Apprentices Receive Regular Wage Increases

The apprentice earns while he learns.

The more he learns, the higher the pay. Apprentices are paid a percentage of a journeyman’s wage to start. As he climbs the ladder to journeyman status, the wages are increased at regular intervals. At the end of his term of apprenticeship, he becomes a journeyman and draws full pay for his skill.

The apprentice, at no cost to himself, learns skills and acquires experience he can use for the rest of his life. Training gained through apprenticeship has enabled many journeymen to advance to higher paying jobs.


Apprentices of today are the foremen, superintendents and contractors of tomorrow.

The ambitious person needn’t stop advancing once he becomes a skilled tradesman. Supervisory positions become available as the journeyman improves his skills, knowledge and ability to direct and guide other craftsmen.

Training in the skilled construction trades is good insurance. In addition to opportunities for promotion and steady employment, it gives you something that no one can ever take away from you – the knowledge that your economic security is determined by your own talents which results in a life long increased earning capacity enabling you to get and keep a well-paying job anywhere in the country.

Upper Ohio Valley Building Trades Council

The Upper Ohio Valley Building Trades Council (OVBTC) was chartered on January 17, 1939 in Wheeling, West Virginia. The OVBTC meets every Tuesday of the month, with the meeting location varying between Steubenville, Ohio at the Electricians’ Hall and in Wheeling, West Virginia at the Iron Workers’ Hall.