are almost the same across the country. I think it's around 90 % of the scaffolders who are organized in unions.  The last 10% don't make as much money, but they are being "chased" by the unions and other organized scaffolders.  If they don't go in to the unions, their scaffolds will be dismantled during the night haha.  So we take good care of each other here :-).

Dave......I'm sure you would look nice building scaffolds on Hollywood Boulevard haha.  Alaska is tooo f....cold for me to.  I'm working offshore in the Northsea for the moment, and it's pretty windy out there, but not as cold as Alaska though ;-).  

HEY...NELLY is MY girl.....take ya hands off her now mate...haha.  I'm gonna marry her before christmas LOL :-)

[Indiana Gividen]

Oh yea.  Scaffolding is considered part of carpentry.  Scaffolds used to be made of wood...

Scaffolding is part of the required course work to get a college degree in carpentry.  The scaffolding is generally performed by contractors that deal in scaffold and scaffold only.

[Indiana Gividen]

Scaffold rates vary wildly across the United States.  Each state has it's own labor laws as well as industry specialties.  The pay in the industrialized northern states is generally higher than the southern states.  The wage rate of union vs. non-union is substantial as well.  Union scaffold builders generally make 50% or more than there non-union counterparts.  I've heard of non-union scaffold builders in Alabama making as little as $12 USD an hour with no benefits.  Where as my brothers in Chicago make $35 USD to $40 USD an hour with benefits that add up to a package of over $60 USD an hour.  If you can get clearance to work in nuclear power plants you can make even more.

 

Are you making $36.50 euro or is that a number adjusted for the exchange rate and does that include benefits?

[Dave Glynn]

hiya rune. curious about the salary in the states as well. only found this site yesterday and from the jobs that i'v seen advertised it seems like $20 ph is about the rate.  i think scaffolding is seen differently in america and they dont see it as a trade in itself. i could be wrong but it seems to have something to do with carpenters or something????  i have heard that theres decent money to be earned in alaska.  sounds tooooo cold for me though' i see myself more in hollywood as scaffolder to the stars!!!! LOL.

HEY!!! does NELLY love you too??? fkn jealous now!

have you looked on scaffolders forum uk?  its a good site with lots of info for work.

cheers, dave