Plumber to Electrician

I’m (30m) a union journeyman plumber in the PNW considering starting over for the next 4 years, to start a non-union electrical apprenticeship.

I’ve made decent money the last 9 years I’ve been in, $100-140k/year, but I was laid off recently and the work outlook for commercial construction is looking awful. On top of that, the nepotism lurking at each contractor seems to be incredibly worse than my non-union experience.

As much as I would like to work non-union plumbing or open up my own shop, I can’t work non-union without losing all of my pension credits, and opening a residential shop in the union is unrealistic without charging customers $300/hr. And honestly, I’ve wanted to work electrical since high school.

Does any tradesman who’s started over in a new trade have any tips or advice?