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How the eye sees and the brain interprets
One of the big advantages of a vocational education is that you earn money while you learn. When you have signed a training contract with a company, you receive apprentice pay - even when you are at school. This is different from many other educations, where you are instead on state education grant.
The apprentice wages are not fixed all the way through. It is stepped up so you earn the least at the beginning and the most in the last year of education. The idea is that you become more valuable to the company as you get better and can solve more tasks independently.
How much you get exactly depends on the agreement that applies in the area, and which year of the education you have reached. The rates are negotiated between employers and the union and are adjusted at regular intervals. If you want to know the current figures, you should always check the applicable agreement or ask your union — that way you are sure the information is up to date.
If you are over 25 when you start, you may in some cases be able to enter into an adult apprentice agreement. Here different wage conditions often apply, because adult students are typically supposed to be secured a wage closer to the wage of an unskilled worker in the area. This is something you need to clarify specifically with the company and your union.
The agreement is about more than wages. It sets frameworks for e.g. working hours allowances pensions and a number of other terms. As an apprentice you are covered by the agreements that apply at the company and it is a good reason to find out what it says — or to get your professional union to help.
When you have the journeyman's certificate you go from being an apprentice to being skilled. As a skilled stucco worker you're typically covered by a collective agreement on par with other craftspeople in the area giving you agreed wages working hours and other terms. Skilled workers generally earn more than unskilled and you simultaneously have a trade that's hard to automate away because it's based on craft and restoration.
Regardless of whether you are unsure about your salary, your contract or your rights, your trade union can help. In the stucco field, the trade is under 3F, which can advise on collective agreements, help settle disputes and tell you what current rates are.