HVAC Union vs. Non-Union: Pay, Benefits, and What Nobody Tells You

Union HVAC journeymen in Chicago are pulling total compensation packages north of $100 per hour when you count wages and benefits together. Non-union techs at the best national service contractors in that same city are making $35–$45 per hour with a 6% 401(k) match and no union card required.

Both of those facts are true simultaneously. That's what makes this decision harder than the partisans on either side will admit.

The union-versus-non-union debate inside HVAC tends to generate more heat than light. Union advocates will tell you the pension and health coverage alone justify everything. Non-union shops will tell you that union rules slow you down, the hiring hall is a bureaucracy, and the best private employers match union pay anyway. Some of both is accurate. Neither side gives you the complete picture. This piece tries to do that.

The Pay Gap: Real Numbers, Not Marketing

The BLS puts the national median for HVAC mechanics and installers at $59,810 per year ($28.75/hour) across all employment types. That blended figure is essentially useless for this comparison because it mixes union and non-union workers, residential and commercial, installer and service tech.

More useful is what the data shows when you separate the populations.

Union construction workers across all trades earned a median of $1,585 per week in 2024 versus $1,132 per week for non-union workers — a 40% gap, according to BLS annual union membership data. That's the broadest cross-trade figure and it overstates the HVAC-specific differential, but it establishes the direction.

For HVAC specifically, estimates from trade compensation surveys put union journeyman pay at roughly $72,000–$75,000 per year in base wages nationally, compared to $55,000–$62,000 for non-union technicians at comparable experience levels. The premium narrows considerably in right-to-work states and in residential work.

What makes direct comparison tricky is that union wages vary dramatically by local, and non-union pay varies just as much by employer. A top-tier national commercial contractor in Chicago or Boston paying $40/hour non-union competes directly with union rates. A smaller non-union residential shop in Raleigh paying $22/hour is a different conversation entirely.

What Specific Locals Are Actually Paying

Published union wage scales are public record, and the numbers from high-density markets are significant.

SMART Sheet Metal — Chicago metro (Local 73): Journeyman take-home rate of $54.58/hour with $47.18/hour in fringe benefits — a total compensation package of $101.76/hour. For a 2,000-hour work year, that's over $200,000 in total employer cost. The journeyman actually pockets around $113,000 in wages before taxes.

SMART Sheet Metal — Chicago suburbs (Local 265): Slightly higher on the check at $58.83/hour, with $42.94/hour in benefits. Total package: $101.77/hour.

UA Local 178 (pipefitter/HVAC): Journeyman wage of $42.30/hour with $16.17/hour in benefits, totaling $58.47/hour.

UA Local 525 — Las Vegas: Apprentices start at approximately $24.30/hour, which represents 45% of journeyman pay, putting the calculated journeyman rate around $54/hour before benefits.

These are prevailing-wage commercial and industrial markets. If you're doing residential HVAC service in a right-to-work state, these numbers don't describe your market.

The Non-Union Picture

Non-union pay in HVAC is a much wider band. The bottom of the market — new-construction installers at smaller shops in low-cost-of-living areas — can be under $20/hour. The top of the non-union market, particularly at companies like Trane, Johnson Controls, and Carrier running their own service divisions, runs $35–$50/hour for experienced techs with manufacturer certifications.

Large commercial non-union employers increasingly offer signing bonuses ($1,000–$5,000), tool allowances, and retention pay to compete for journeyman-equivalent technicians. The technician shortage makes this a real lever.

Union figures reflect major metros with active SMART and UA locals. Non-union figures vary significantly by employer and region.

The Benefits Divide Is Where Union Work Actually Wins

Base wages tell part of the story. Benefits are where the union calculation gets substantially more interesting.

Health Insurance

Census Bureau data shows 82% of union construction workers have employer-provided health insurance, compared to 46% of non-union construction workers. The quality gap matters too — union health plans negotiated through collective bargaining typically cover more procedures with lower out-of-pocket costs than individual employer plans.

A family health insurance plan in 2025 costs an employer roughly $20,000–$24,000 per year. For union members, that cost is typically handled entirely through the fringe benefit package negotiated in the CBA. For non-union workers at smaller shops, partial premiums, high deductibles, and bare-bones coverage are common.

The Pension: A Real Retirement vs. a Maybe

This is the biggest financial gap most people underestimate.

Union pension plans for HVAC-related trades are defined benefit plans — you earn a guaranteed monthly payment for life based on years of service and contributions. They're funded by employer contributions negotiated in the CBA. The tech doesn't contribute and doesn't need to make investment decisions. After a full career with a well-funded union, a journeyman can retire at 62 or 65 with a pension of $2,500–$4,500/month plus Social Security, depending on the local and years credited.

