Journeyman pipefitters under UA Local 7 in Albany, NY earn $57.56/hr in base wages, or $86.11/hr as a total package with fringe benefits, effective Aug 2026.
UA Local 7 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 7 pay scale for 2026 is $57.56 per hour for journeymen in Albany, NY, or about $115,120 a year at 2,080 hours. The total package, including employer-paid fringe benefits, is $86.11 per hour. That is the rate in force for 2026, effective 8/11/26.
| Local 7 journeyman hourly wage | $57.56 / hour |
|---|---|
| Total package (wage + fringe benefits) | $86.11 / hour |
| Annualized at 2,080 hours (base wage) | $115,120 / year |
| First-period apprentice (≈45–50% of scale) | $25.90–$28.78 / hour |
| Wage sheet effective | 8/11/26 |
| Classification | Combo |
A Local 7 apprentice in Albany, NY starts at roughly $25.90 an hour — about 45% of the $57.56 journeyman scale — and steps up each period, reaching around $43.17 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 7 has published; confirm the exact schedule with the JATC.
| 1st period (year 1) | 45% of scale | $25.90 / hour | $51,804 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd period (year 2) | 55% of scale | $31.66 / hour | $63,316 |
| 3rd period (year 3) | 65% of scale | $37.41 / hour | $74,828 |
| 4th period (year 4) | 75% of scale | $43.17 / hour | $86,340 |
| 5th period (year 5) | 85% of scale | $48.93 / hour | $97,852 |
| Journeyman (turned out) | 100% of scale | $57.56 / hour | $115,120 |
UA Local 7 runs its own referral procedure and books are signed at the hall — call 518-785-9808 to confirm dispatch hours, 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.
United Association Local 7 represents highly skilled plumbers and steamfitters across the greater Albany region and the Capital District of New York. As a cornerstone of the regional construction industry, the local provides the labor force for critical infrastructure projects, commercial developments, and industrial facilities. The organization maintains a dual focus on plumbing and pipefitting, ensuring that members are cross-trained to handle everything from high-pressure steam systems in power plants to complex medical gas piping in healthcare facilities. This versatile workforce is essential for the region's diverse economic base, which includes state government facilities, educational institutions, and a growing high-tech manufacturing sector that requires precision mechanical installation.
The market for Local 7 members is driven by a mix of long-term institutional maintenance and large-scale new construction within the Hudson Valley and Capital Region. Because the jurisdiction covers several major population centers, the local maintains a rigorous Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) program to meet the demand for certified welders and licensed plumbers. Signatory contractors rely on this union for a pipeline of workers who are trained in modern BIM coordination, sustainable plumbing practices, and rigorous safety protocols. For the tradesperson, Local 7 offers a structured career path with clear wage escalations and a robust benefit package, while providing contractors with the reliable, high-output productivity required for profitable project execution in a competitive New York landscape.
Effective August 31, 2025, the journeyman hourly rate for UA Local 7 is set at $55.26, contributing to a total package of $82.21 per hour when including fringe benefits. This package represents the standard for building trades work within the Albany market. Apprentices enter the program at a percentage of the journeyman rate, typically starting around 40-45% and receiving incremental raises every six to twelve months as they complete required classroom hours and on-the-job training milestones. These scheduled increases are contingent upon both work performance and the successful completion of specific certifications. By the fifth year, senior apprentices earn a significant portion of the full scale, ensuring a stable transition to journeyman status. All members should verify their specific classification and current deduction rates with the Local 7 business office to ensure accurate payroll accounting.
UA Local 7 holds a chartered jurisdiction that encompasses the Capital District and several surrounding counties in Eastern New York. The territory is anchored by Albany and extends to include major hubs such as Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs. The work covered under this agreement includes all phases of plumbing, pipefitting, and steamfitting for commercial, industrial, and institutional applications. Members are dispatched from the Albany headquarters to jobsites ranging from the Canadian border regions down through the upper Hudson Valley. The jurisdiction demands a workforce capable of traveling across diverse terrain to support projects in rural upstate areas as well as dense urban centers, covering everything from municipal water treatment plants to semiconductor fabrication facilities and regional hospital expansions.
