Journeyman pipefitters under UA Local 149 in Champaign, IL earn $54.31/hr in base wages, or $75.65/hr as a total package with fringe benefits, effective Jul 2025.
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UA Local 149 runs its own dispatch and out-of-work list — call the hall to confirm hours, books and what to bring. Gulfstream is a private recruiter and does not control hall referral.
The Local 149 pay scale for 2026 is $54.31 per hour for journeymen in Champaign, IL, or about $108,620 a year at 2,080 hours. The total package, including employer-paid fringe benefits, is $75.65 per hour. That is the rate in force for 2026, effective 7/13/25.
| Local 149 journeyman hourly wage | $54.31 / hour |
|---|---|
| Total package (wage + fringe benefits) | $75.65 / hour |
| Annualized at 2,080 hours (base wage) | $108,620 / year |
| First-period apprentice (≈45–50% of scale) | $24.44–$27.16 / hour |
| Wage sheet effective | 7/13/25 |
| Classification | Combo |
A Local 149 apprentice in Champaign, IL starts at roughly $24.44 an hour — about 45% of the $54.31 journeyman scale — and steps up each period, reaching around $40.73 an hour by the fourth year and full scale on turning out. These are the standard percentage steps of scale, not a wage sheet Local 149 has published; confirm the exact schedule with the JATC.
| 1st period (year 1) | 45% of scale | $24.44 / hour | $48,879 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd period (year 2) | 55% of scale | $29.87 / hour | $59,741 |
| 3rd period (year 3) | 65% of scale | $35.30 / hour | $70,603 |
| 4th period (year 4) | 75% of scale | $40.73 / hour | $81,465 |
| 5th period (year 5) | 85% of scale | $46.16 / hour | $92,327 |
| Journeyman (turned out) | 100% of scale | $54.31 / hour | $108,620 |
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Local 149 wages: $54.31 an hour on the journeyman scale, $75.65 an hour with fringe benefits added, effective 7/13/25. That is the most recent Champaign, IL sheet we can source; rates move with each contract cycle, so confirm with the hall before quoting.
Roughly 28% of the UA Local 149 package is employer-paid benefits and fringes rather than wages, which is why the package figure and a take-home hourly rate are not the same number.
Unverified: crowd-sourced figure (unionpayscales.com), not confirmed against the local's own wage sheet
Download the UA Local 149 pay scale (PDF) — one-page printable rate sheet, effective July 13, 2025.
| Benefit & fringe contributions | $21.34/hr | Derived: total package minus base wage. This is the employer's combined hourly contribution to the funds, not take-home pay. |
|---|---|---|
| What the contributions fund | Health & welfare, pension, annuity, training and industry funds | Standard fund categories in mechanical and electrical agreements. The exact split between funds is set in the local's agreement — the hall or fund office publishes the schedule. |
| Paid on | Every hour worked | Fringe contributions are made per hour worked, so they scale with dispatched hours and are paid to the funds rather than to the member. |
The rates above are the UA Local 149 scale used across the Champaign, IL area. Members dispatched out of this hall work commercial mechanical and process piping, chiller and boiler work, HVAC piping and hydronics and service, retrofit and shutdown work for signatory contractors throughout the Champaign metro, so a pipefitters wage quoted locally is normally this scale plus the fringe package shown in the table.
Gulfstream recruits pipefitters talent for commercial mechanical, plumbing, piping, sheet metal and building automation contractors in and around Champaign. We are a private recruiting firm — we do not dispatch, set, or negotiate Local 149 rates. For current Champaign scale, dispatch standing, or apprenticeship intake, contact the hall directly.
UA Local 149 runs its own referral procedure and books are signed at the hall — call 217-359-5201 to confirm dispatch procedure, required documents (union card, certifications, ID) and current list standing before traveling in. Contact details are imported from the UA, SMART and IBEW public directories. Gulfstream is a private recruiting firm, is not affiliated with the local, and does not control hall dispatch.
UA Local 149 represents highly skilled plumbers, pipefitters, and HVACR service technicians across a multi-county jurisdiction in Central Illinois. Headquartered in Champaign, this local serves as a critical labor source for the region's diverse construction landscape, ranging from institutional healthcare facilities to large-scale industrial processing plants. Members are trained to execute complex mechanical systems that support the regional economy, including high-purity piping for laboratories and essential sanitation systems for municipal infrastructure. The local maintains a strong emphasis on safety and technical certification, ensuring that signatory contractors have access to a workforce capable of meeting stringent building codes and specialized project requirements.
The Central Illinois market is characterized by a mix of steady institutional growth and industrial maintenance cycles. Local 149 provides the craft labor necessary for major campus expansions, regional medical center upgrades, and food processing facility overhauls that define the Champaign-Urbana corridor. Because the jurisdiction covers several agricultural and manufacturing hubs, the local's members often work on systems ranging from steam and process piping to commercial refrigeration. This versatility allows the union to maintain high market share among mechanical primes and specialty piping contractors who require a consistent pipeline of journeymen and apprentices to staff multi-million dollar mechanical contracts.