Many union locals also maintain separate annuity funds — a second retirement vehicle that functions like a 401(k), where employer contributions accumulate in an individual account you can take as a lump sum or monthly payment.

Non-union employers offer 401(k) plans with matching contributions, which are genuinely valuable. A 6% employer match on a $55,000 salary is $3,300/year going in. Over 30 years with reasonable market returns, that becomes meaningful retirement savings — but it depends entirely on the employer continuing to match, you continuing to contribute, and market performance cooperating. The union pension doesn't have those variables.

The honest counterpoint: some union pension funds are underfunded. Multiemployer pension plans across trades have faced funding shortfalls in recent years, and a handful have reduced benefits. Before treating a union pension as guaranteed income, it's worth looking at the funding status of your local's specific plan.

Training and Skills Development

Both tracks have real training paths, but the union model is more structured.

Union apprenticeships through SMART or UA locals are registered Department of Labor programs. They run 4–5 years, are tuition-free, and pay wages from day one — typically 40–50% of journeyman rate in year one, scaling up to 80–90% by the final year. The SMART program, which runs 148+ training centers across the U.S. and Canada, requires a minimum of 1,600 hours of on-the-job training per year plus roughly 175 hours of classroom instruction annually.

Starting wages for SMART apprentices average around $21/hour plus benefits worth another $17–18/hour in strong markets. A first-year apprentice at Local 45 draws a total package of $39.23/hour while learning.

Non-union apprenticeships through major employers (Trane, Johnson Controls, Carrier, and others) run DOL-registered programs as well. They're typically less competitive to enter and often provide a clear path to full-time employment with that employer at completion. The trade-off is that the training is more employer-specific — you're becoming a Trane tech, not necessarily a journeyman with portable credentials.

The Case for Union Work

Union work makes the most sense in specific circumstances, and the data supports it clearly in those contexts.

You're going into commercial or industrial HVAC in a union-dense market. If you're starting your career in Chicago, New York, Boston, or the Pacific Northwest and your goal is commercial work — building systems, large chillers, hydronic systems, industrial refrigeration — getting into a union apprenticeship is likely the highest-ceiling path. The SMART and UA locals in these markets have direct pipelines to the largest commercial contractors and the most technically demanding work.

You want a defined retirement with no investment decisions required. The pension structure is real and substantive. A career union journeyman who works 30 years in a well-funded local retires with monthly income that continues for life. A non-union tech who works 30 years for employers with inconsistent 401(k) matches and doesn't max out contributions is in a materially worse retirement position.

You want strong protections for hours, working conditions, and safety. Union contracts define overtime rules, safety standards, tool requirements, and working conditions. If something goes wrong on a job site, the union grievance process exists. In a non-union shop, your protections are whatever labor law requires plus whatever your employer chooses to provide.

Prevailing wage work. Government and public projects in most states pay Davis-Bacon prevailing wages, which closely mirror union scale regardless of your union status. But union workers typically have better access to this work through hiring halls and contractor relationships.

The Case for Non-Union Work

The non-union path isn't a consolation prize. In specific contexts, it's the better choice.

You're in a right-to-work state or a Sun Belt market. Union density varies dramatically by geography. The overall U.S. union membership rate in 2024 was 9.9% across all industries, with construction at 15.4% nationally — but that national figure is heavily weighted toward the Northeast and Midwest. North Carolina's overall union membership rate is 2.4%. South Carolina's is 2.8%. In large chunks of the Southeast, Texas, and the Mountain West, union commercial work is sparse. There are non-union shops in these markets paying $30–$45/hour with solid benefits, running commercial work, and offering real career paths.

You want to own your own business eventually. The path from non-union tech to shop owner is well-worn. You build customer relationships, develop expertise, accumulate tool inventory, and eventually leave with a license and a client base. Starting your own HVAC business typically requires a state contractor license, EPA 608 certification, business insurance, and a service vehicle — attainable without a union card. Many of the most successful HVAC business owners in the country came up through non-union residential shops where they could learn the business side alongside the technical side.

Union members work for union contractors. They don't typically build independent businesses during their union tenure, and leaving the union to start a shop forfeits accumulated pension credits if you haven't vested.

You can advance faster on merit. Union pay scales are largely determined by time-in-grade — an apprentice progresses to journeyman on schedule, and journeyman wages are set by contract. A non-union shop can promote you to lead tech, service manager, or training tech in three years if you're the right person. That promotion comes with a raise that isn't negotiated with a union steward. Top performers in non-union environments can move faster financially, particularly in the first decade.

The best non-union employers genuinely compete. Companies like Trane, Johnson Controls, Siemens, and Carrier running their own service divisions are not fly-by-night shops. They offer health insurance, 401(k) matching up to 6%, manufacturer certifications, factory training, and company vehicles. Their total compensation packages for a 10-year experienced tech overlap substantially with union pay in many markets.