The signatory landscape for UA Local 7 consists of a diverse mix of mechanical contractors, ranging from large-scale prime contractors to specialized service shops. These firms manage significant workloads in the public sector, including state-funded educational and governmental buildings, as well as private industrial projects. The market is characterized by several long-standing mechanical firms that have operated in the Capital District since 2014, providing consistent employment for the local membership. Recruitment in this region is often driven by large institutional projects and the maintenance needs of the area's aging infrastructure. These contractors utilize the Local 7 referral hall to scale their workforces according to project timelines, ensuring that labor costs remain predictable through the established collective bargaining agreement.
Members generally need a New York State Department of Labor apprenticeship completion certificate or equivalent journeyman status. Specific sites like healthcare facilities or industrial plants may require medical gas certifications, OSHA 30-hour safety training, or specialized welding certifications (AWS/UA) which are facilitated through the Local 7 training department.
Local 7 members work within a specific multi-county territory. When work is slow locally, members may seek travel opportunities in sister locals through the UA's national network. Conversely, when large projects hit the Albany market, the local may call for travelers once the local bench is exhausted, following standard UA reciprocal agreements.
The five-year program provides a comprehensive education in both plumbing and pipefitting. Apprentices spend time in the classroom and in the field, learning code requirements, blueprint reading, and advanced welding techniques. The goal is to produce a versatile mechanic capable of switching between commercial plumbing and industrial process piping as market demands shift.
Transfers, or 'travel cards,' are managed according to the United Association Constitution. A member in good standing from another local must typically secure work in the jurisdiction first and then follow the specific bylaws regarding the permanent transfer of their membership book, which usually requires a vote by the Local 7 membership.
UA Local 7 is seated in Albany, New York (NY). We hold published wage sheets for 27 locals across New York — compare nearby scales before you take a call.
We are a mechanical, plumbing and electrical construction recruiting firm serving Albany and the rest of New York, including contractors signatory to UA Local 7. 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 7 pay scale for 2026 is $57.56 per hour for journeymen in Albany, NY, or about $115,120 a year at 2,080 hours. The total package, including employer-paid fringe benefits, is $86.11 per hour. That is the rate in force for 2026, effective 8/11/26.
Journeyman pipefitters under the UA Local 7 agreement make $57.56 an hour in base wages, or $86.11 an hour counting the fringe package, per the wage sheet effective 8/11/26. Overtime, shift premiums, and travel or subsistence pay are added on top under the local's CBA.
$57.56 per hour base wage and $86.11 per hour total package for a journeyman in Albany, NY, effective 8/11/26. Annualized at 2,080 hours that is roughly $115,120 before overtime.
A Local 7 apprentice in Albany, NY starts at roughly $25.90 an hour — about 45% of the $57.56 journeyman scale — and steps up each period, reaching around $43.17 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 7 has published; confirm the exact schedule with the JATC.
About $25.90 an hour, or roughly $51,804 a year at 2,080 hours, based on the standard 45% first-period step of the $57.56 journeyman rate effective 8/11/26. Apprentices also earn benefit contributions and paid classroom progression; the JATC sets the exact percentage.
Around $37.41 an hour at the standard 65% third-period step, moving to about $43.17 an hour in the fourth period and $57.56 an hour at full journeyman scale. Confirm the published step schedule with the Local 7 training center.
The current UA Local 7 journeyman rate is $57.56/hour, with a total package of $86.11/hour including fringe benefits, effective 8/11/26. At 2,080 hours that works out to roughly $115,120 per year in base wages before overtime. Rates change with each CBA cycle — confirm with the Local 7 business office before relying on the figure.
The $57.56/hour figure is the base journeyman wage that lands on the paycheck. The $86.11/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 7 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 $57.56/hour journeyman rate, a first-period apprentice would be in the $25.90–$28.78/hour range. The exact percentage schedule is set by the local's JATC.
UA Local 7 is headquartered in Albany, NY 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 7 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 7 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 7 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 7 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 8/11/26 schedule; check with the Local 7 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 7 against neighboring jurisdictions and other plumbers & pipefitters markets.
The UA Local 7 hall is at 18 Avis Dr Latham, NY 12110, serving Albany, NY and the surrounding jurisdiction. Hall phone: 518-785-9808.
UA Local 7 runs its own referral procedure and books are signed at the hall. Call the hall at 518-785-9808 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 7 can be reached at 518-785-9808. Contact details are imported from the union's public directory listing — confirm hours with the hall.