Journeyman pipefitters under UA Local 85 in Saginaw, MI earn $44.50/hr in base wages, or $63.49/hr as a total package with fringe benefits, effective Jun 2024.
UA Local 85 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 85 pay scale is $44.50 per hour for journeymen in Saginaw, MI, or about $89,000 a year at 2,080 hours. The total package, including employer-paid fringe benefits, is $63.49 per hour. That is the rate in force, effective 6/2/24.
| Local 85 journeyman hourly wage | $44.50 / hour |
|---|---|
| Total package (wage + fringe benefits) | $63.49 / hour |
| Annualized at 2,080 hours (base wage) | $89,000 / year |
| First-period apprentice (≈45–50% of scale) | $20.03–$22.25 / hour |
| Wage sheet effective | 6/2/24 |
| Classification | Combo |
A Local 85 apprentice in Saginaw, MI starts at roughly $20.03 an hour — about 45% of the $44.50 journeyman scale — and steps up each period, reaching around $33.38 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 85 has published; confirm the exact schedule with the JATC.
| 1st period (year 1) | 45% of scale | $20.03 / hour | $40,050 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd period (year 2) | 55% of scale | $24.48 / hour | $48,950 |
| 3rd period (year 3) | 65% of scale | $28.93 / hour | $57,850 |
| 4th period (year 4) | 75% of scale | $33.38 / hour | $66,750 |
| 5th period (year 5) | 85% of scale | $37.82 / hour | $75,650 |
| Journeyman (turned out) | 100% of scale | $44.50 / hour | $89,000 |
UA Local 85 runs its own referral procedure and books are signed at the hall — call 989-799-5261 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 85 represents highly skilled plumbers, pipefitters, and HVACR technicians throughout the Mid-Michigan and Saginaw River Valley regions. Headquartered in Saginaw, this local provides the specialized labor force necessary for the state's significant industrial, institutional, and commercial infrastructure. The jurisdiction is characterized by a high concentration of manufacturing facilities, healthcare complexes, and educational institutions that require precise piping systems. Since 2014, Gulfstream Strategic Placements has tracked the movement of skilled trades in this region, noting how Local 85 maintains rigorous training standards to meet the technical demands of high-pressure steam, process piping, and complex medical gas installations common in the local market.
The market served by UA Local 85 is vital to Michigan’s industrial stability, encompassing major hubs that support the automotive supply chain and power generation sectors. Because the region includes several large-scale facilities requiring constant maintenance and periodic outages, the local maintains a robust membership capable of handling both long-term capital projects and emergency service work. Contractors operating in this territory rely on the local’s Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) to produce mechanics who are certified in advanced welding techniques and specialized plumbing codes. This ensures that every signatory project meets Michigan's stringent safety and environmental regulations while providing members with sustainable, middle-class careers in the mechanical trades.
As of the June 2, 2024, adjustment, the journeyman scale for UA Local 85 is established at $44.50 per hour, with a total compensation package reaching $63.49 when including fringe benefits. This package represents the standard for building trades pipefitting and plumbing work in the Saginaw market. Apprentices enter the program at a percentage of the journeyman rate, typically starting around 45% to 50% and receiving incremental raises every six to twelve months as they complete required classroom hours and on-the-job training milestones. By the fifth year, apprentices typically earn 80% or more of the full rate. These periodic increases are contingent upon both work performance and the successful completion of certifications in welding, brazing, or specialized CAD/BIM technologies, ensuring the worker’s value matches their cost to the signatory contractor.
The chartered territory for UA Local 85 spans a significant portion of Mid-Michigan, covering the Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland areas, and extending into the Thumb region. Work performed under this jurisdiction includes all facets of the plumbing and pipefitting industry, such as industrial process piping in manufacturing plants, hydronic heating and cooling systems in commercial office buildings, and complex sanitation systems in municipal water treatment facilities. The local manages dispatch for members across several counties, ensuring that signatory contractors have access to local labor for projects ranging from small-scale retail renovations to massive industrial shutdowns. Travel requirements are generally contained within the central and eastern portions of the state, though members may seek travel cards for work in neighboring UA jurisdictions during local lulls.
The signatory landscape for UA Local 85 is a mix of large-scale mechanical primes and specialized service contractors. These firms range from national industrial construction companies that handle massive automotive plant upgrades to regional plumbing and heating outfits focused on school districts and hospitals. The local maintains a strong relationship with the Michigan Mechanical Contractors Association (MCA), ensuring that labor-management relations remain stable and productive. Hiring typically fluctuates based on major industrial turnarounds and large-scale public works projects. For specialized technicians, the service and maintenance sector provides year-round steady employment, particularly in the HVACR and refrigeration divisions which serve the region's diverse commercial and cold-storage infrastructure.
