r/millwrights

I swear I’ve applied to more jobs than Bonnie Blue has taken and yet I can’t find a single apprenticeship or even starting labour position.

completed my first year of schooling + work term as a industrial mechanic millwight. After my boss discussed with a few other higher ups, I've received a job offer of 25$ +1$ night shift premium per hour CAD$, 80% health and dental, no pension, but they do profit sharing instead that can be invested in a retirement plan or taken as a bonus.

For a bit of background, on my original interview I was told my rate would be between 30-40$ and would be finalised after my work term and once they looked into the rate, as it's been a few years since they hired a millwright. It is high for a first year, but that comes with the understanding I will be working along side the electrical engineer at times and learning a bit of the electrical/automation side of the plant.

Since being here, it is evident that they need more people, as everyone is busy with wide open overtime, and they struggle to find people interested in nights. They seem very interested in me coming onboard, and my boss told me himself he's been hearing great things from the other guys in the plant.

My end goal is to be ticketed as a red seal millwright+industrial electrician. I also have 4-5 years experience in a industrial factory as a worker setting up and operating machinery, and about the same informal experience working along side my friend who is a red seal automotive mechanic, doing everything from engine swaps, suspension work, building engines and a bit of custom fab work /repair, so I'm not green to the industrial or mechanic setting.

I also graduated with a 95%+ average.

Is it fair to counter with 27.50, meeting me halfway between there lowest original stated wage and the job offer they have givin me? This would put me just below my wage prior to going to school, obviously with more room for advancement as I complete my blocks and eventually getting my red seal.

Has any of you had the experience of being placed on scaffold work as a first job as a millwright? I was really eager to start my first job as a millwright apprentice but my hall set me up with a carpenters/scaffold job in a nuclear power plant.

It's great that I got to experience how nuke work is handled but every millwright I talk to tells me they have never been assigned scaffold work before. The carpenters union runs parallel to the millwrights union here even though we have different halls.

Has anyone ever gone through this experience? After this job is done I'm gonna try and get turbine jobs through contacts that I've made in Siemens and other companies. It's definitely been tough since these power plants dont even pay journeyman rate and carpenters never get per diem. Any words of encouragement are appreciated.

To the 1st year apprentice from the Toronto hall how is it as of right now. Are you getting long term work or short term work?

I want to do a diploma in millwright at lambton college ontario. Is it possible for me to find a good job after it, how does the job work like what are the benefits or drawbacks of it , currently i did a bachelor’s in mechanical eng.

Heyy y'all! I'm learning how to calculate the weight for my rigging and forklift class. Any nerdy braniacs have resources where I could get some practice questions? I did a google and was unable to find that. In the online 'Powered Industrial Truck Operator "book" there are exercises, but no way to check the answer when I'm not in class. Any point in directions or questions with checkable answers would be mucho appreciado <3

xoxo 2nd year 1163

millwright apprentice looking for work the southern side and got nothing going on and i was just going to see if anyone has any BA numbers I can call and possibly work up north for a good while this seasonal lay off is killing my wallet and savings

Got my red seal!!!

I’m trying to build a big steel hoop for a monobike project and I seriously underestimated how difficult rolling a clean circle would be.My goal was a roughly five foot diameter hoop using steel tubing, but every attempt ends with slight differences that become huge problems once I try connecting the sections together.

At first I rolled quarter sections separately because my setup couldn’t handle the full length easily. They looked close enough individually, but when I tried welding them together the ends never lined up properly. Every section seemed just a little off radius wise. I even downgraded tubing thickness because my roller kept struggling and eventually broke halfway through the project.

Now I’m wondering if I’m approaching this completely wrong. Maybe I need better fixtures, templates, or a different rolling setup entirely. Watching industrial tube mill lines online made this feel both inspiring and depressing because those machines make giant curves look effortless. I also found equipment discussions comparing ring rollers from suppliers versus older fabrication shop tools, but it’s hard knowing what matters most.

For people experienced with tube rolling, what helps keep large circles accurate during fabrication?

I’m wondering if getting a degree in advanced manufacturing would even matter if I join a millwright apprenticeship.

Hey y'all, this might seem a little ridiculous, but I signed for an apprenticeship position at my place of work. I say ridiculous because I don't really know where to start in terms of studying for the aptitude test I'll have to take in a few weeks. The work the millwrights do where I work has always interested me, I like the idea of being a sort of "Jack of all Trades" for fixing stuff.

I figured brushing up on basic maths and some physics would be a good start? I do want to say I have a bit of experience, I did a co-op in my last year of high school where I did plumbing and electrical work for a semester, but that was pushing 6 years ago

People were always telling to get into the trades, and the millwrights at work said you just need to have passed grade 12 to apply, but I'm worried I've put myself a bit out of depth

Any advice on what you folks think I could start is greatly appreciated!!

I mean no disrespect and to be frank I'm actually trying to get into my local to be a millright. I just can't seem to figure out exactly what a millright does. I like to weld millrights weld, I want to work on heavy machinery millrights work heavy machinery, and the list goes on. So my understanding this far is a millright is a jack of many trades master of none or am I wrong? I seen millrights dont make much compared to the other trades counterparts, although they can do the jobs the others can do. Im just confused and would really love someone to explain it to me. Thank you.

So, I'm in the UK and plan to move to Detroit Michigan in the summer of next year. I have American Citizenship.

My plan is to try get in the Local 1102 Union for a Millwright Apprenticeship

I know the wait times to get through the list of applications can be months, so should I apply now (and can I do that whilst in the UK) to get on the list early, or wait til I'm already in the USA physically?

Any help would go a long way, thank you.

Has anyone here tried to challenge the C of Q exam without doing the apprenticeship route? I’ve been working 5+ years as industrial Maintenance , doing everything that you’d be tested on in the exam. (Hydraulic systems, Slurry Pumps, bearings, gearboxes, conveyors, welding and rigging etc). I’ve done countless practice tests and passed them all with 90+ percent. I know you need a letter from your employer that outlines all your day to day work duties and all that , and then you have an interview-esque experience before you accepted to write the exam

I’m curious if any of you have gone that route and been successful? If you have I’d love some pointers or tips that helped you out in your journey

I should add I’m 29 years old and located in Ontario, Canada , and is there a chance that if I can’t challenge the C of Q right away, that I can be granted equivalency for atleast a year or two of the apprenticeship with hours work and experience?

Morning everyone! I just have a general resume question for my fellow Canadian red seals.

I was wondering if you guys are using the post-nominal letter designations in your resumes? The “RSE” designation specifically.

I kind of feel like a pretentious douche putting it in, but feel like it’s a great way to stick out to employers straight away on the resume.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

Hi guys, I’m 21 years old. I live near Detroit Michigan, and I have an in through a very high up in the mill-right Union. I’m just looking to see if there’s anyone in the trade currently and in the union in the Detroit area that can tell me what to expect pay wise for my first year and years to come. I’m currently in college, and working full-time in a blue collar field (dead end job), but I’m just debating if I want to pull the student loan debt to continue my schooling or get my associates debt free because I’m so close, and then join the union. Any info on pay would be great. I would love to travel optionally for work with incentivation every few months. I’m not opposed to hard work, and I’m willing to learn and I’m very mechanically inclined. Is that a possibility? I guess my four questions are 1. How’s the first year union pay around here accounting that you know somebody, 2. How does pay increase overtime is there a cap, 3. Is there opportunity to travel for per diem if I wanted to, and 4. I’ve heard of double time after x amount of hours is that a thing?