Effective July 13, 2025, the Journeyman hourly rate for UA Local 149 is established at $54.31, contributing to a total compensation package of $75.65 when including fringe benefits. Apprentices enter the program at a percentage of the journeyman rate—often starting around 40% to 50%—and receive incremental raises every six to twelve months as they complete required classroom hours and on-the-job training milestones. This progression ensures that as an apprentice's skill set increases, their compensation reflects their growing value to the signatory contractor. The gap between the $54.31 check rate and the $75.65 total package covers essential employer-paid contributions toward retirement, healthcare, and continuous technical training, providing a comprehensive safety net that exceeds standard non-union offerings in the Central Illinois region.
The chartered jurisdiction for UA Local 149 encompasses several key counties in East Central Illinois, centered around the Champaign-Urbana metropolitan area. This territory includes a mix of urban centers, university environments, and rural industrial zones where the local has exclusive rights to supply labor for piping and plumbing work under the collective bargaining agreement. Dispatch typically originates from the Champaign hall, serving projects that span from the Indiana border westward through the heart of the state. The agreement covers all aspects of the trade, including the installation of potable water systems, hydronic heating, process piping for manufacturing, and commercial HVACR service. Members must be prepared to travel throughout the assigned counties to staff various job sites managed by signatory mechanical firms.
The contractor landscape for UA Local 149 is comprised of a robust network of signatory mechanical primes and specialized service providers. These firms range from large-scale mechanical contractors capable of handling massive institutional builds to smaller, family-owned plumbing and heating shops focused on local commercial renovations. Hiring in this market is driven by the specific labor needs of these signatory firms, who call upon the hall for qualified personnel based on project backlog. Since 2014, Gulfstream Strategic Placements has monitored this landscape, noting that the steady demand from university infrastructure and industrial processing sectors keeps the signatory base active. Members benefit from the ability to move between different types of contractors while maintaining continuous benefits and pension credits.
The hourly wage of $54.31 is the gross amount paid on the member's paycheck before taxes. The total package of $75.65 includes that wage plus an additional $21.34 per hour in employer-paid benefits, such as pension contributions and health insurance. These fringes are paid by the contractor directly into the trust funds and are not deducted from the journeyman's hourly rate.
Yes, Local 149 provides ongoing training through its JATC facility for various industry certifications. These include ASME pressure vessel welding, medical gas installation, backflow prevention, and various HVACR certifications. These credentials are often required for work on specific industrial or healthcare sites in the Champaign market and help members maintain high employability across different signatory contractors.
Local 149 operates an out-of-work list system. When a signatory contractor needs additional manpower, they contact the union hall with a labor request. Members are generally dispatched in the order they signed the list, provided they have the specific skills or certifications required for the project. This ensures a fair distribution of work opportunities across the membership based on seniority on the list.
Travelers from other UA locals may work in Local 149's jurisdiction if there is a manpower shortage that the local membership cannot fill. Permanent transfers, or 'depositing a travel card,' are subject to the specific bylaws of Local 149 and the approval of the business manager, typically requiring a sustained period of work in the area and a demonstrated need for additional permanent residents.
UA Local 149 is seated in Champaign, Illinois (IL). We hold published wage sheets for 32 locals across Illinois — compare nearby scales before you take a call.
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We are a mechanical, plumbing and electrical construction recruiting firm serving Champaign and the rest of Illinois, including contractors signatory to UA Local 149. Our office is in South Corona, California and we place union-scale tradespeople and field leadership nationwide.
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Journeyman scales as last published by each local. Rates change every contract cycle — confirm with the hall.
The Local 149 pay scale for 2026 is $54.31 per hour for journeymen in Champaign, IL, or about $108,620 a year at 2,080 hours. The total package, including employer-paid fringe benefits, is $75.65 per hour. That is the rate in force for 2026, effective 7/13/25.
Journeyman pipefitters under the UA Local 149 agreement make $54.31 an hour in base wages, or $75.65 an hour counting the fringe package, per the wage sheet effective 7/13/25. Overtime, shift premiums, and travel or subsistence pay are added on top under the local's CBA.
$54.31 per hour base wage and $75.65 per hour total package for a journeyman in Champaign, IL, effective 7/13/25. Annualized at 2,080 hours that is roughly $108,620 before overtime.
A Local 149 apprentice in Champaign, IL starts at roughly $24.44 an hour — about 45% of the $54.31 journeyman scale — and steps up each period, reaching around $40.73 an hour by the fourth year and full scale on turning out. These are the standard percentage steps of scale, not a wage sheet Local 149 has published; confirm the exact schedule with the JATC.
About $24.44 an hour, or roughly $48,879 a year at 2,080 hours, based on the standard 45% first-period step of the $54.31 journeyman rate effective 7/13/25. Apprentices also earn benefit contributions and paid classroom progression; the JATC sets the exact percentage.
Around $35.30 an hour at the standard 65% third-period step, moving to about $40.73 an hour in the fourth period and $54.31 an hour at full journeyman scale. Confirm the published step schedule with the Local 149 training center.
