IBEW Local 134 (Chicago) Wage Scale

IBEW Local 134 represents inside wireman electricians across the City of Chicago and Cook County. Founded in 1891, it is one of the oldest IBEW Locals and one of the largest single-Local memberships in the country, with tens of thousands of members across active, retired, and apprentice categories. The Local's jurisdiction covers the City of Chicago plus the bulk of Cook County, including the densely industrial sections that surround the city limits. North-suburban work crosses into Local 461 jurisdiction in Northern Illinois.

The Local bargains with the Electrical Contractors' Association of Chicago (ECA Chicago) on behalf of signatory employers. The current inside wireman agreement (2025-2026 cycle) sets the rate cited on this page. Signatory contractors in Chicago run the gamut from very large firms doing high-rise office, healthcare, and data centre work down to smaller residential and tenant fit-out shops. Recognisable names include Wesco Anixter, M.J. Electric, Pepper Construction electrical subs, Continental Electrical Construction, Chicago Commercial Construction, and Aldridge Electric. These firms maintain multi-decade signatory relationships with Local 134.

Local 134 work concentrates in commercial high-rise (the Loop and West Loop towers), healthcare (Rush, Northwestern, University of Chicago, Lurie Children's, plus the Texas Medical Center–scale healthcare cluster on the South Side), data centres (Elk Grove Village is among the largest data centre markets in the US), industrial (manufacturing electrical, plus the rebuild of legacy industrial corridors), and public infrastructure (CTA Red Line modernisation, O'Hare expansion).

For background on the building-trade journeyman role, see the journeyman electrician salary page. For the Illinois state context, see electrician salary in Illinois. For broader union pay context, see union versus non-union electrician pay.

The path into Local 134 runs through the Chicago IBEW-NECA Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Trust (EJATT) and the Chicago IBEW-NECA Technical Institute (CITI) in Alsip, Illinois. Applications open in posted windows. Candidates should plan to monitor the Local 134 site and CITI site for the next intake announcement. Basic eligibility is a high school diploma or recognised equivalent, a valid Illinois driver license, US work authorisation, and the physical ability to do the work safely. Veterans receive standing preference.

The selection sequence is straightforward but competitive. Candidates take the aptitude test administered by the Electrical Training Alliance, sit for a structured interview, complete a physical, and are then ranked. Acceptance depends on the candidate's position on the ranked list and the size of the next cohort, which fluctuates with the construction pipeline. Successful candidates sign an indenture and report to CITI for Year 1 schooling, beginning paid OJT with a signatory contractor shortly thereafter.

The Code-of-Excellence orientation is delivered early in the apprenticeship. Apprentices are evaluated continuously by the JATC, and progression from one year to the next is competency-gated, not purely time-served. The Chicago program is widely respected in the IBEW system as one of the more demanding and one of the better-resourced training programs in the country.

For experienced non-union electricians, IBEW offers a Direct Entry pathway. After a competency assessment, qualified candidates can be admitted as full journeymen without going through the full five-year apprenticeship. This is more common in peak demand periods. For workers starting from zero, the apprenticeship pathway is the durable route, with a clear five-year arrival at the full journeyman rate.