Hawaii Carpenters Union Local 745 Hourly Wage Rates

A journeyman working under the former Hawaii Carpenters Union Local 745 hourly wage schedule earns $55.50 per hour in base pay as of September 1, 2025, with a scheduled increase to $56.75 effective August 31, 2026.¹ Employers also pay roughly $30 per hour into fringe benefit trusts on top of that check wage, which brings the total compensation package to about $86.74 per hour at the 2026 rate.

Local 745 Is Now the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters

The name still turns up in searches, but Hawaii Carpenters Union Local 745 was reorganized into the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters, which now covers carpentry work across all the islands. The General Contractors Labor Association negotiates the Master Agreement that sets base wages, fringe contributions, overtime rules, and holiday pay for every covered worker, whether the jobsite is on Oahu, Maui, or the Big Island.

Journeyman Base Rate

The journeyman rate is the anchor for everything else in the wage schedule. Under the current prevailing wage schedule published by Hawaii’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, a journeyman carpenter earns $55.50 per hour in base wages effective September 1, 2025, rising to $56.75 per hour on August 31, 2026.¹

That figure is the check wage that shows up on your paystub before tax withholdings. A journeyman is someone who has completed an accredited apprenticeship or shown equivalent skill through documented experience. Any worker classified at the journeyman level on a union jobsite must be paid at least this rate. Underpayment on a public works project can trigger a union grievance or a complaint to the state’s Wage Standards Division.

Specialty Classifications Pay Different Rates

Not every carpentry job pays the general rate. The Master Agreement and prevailing wage bulletins break out several specialty classifications, each with its own base wage. Effective September 1, 2025:¹

Carpenter (general): $55.50 per hour, rising to $56.75 on August 31, 2026
Millwright: $55.75 per hour, rising to $57.00 on August 31, 2026
Power Saw Operator (2 hp and above): $55.65 per hour, rising to $56.90 on August 31, 2026
Drywall Installer: $55.75 per hour, rising to $57.00 on August 31, 2026
Drywall Taper/Finisher: $49.54 per hour effective January 1, 2026

The drywall taper/finisher rate sits noticeably below the others and follows its own effective date. If you carry multiple certifications, your pay on any given day tracks the work you’re actually performing, not the highest classification you hold.

Apprentice Wage Progression

Apprentices step up in pay every 1,000 hours of combined on-the-job training and classroom instruction. The full program runs 8,000 hours, which typically takes about four years.² Each 1,000-hour block is one period, and your hourly rate goes up at the start of each new period.

The apprentice schedule published by Hawaii’s DLIR lists specific dollar amounts by period rather than percentages. A first-period drywall taper/finisher apprentice earns $18.08 per hour, and an eighth-period apprentice earns $38.42.³ The general carpenter apprentice schedule uses the same staircase structure, ending at the full journeyman rate at graduation. Fringe contributions are paid on top of apprentice wages, so even first-period apprentices receive health coverage and pension credits from day one.

To qualify for apprentice rates on public works projects, you must be registered with Hawaii’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations under a formal apprenticeship agreement.⁴ Workers who are not registered apprentices must be paid the full journeyman rate, even if they’re still learning the trade.

Fringe Benefits Add About $30 an Hour

The base wage is less than two-thirds of what an employer actually pays per hour. For every hour of covered work, contractors also make required contributions to trust funds that cover health insurance, retirement, paid time off, and training. These contributions go straight to the funds, not through your paycheck.

Bulletin 506 showed the combined fringe contribution for a journeyman carpenter at $27.74 per hour.⁴ Under the 2026 schedule, the total prevailing wage package reaches $86.74 per hour for a general carpenter, which works out to roughly $29.99 in fringes on top of the $56.75 base rate.¹ The Master Agreement routes these dollars into separate funds:

Health and Welfare Fund, covering medical, dental, and life insurance for eligible participants and their dependents
Pension Fund, providing defined-benefit retirement income
Annuity Fund, an additional retirement savings vehicle
Vacation and Holiday Fund, paying workers during scheduled time off
Apprenticeship Training Fund, supporting training statewide

Because the money goes into independent trusts rather than through the contractor’s general accounts, your benefits are protected even if your employer runs into financial trouble. The Hawaii Building and Construction Industry Benefit Administration (HBAI) administers the trust funds and offers online account access for members.

Overtime and Holiday Pay

Overtime starts after eight hours of work in a single day. It pays one and one-half times the base hourly rate plus the hourly cost of fringe benefits.⁵ For a journeyman at the $55.50 base, that’s roughly $83.25 per overtime hour in check wages, with fringe contributions continuing on top.

Holiday pay is not a flat double-time rate, and getting this wrong is an easy way to shortchange yourself. Most recognized holidays pay one and one-half times the base hourly rate. Labor Day is the exception: carpenters receive triple time.⁵ The recognized holidays and their pay rates are:⁶

New Year’s Day: 1½ times straight-time
Presidents’ Day: 1½ times straight-time
Memorial Day: 1½ times straight-time
Independence Day: 1½ times straight-time
Labor Day: 3 times straight-time
Veterans Day: 1½ times straight-time
Thanksgiving: 1½ times straight-time
Christmas: 1½ times straight-time

Discoverers’ Day (Columbus Day) sits in its own category. On federal projects it pays one and one-half times the straight-time rate, but on state, county, and private jobs it pays at the regular straight-time rate.⁶ When a holiday falls on a weekend, the observed day for pay is typically the preceding Friday or the following Monday. Shifts scheduled outside standard daytime hours may carry an additional premium set by the Master Agreement.

Dues and Deductions

Union dues affect your take-home. Monthly dues for members of the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters run approximately $20 per month based on recent filings. Some members also pay working dues, calculated as a percentage of gross earnings and deducted from each paycheck. The working dues rate is set by the union and can change with membership votes. New members pay an initiation fee when they first join, though the exact amount varies. Contact the union hall directly for current initiation fees and working dues percentages, since those figures update more often than the published wage schedules.

Where These Rates Legally Apply

The wage rates published by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations are prevailing wage rates, meaning they set the minimum that must be paid on any public works project in the state. Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 104 requires every laborer and mechanic working on a project funded even partially with public money to receive the prevailing wage for their trade classification, with “wages” defined to include both the basic hourly rate and the cost of fringe benefits.⁷

On private commercial or residential projects, the contractor’s pay obligation comes from the Master Agreement alone. On public works jobs, the state prevailing wage law adds an independent legal requirement enforced by the Wage Standards Division. The dollar figures are usually the same because the prevailing wage is drawn from the applicable collective bargaining agreement, but the enforcement mechanism differs. A contractor who underpays on a public works project faces consequences from both the union and the state.

1
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Wage Rate Schedule Bulletin No. 508
2
Hawaii Carpenters Apprenticeship and Training Fund. Apprenticeship
3
Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Apprentice Schedule Bulletin No. 506
4
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Wage Rate Schedule Bulletin No. 506
5
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Wage Rate Schedule Bulletin No. 502
6
General Contractors Association of Hawaii. 2025 Holiday Pay Rate Schedule
7
Justia Law. Hawaii Revised Statutes 104-1 – Definitions