The Journeyman rate of $44.50 is the gross hourly pay reflected on a member's paycheck. The Total Package of $63.49 includes the hourly cost of employer-paid benefits such as healthcare, pension contributions, and training funds. These fringes are paid directly by the contractor into trust funds and are not deducted from the $44.50 hourly wage.
Yes, through the JATC, members can earn UA certifications in various welding processes (ASME, AWS), medical gas installation, backflow prevention, and instrumentation. These certifications are essential for working on high-spec projects like hospitals or chemical processing plants and often make a member more marketable for specialized calls.
Experienced tradespeople may join through a process called 'organizing' or 'lateral entry.' This usually requires an evaluation of your work history, a practical skills test, and potentially a written exam to determine your competency level. If approved, you may be initiated as a journeyman or placed in a top-level apprenticeship tier.
The jurisdiction is heavily influenced by the chemical and automotive industries. Pipefitters frequently work on high-pressure steam systems, stainless steel process lines for chemical manufacturing, and heavy industrial cooling systems. There is also a significant amount of work in power generation facilities and municipal water treatment infrastructure throughout the Saginaw River Valley.
UA Local 85 is seated in Saginaw, Michigan (MI). We hold published wage sheets for 22 locals across Michigan — compare nearby scales before you take a call.
We are a mechanical, plumbing and electrical construction recruiting firm serving Saginaw and the rest of Michigan, including contractors signatory to UA Local 85. Our office is in South Corona, California and we place union-scale tradespeople and field leadership nationwide.
Gulfstream Strategic Placements, 4160 Temescal Canyon Road, Suite 401, Corona, CA 92883. Phone (951) 208-7780. Email hello@gulfstreamsp.com. Monday–Friday, 7:00 AM–5:00 PM Pacific.View our verified Google Business Profile
Journeyman scales as last published by each local. Rates change every contract cycle — confirm with the hall.
The Local 85 pay scale is $44.50 per hour for journeymen in Saginaw, MI, or about $89,000 a year at 2,080 hours. The total package, including employer-paid fringe benefits, is $63.49 per hour. That is the rate in force, effective 6/2/24.
Journeyman pipefitters under the UA Local 85 agreement make $44.50 an hour in base wages, or $63.49 an hour counting the fringe package, per the wage sheet effective 6/2/24. Overtime, shift premiums, and travel or subsistence pay are added on top under the local's CBA.
$44.50 per hour base wage and $63.49 per hour total package for a journeyman in Saginaw, MI, effective 6/2/24. Annualized at 2,080 hours that is roughly $89,000 before overtime.
A Local 85 apprentice in Saginaw, MI starts at roughly $20.03 an hour — about 45% of the $44.50 journeyman scale — and steps up each period, reaching around $33.38 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 85 has published; confirm the exact schedule with the JATC.
About $20.03 an hour, or roughly $40,050 a year at 2,080 hours, based on the standard 45% first-period step of the $44.50 journeyman rate effective 6/2/24. Apprentices also earn benefit contributions and paid classroom progression; the JATC sets the exact percentage.
Around $28.93 an hour at the standard 65% third-period step, moving to about $33.38 an hour in the fourth period and $44.50 an hour at full journeyman scale. Confirm the published step schedule with the Local 85 training center.
The current UA Local 85 journeyman rate is $44.50/hour, with a total package of $63.49/hour including fringe benefits, effective 6/2/24. At 2,080 hours that works out to roughly $89,000 per year in base wages before overtime. Rates change with each CBA cycle — confirm with the Local 85 business office before relying on the figure.
The $44.50/hour figure is the base journeyman wage that lands on the paycheck. The $63.49/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 85 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 $44.50/hour journeyman rate, a first-period apprentice would be in the $20.03–$22.25/hour range. The exact percentage schedule is set by the local's JATC.
UA Local 85 is headquartered in Saginaw, MI 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 85 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 85 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 85 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 85 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 6/2/24 schedule; check with the Local 85 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 85 against neighboring jurisdictions and other plumbers & pipefitters markets.
The UA Local 85 hall is at 3535 Bay Rd Saginaw, MI 48603, serving Saginaw, MI and the surrounding jurisdiction. Hall phone: 989-799-5261.
UA Local 85 runs its own referral procedure and books are signed at the hall. Call the hall at 989-799-5261 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 85 can be reached at 989-799-5261. Contact details are imported from the union's public directory listing — confirm hours with the hall.