Building Trades
Building Trades, Choose Your Career Path Today
Alaska Works Partnership teams up with partners throughout the entire state of Alaska, building trades with people just like you who want a better future for themselves.
We are committed to helping you find a path to a better career in a field that you will love. Check out our partners below and be sure to contact us for more information.
Alaska Carpenters Training Trust
Starting wages: $26.00
Journey Level wages: $43.34
Carpenters:
Carpenters construct, erect, install, and repair structures and fixtures made from wood and other materials. Carpenters are involved in many different kinds of construction, from the building of highways and bridges to the installation of kitchen cabinets. They cut and shape wood, plastic, fiberglass, or drywall using hand and power tools, such as chisels, planes, saws, drills, and sanders.
Piledrivers:
Piledrivers install piling to hold back the Earth during excavations, to set up the foundation for skyscrapers and bridges, or to build docks and wharves. Pile drivers are typically certified welders and sometimes commercial scuba divers so that underwater construction can be accomplished.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1547
Starting wages: $21.22 - $30.65
Journey Level wages: $41.02 - $61.29
Electricians – Wireman:
Wiremen are electricians who specialize in connecting their commercial customers’ electrical systems to the outside power source and then distributing that power throughout the facility. An inside wireman’s job might include installing conduit, lighting fixtures, and electrical outlets.
Electricians – Telecom:
Telecommunications technicians install, maintain and repair the switches, multiplexors, transmission equipment, and associated emergency-generating equipment required to keep the communications network viable.
Electricians – Lineman:
Linemen build and maintain electrical power systems. They do all the work from the point of generation (power plants) all the way to the customer’s meter. The lines may be on overhead structures (up to 300′) or in underground vaults or trenches. They may be in rural and metropolitan areas. Linemen also do work on traffic signals and street lights. The work is varied and exciting.
Heat & Frost Insulators & Allied Workers Local 97
Starting wages: $23.21
Journey Level wages: $38.68
Heat and frost insulators:
Heat and frost insulators apply insulation materials to plumbing, air-handling, heating, cooling and refrigeration systems; piping equipment and pressure vessels; and walls, floors and ceilings of buildings and other structures to prevent or reduce the passage of heat, cold, sound or fire.
Ironworkers Local 751
Starting wages: $24.89
Journey Level wages: $41.49
Ironworkers:
An ironworker uses blueprints to determine where the structural elements they are responsible for fits within a structure. Since metal is extremely heavy, they must also direct crane operators to lift and position the iron and steel metal pieces needed and then safely guide them to the desired location. Ironworkers attach iron and metal to other elements of a building using bolts and wire. They may also need to weld one metal object to another to ensure the connection is secure.
Laborers Local 341
Starting wages: $25.20
Journey Level wages: $36.00
Laborers:
Laborers help during all phases of construction from operating jackhammers, traffic control on road crews, or using surveying equipment. They may dig trenches, backfill holes, or compact earth to prepare for construction. Those laborers with special training may transport and use explosives or run hydraulic boring machines to dig out tunnels. They may use lasers to place pipes and use computers to control robotic pipe cutters.
Alaska Operating Engineers Local 302
Starting wages: $29.78 - $32.26
Journey Level wages: $49.64
Heavy Equipment Operator:
Heavy Equipment Operators operate a wide variety of equipment ranging from dozers to crusher plants throughout the state for various contractors. The work can range from small parking lot paving to the construction of ice roads.
Heavy Duty Equipment Mechanic:
Heavy Equipment Mechanics repair and maintain many types of equipment including dozers, scrapers, loaders, and large trucks to name a few. A workday may consist of minor adjustments or repairs to the complete teardown and rebuild of equipment.
Operating Heavy Duty Service Oiler:
Heavy Duty Service Oilers lubricate all types of earthmoving equipment, from the largest crawler tractors down to the smallest pump and everything in between. The Service Oilers job is the heartbeat of any construction project. They are the eyes and ears of the Master Mechanic.