What the Unions Actually Are: A Quick Primer

The HVAC-related trades are covered by several unions depending on the work type.

United Association (UA) — the plumbers and pipefitters union — represents HVACR service technicians, pipefitters, and refrigeration mechanics under its umbrella. UA Local 787 in Ontario (Canada) is one of the few HVAC-specific UA locals. In the U.S., HVAC work falls under pipefitter and pipefitter-HVAC hybrid classifications within UA locals across the country. The UA represents roughly 400,000 members across North America.

SMART (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers) — covers sheet metal fabrication, HVAC ductwork installation, and commercial HVAC installation and service. SMART is the primary union for sheet metal duct work and is heavily represented on commercial new construction. Their locals run the JATC (Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee) training centers that train the majority of union commercial HVAC installers.

IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) — relevant for HVAC controls technicians. Building automation systems (BAS), DDC controls, and building management systems (BMS) often fall under IBEW jurisdiction on commercial and institutional projects. If you're interested in controls work — programming Siemens, Johnson Controls Metasys, Trane Tracer Summit, or Automated Logic systems — IBEW controls locals in major metros are worth researching.

The jurisdictional lines between UA and SMART shift by region and project type, and on complex commercial jobs they sometimes work side by side with separate agreements covering different scope.

The Right-to-Work Factor

Right-to-work laws prohibit union security clauses — meaning workers in those states cannot be required to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of employment. 27 states have right-to-work laws, most of them in the South, Mountain West, and parts of the Midwest.

The practical effect on HVAC: in right-to-work states, union density in construction is significantly lower, union contractors have fewer projects, and the wage premium from union membership is smaller. A Louisiana journeyman HVAC tech is not going to find the same union landscape as a Massachusetts journeyman HVAC tech.

This doesn't mean unions don't exist in right-to-work states — they do, particularly on federal and prevailing-wage work. But the choice between union and non-union is more constrained in Atlanta than it is in Seattle.

High union density markets to be aware of:

• Illinois: Chicago metro has some of the most active SMART and UA locals in the country
• New York/New Jersey: Dense union presence across commercial and institutional work
• Massachusetts/Connecticut: Strong New England locals, particularly in Boston metro
• Washington state: Seattle commercial and data center market with active UA and IBEW presence
• Hawaii: Highest union membership rate in the country at 26.5% (2024 BLS data)

The Honest Tradeoffs: What Both Sides Leave Out

What Union Advocates Don't Tell You

The hiring hall isn't always busy. Union work is tied to commercial construction and the project pipeline. When construction slows — as it did significantly in 2023–2024 as interest rates climbed and commercial development decelerated — dispatched work slows with it. Non-union service techs doing residential and light commercial work are more insulated from construction slowdowns because their work is demand-driven (equipment fails regardless of what the Fed does).

Union dues are real money. Typical dues run 2–3.5% of gross wages, sometimes with an additional per-hour assessment. On a $75,000 salary, that's $1,500–$2,600/year, plus initiation fees when you first join. That money buys representation, training, and collective bargaining power — but it's money out of your pocket.

Geographic portability has limits. Union cards transfer between locals of the same international union, and a journeyman card from SMART Local 73 in Chicago can get you dispatched from SMART locals in other cities. But travel card procedures, local seniority rules, and regional hiring hall preferences can complicate things. Non-union techs can apply to any employer anywhere without navigating this.

Pension risk is real. Some multiemployer pension plans have faced funding shortfalls and benefit reductions in recent years. The Central States Pension Fund — covering Teamsters and other industrial workers — is a well-documented example of a plan that cut benefits. Not all union plans are in this position, but the idea that a union pension is fully guaranteed requires some scrutiny.

What Non-Union Advocates Don't Tell You

"The best non-union shops pay union wages" requires actually finding those shops. They exist. They are not the average. Many non-union employers in HVAC, particularly smaller residential shops and regional contractors, pay below what a union journeyman earns, offer minimal benefits, and don't invest meaningfully in training.

Job security is different. Union workers have layoff procedures, recall rights, and grievance processes that provide protections in reduction-in-force situations. Non-union workers in at-will employment states can be let go for any non-discriminatory reason on short notice. The practical impact of this varies by employer and market conditions, but it's a structural difference that matters.

Health insurance quality varies. Non-union employer health plans vary enormously. Some are excellent. Many are adequate. Some are high-deductible plans with real out-of-pocket exposure that can be financially damaging in a bad health year. Union health plans negotiated through multi-employer trusts tend to be more comprehensive and more stable.

The non-union retirement gap is real over a career. A 401(k) with a 6% match is a good benefit. A defined benefit pension plus a separate annuity fund is a better retirement package if the plans are funded and you're in a market where union work is steady. Over 30 years, the compounding difference between these two structures is substantial.

