So today I found out that a guy that I know and used to work

>>1626132
>From what I hear, the union works much like nepotism.

It's true.

What I'd like to know is what isn't like that these days.

>>1626136
Politics

You know what the funny thing about all of this is?
He is going to go through life saying things like....

"I work hard for my money"
"I got to where I am through hard work and persistance"
"Poor people should just work harder so they can get a 6 figure income like me"..

BTW OP, is this Australian????

>>1626132
trying to get into the ETU as an apprentice any advice?

>>1626238
canada

>>1626240
I seen a reddit post exactly like this. Guy was 20 and got into House Inspection because his parents are in it too. Makes $100,000+ a year and the idiot actually considered quitting to go to university for a shittier job and debt.

I've been in welding and machining for the better part of 2 decades and it's always like this. I consistently perform higher quality work every time and get admiration from my peers for it. I've trained several older and younger guys who want tips to improve their own work. But every time I go to work somewhere, the lead guy is always some cranky fuck who gets threatened because I can weld better than him or something, and I get nowhere. Always some toolbag good ol boy shill who cozies up to them and works the kneepads to get the next in line for lead, and the lead himself does the same with the general manager or whatever.

It kills me every time, cause I grew up naive enough to believe that perfecting my trade and * actually* working hard would get me somewhere. All it gets me is used for more profit while making the same as the slacker next to me who always skids by with "eh that's good enough".

>>1626257
How do they justify charging their clients so much money to pay their employees that kind of salary for doing something as simple as home inspections?

What is stopping me from getting the required credentials and undercutting them (fuck me, I would do that kind of work even if it ment bringing home a bit less than minimum wage. I work hard/shit jobs (labouring in the aussie heat and factory work in some of the most unpleasent working environments) for only a couple bucks per hour above the minimum wage. Doing something like that would be a dream come true.

How do I get started???

>>1626266
1. Research, then get credentials in your area
2. Don't undercut. I don't know where you live, but assuming you would live where I am in California, minimum wage is around $10/hr. Assuming full time work for a years, that's around 20k salary. Assuming nothing else, you're charging 1/5 what your competition makes. The people who would hire/contract you might not pay you for your work. They're the cheap fucks who skip on bills anyways. Srs, if you land a position like that, DON'T FUCKING DEVALUE YOURSELF.