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Job Description

Overview

Metra is one of the largest commuter rail systems in North America, providing safe and efficient service in Northeastern Illinois. The Sheet Metal Worker is responsible for repairing and maintaining passenger equipment, freight cars, and locomotives, ensuring compliance with safety and operational standards.

Responsibilities

  • Repair and maintain passenger equipment, freight cars, and locomotives.
  • Locate and mark dimensions and reference lines on metal sheets.
  • Set up and operate hand and power fabricating and forming machines.
  • Set up and operate soldering and welding equipment.
  • Smooth seams, joints, and burred surfaces.
  • Install new piping systems for machinery and facility services.
  • Maintain and repair existing steam, water, air, and gas piping systems.
  • Repair water coolers, toilets, sinks, hot water heaters, and shop boilers.
  • Work under various environmental conditions including heat, cold, rain, and snow.
  • Perform other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

  • High school diploma.
  • Minimum of four years of experience as a Sheet Metal Worker, preferably in a railroad environment.
  • Ability to climb on top, under, and around passenger cars and locomotives.
  • Ability to use equipment of the trade including hacksaws, pipe cutters, and power tools.
  • Ability to stand, walk, and/or sit for extended periods.
  • Hearing and visual acuity, including depth perception and color vision.
  • Ability to lift and move up to 100 pounds.

Additional Information

  • This is a Union position.
  • Starting pay rates may vary based on entry rates in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
  • Metra is a railroad employer subject to the provisions of the Railroad Retirement Tax Act.
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How this job compares in Chicago, IL

Pay in context

At roughly $43/hr, this posting sits about 16% above the $37/hr median for welding jobs in Chicago, IL — toward the top of a $31–$47/hr middle band drawn from 76 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 70% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. Pay that far above local median usually comes attached to something: a harder cert requirement, travel, night shift, or overtime that isn't really optional. Worth establishing which before you accept.

The local market in Chicago, IL

We're tracking 96 other active welding openings in Chicago, IL right now, from 54 different employers. 31 of them were added in the last week. Across Illinois as a whole we're tracking 333 other active welding openings from 206 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Chicago, or widen the search to Illinois.

The most active employers in Illinois at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Staff on Site (13), S&C Electric Company (10), and Gerber Collision & Glass (10). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Illinois, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Chicago at $37/hr, Elk Grove Village at $36/hr, and Bedford Park at $33/hr. Chicago is among them.

Similar openings near Chicago, IL

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Sheetmetal Worker - Mech figures were last recalculated when this page was built.