A Decision Framework: Which Path Makes Sense

Neither track is universally better. The right answer depends on your market and your priorities.

Lean toward union if:

• You're in a high-density union market (Chicago, NYC, Boston, Seattle, DC metro)
• Your goal is commercial or industrial HVAC — large systems, complex projects, specialized work
• Retirement security matters more to you than advancement speed
• You value portable credentials and the ability to dispatch through different contractors
• You want structured training with time to develop before being put in front of customers independently

Lean toward non-union if:

• You're in the Southeast, Texas, or another right-to-work market where union work is limited
• You want to start your own business within 5–10 years
• You're going into residential service where commission and customer relationships drive income
• You've found a specific non-union employer with strong training, real benefits, and demonstrated pay growth
• Career advancement speed matters more than defined retirement security

Research before deciding either way:

• For union: look up your regional SMART and UA locals, check if their apprenticeship applications are open, and specifically look at the pension fund's most recent funding status report
• For non-union: before accepting an offer, ask specifically about health insurance premium splits, 401(k) vesting schedule, and whether the match has ever been reduced or suspended

Browse HVAC jobs with union and non-union filters to see what's actually available in your market.

FAQ

What is the pay difference between union and non-union HVAC? Union HVAC journeymen in major metro markets with active SMART and UA locals typically earn $42–$60/hour in base wages, plus benefits packages adding another $15–$47/hour depending on the local. Non-union HVAC technicians at comparable experience levels earn $22–$50/hour depending heavily on employer quality and market. The gap is largest in high-density union markets like Chicago and New York, and narrowest in right-to-work states and residential work.

What unions cover HVAC workers? Three unions are most relevant: SMART (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers) covers sheet metal ductwork and commercial HVAC installation; the United Association (UA) covers pipefitters, HVACR service technicians, and refrigeration mechanics; and IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) covers controls technicians who work on building automation and DDC systems. Jurisdiction varies by region and project type.

How long is a union HVAC apprenticeship? SMART and UA apprenticeships typically run 4–5 years, combining on-the-job training with classroom instruction. They require a minimum of 1,600 hours of field work per year and approximately 175 hours of classroom time annually. Apprentices earn wages from day one, starting at 40–50% of journeyman rate and progressing through scheduled increases.

Do union HVAC workers get pensions? Yes, and this is one of the most significant financial advantages of union employment. Most HVAC-related union locals provide a defined benefit pension — funded by employer contributions negotiated in the CBA — that pays a guaranteed monthly amount for life after retirement, based on years of service. Many locals also provide a separate annuity fund. The value varies by local and years credited, but a full-career journeyman can retire with pension income of $2,500–$4,500/month in well-funded locals.

Can you start your own HVAC business as a union member? Not while working within the union structure — union members work for union contractors. Starting your own business typically means leaving the union, which forfeits pension credits if you haven't fully vested. Most HVAC business owners come up through non-union paths or start businesses after vesting in their pension. If owning a company is your goal, the non-union path is more direct.

Are there union HVAC jobs in right-to-work states? Yes, but the density is much lower. Right-to-work laws mean workers can't be required to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment, which historically reduces union presence in those states. States like North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida have very low overall union membership rates (2–4%). Federal and prevailing wage projects exist in these states and often use union labor, but the overall job market is predominantly non-union.

What are union dues for HVAC workers? Union dues typically run 2–3.5% of gross wages, sometimes with an additional per-hour assessment. Initiation fees vary by local. On a $70,000 salary, annual dues would be roughly $1,400–$2,450. The dues fund collective bargaining representation, the grievance process, training programs, and the union's administrative structure.

Do big non-union HVAC companies offer comparable benefits to unions? Some do, in base wages. Companies like Trane, Johnson Controls, Carrier, and Siemens running their own service divisions offer health insurance (typically 70–80% employer-paid), 401(k) with up to 6% matching, paid training and certifications, and company vehicles. What they generally don't offer is a defined benefit pension or the health insurance quality common in union plans. The total compensation gap is real, particularly over a 20–30 year career.

Which is better for new HVAC technicians — union or non-union? It depends on your market and goals. If you're in a city with active SMART or UA locals and your goal is commercial work, applying for a union apprenticeship is worth pursuing — the structured training, wage progression, and long-term benefits are hard to match. If you're in a right-to-work state, have strong interest in residential service, or want to eventually own a business, the non-union path at a quality employer is a legitimate route. The worst non-union shops offer worse pay and training than the worst union dispatches; the best non-union employers are genuinely competitive. Do your homework on whoever is making you an offer. You can compare HVAC salaries by state and browse current openings to get a baseline for what the market in your area looks like.