Painters & Allied Trades Local 1959
Starting wages: $20.68- $23.62
Journey Level wages: $33.22 - $40.95
Painters:
Painting is the craft of applying paint, varnishes, lacquers, sealers, and stains to a variety of prepared surfaces.
Glaziers:
Glaziers prepare and install glass, mirrors, metal framing, and glass and aluminum doors and entrances.
Drywall Finishers:
Drywall finishers apply finish, maintain and restore plaster or similar materials on interior and exterior walls, ceilings, and building partitions.
Floor Coverers:
Floor covering installers are people who put down carpet, linoleum, and tile, both in older buildings and those under construction. They also install materials made of cork, asphalt, rubber, and vinyl. In addition to floors, they sometimes cover walls and countertops.
Plasterers & Cement Mason
(Trowel Trades) Local 528
Starting wages: $24.08
Journey Level wages: $40.13
Plasterers:
Plasterers finish interior walls and ceilings of buildings and apply plaster on masonry, metal, and wire lath or gypsum. Cement masons are responsible for all concrete construction, including pouring and finishing of slabs, steps, wall tops, curbs and gutters, sidewalks, and paving.
Plumbers, Pipefitters & Steamfitters (ANC)
Plumbers, Pipefitters & Steamfitters (FAI)
Starting wages: $20.50 - $22.52
Journey Level wages: $41.00 - $45.41
Plumbers:
Plumbers can install, repair and maintain water and sewer lines as well as pumps, valves, and other plumbing fixtures and mechanisms. A journeyman plumber can install pipes for HVAC and sprinkler systems and assemble parts that are used for plumbing and ductwork. Pipefitters install, assemble, fabricate, maintain, and repair mechanical piping systems. Journeyman pipefitters deal with industrial/commercial/marine piping and heating/cooling systems.
Sheet Metal Workers Local 23
Starting wages: $22.68
Journey Level wages: $50.83
Sheet Metal Workers:
Sheet metal workers fabricate and install heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) ducts. They also install other sheet metal products, such as metal roofs, siding, and gutters
Teamsters Local 959
Starting wages: $20.18 - $22.81
Journey Level wages: $29.35 - $43
Construction Driver:
A teamster is a construction driver that operates equipment such as articulating trucks, forklifts and loaders, fuel and lube trucks, mixers and ready mix, rock buggies, end dumps, belly dumps, water trucks, sweeper trucks, tilt trailers, tire repair trucks, and truck mounted cranes/booms.
Logistic Technician:
Logistics technicians help a company extend its national and global reach by linking factories, suppliers, and customers. Working in a warehouse setting, they are involved in receiving, packing, shipping, and processing orders.
Surveyor:
Surveyors update boundary lines and prepare sites for construction so that legal disputes are prevented. Surveyors make precise measurements to determine property boundaries. They provide data relevant to the shape and contour of the Earth’s surface for engineering, mapmaking, and construction projects.
Boilermakers Local 502
Starting wages: $32.32
Journey Level wages: $46.17
Boilermakers:
Boilermakers construct, assemble, maintain, and repair stationary steam boilers and boiler house auxiliaries. Align structures or plate sections to assemble boiler frame tanks or vats, following blueprints. Work involves the use of hand and power tools, plumb bobs, levels, wedges, dogs, or turnbuckles. Assist in testing assembled vessels. Direct cleaning of boilers and boiler furnaces. Inspect and repair boiler fittings, such as safety valves, regulators, automatic-control mechanisms, water columns, and auxiliary machines.
Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1
Starting wages: $21.01
Journey Level wages: $42.01
Bricklayers:
Bricklayers lay bricks, concrete blocks, stone, and other similar materials to construct or repair walls, arches, chimneys, fireplaces, and other structures in accordance with blueprints and specifications. You could be installing firebrick in commercial and industrial furnaces and incinerators. You could also be working with acid tile and acid brick in pulp mills.