Local 149 wages: $54.31 an hour on the journeyman scale, $75.65 an hour with fringe benefits added, effective 7/13/25. That is the most recent Champaign, IL sheet we can source; rates move with each contract cycle, so confirm with the hall before quoting.
The current published UA Local 149 journeyman rate is $54.31 an hour ($75.65 total package), effective 7/13/25 — roughly $108,620 a year at 2,080 hours before overtime. Confirm the effective agreement with the local.
Yes — a one-page printable UA Local 149 rate sheet is available at /rate-sheets/ua-local-149-pay-scale.pdf, showing the $54.31 hourly scale, the $75.65 total package and the 7/13/25 effective date, with the source it was read from. It is a free download — no sign-up needed.
The current UA Local 149 journeyman rate is $54.31/hour, with a total package of $75.65/hour including fringe benefits, effective 7/13/25. At 2,080 hours that works out to roughly $108,620 per year in base wages before overtime. Rates change with each CBA cycle — confirm with the Local 149 business office before relying on the figure.
The $54.31/hour figure is the base journeyman wage that lands on the paycheck. The $75.65/hour total package adds employer-paid fringes — health and welfare, pension, annuity, apprenticeship training, and industry funds. Contractors bid work off the total package, so that is the number that matters when comparing plumbers & pipefitters labor costs across locals.
Apprentices under the UA Local 149 agreement are paid a graduated percentage of the journeyman rate, typically starting near 40–50% in the first period and stepping up each six-month or annual period until reaching 100% at turnout. Against the current $54.31/hour journeyman rate, a first-period apprentice would be in the $24.44–$27.16/hour range. The exact percentage schedule is set by the local's JATC.
UA Local 149 is headquartered in Champaign, IL and dispatches plumbers & pipefitters manpower throughout its chartered jurisdiction. Work performed inside that territory falls under the local's collective bargaining agreement and wage schedule, even when the contractor is based elsewhere and travels in.
Most locals require applicants to be at least 18, legally able to work in the U.S., hold a high school diploma or GED, pass a basic math/aptitude assessment and a drug screen, and be physically able to perform plumbers & pipefitters work. Some Local 149 programs give preference to applicants inside the jurisdiction or to veterans. Eligibility rules are set by the local's Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC), so confirm the current criteria with the hall before applying.
Apprenticeship applications go through the UA Local 149 JATC, not through a contractor or a recruiter. Applications typically open in defined intake windows each year: you submit the application with proof of age, education, and residency, sit for an aptitude test, and then interview. Ranked applicants are placed on an eligibility list and indentured as signatory contractors call for apprentices. Gulfstream Strategic Placements does not process apprenticeship applications — contact the Local 149 training center directly.
Plumbers & Pipefitters apprenticeships generally run four to five years — roughly 8,000–10,000 hours of on-the-job training plus several hundred classroom hours per year. Apprentices earn a paycheck the entire time, stepping up through the wage periods until they turn out as journeymen at 100% of scale.
Signatory contractors hire through the local's hiring hall, so working under the UA Local 149 agreement generally means being a member or being organized in through the local's process. Journeymen from other locals can travel in by signing the out-of-work book, subject to the local's referral rules and manpower needs. Non-union plumbers & pipefitters professionals are usually placed with open-shop contractors instead — we recruit for both.
Rates move with the collective bargaining agreement, typically on a fixed anniversary date each year of a three- to five-year contract, with negotiated increases split between the base wage and the fringe package. The figures on this page reflect the 7/13/25 schedule; check with the Local 149 business office for any increase that has taken effect since.
Wage rates vary widely by local and market. Use the Union Pay Scale Explorer to sort every UA and SMART local by hourly wage, total package, and annualized pay so you can benchmark Local 149 against neighboring jurisdictions and other plumbers & pipefitters markets.
The UA Local 149 hall is at 1003 N Dunlap Ave, Savoy, IL 61874, serving Champaign, IL and the surrounding jurisdiction. Hall phone: 217-359-5201.
UA Local 149 runs its own referral procedure and books are signed at the hall. Call the hall at 217-359-5201 to confirm dispatch hours, required documents (union card, certifications, ID) and current list standing before traveling in — Gulfstream does not control hall dispatch.
UA Local 149 can be reached at 217-359-5201. Contact details are imported from the union's public directory listing — confirm hours with the hall.
$54.31/hr in base wages for combo, or $75.65/hr counting employer-paid benefits and fringes, effective July 13, 2025 per the unionpayscales.com wage sheet.
July 13, 2025. Pulled from the local's current published CBA wage sheet on unionpayscales.com and cross-checked at build time. High confidence for offer benchmarking.
No — the $54.31/hr base is wages only. Employers contribute roughly $21.34/hr more per hour worked to health and welfare, pension, annuity and training funds, which is the difference between the base and the $75.65/hr package.
No. Gulfstream Strategic Placements is a private mechanical construction recruiting firm. We are not affiliated with the local, we do not run dispatch, and we do not set or negotiate union rates. We publish the local's own sourced figures as a reference for members and contractors.
High confidence — last cross-checked against the source on Sep 23, 2026 (7 days ago). Always confirm the current step with the hall before relying on it for an offer.