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Electricians and Utility workers as part of the IBEW and AFL-CIO still do pretty well for themselves. It's important to understand the context in which the electrical workers of the USA came to organize. At the onset of construction for early distribution systems, workers were expected to provide their own tools (such as wooden sticks for manipulation of live wires) and their own safety equipment. The fatality rate for electrical workers prior to organization was 1 in 2. The founder of the IBEW died on the job. Con Edison's 2012-2016 contract with Local 1-2 is publicly accessible, and that includes the pay-scales. It is the first hit on Google if you care. A customer service representative (call center personnel) hired today would start with a minimum of $18.34 per hour. There's a separate entry for bi-lingual CSRs because that's a super useful skill for a major metro area, after Jun 2015 they will start at $19.91 per hour. A bi-lingual rep can max out their pay at $44.42 (via yearly contractual raises of 3% with a .5% merit bonus based on performance). Contrast this with a Distribution Splicer, who by necessity is typically a 10+ year veteran of underground electrical work. This title is gated by promotional exams and observation. A person who moves into this title (virtually guaranteed to be an internal promotion as it has a very specific skillset tailored to the Con Edison electrical system) today would make a minimum of $28.46 per hour, with a maximum as of Jun 2015 of $50.28 per hour. Neither position requires higher education. There used to be jobs like this all over the place, serious and necessary work that paid well enough that a person could support a family on their wages. Somehow, most of them went away but the ones that were within unions stuck around. Curious, that. I'm sure I could replicate this with the transit worker contract, the sanitation worker contract, and everything else, but this is the company I know best.
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Apr 17, 2014 14:09
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It's worth noting that despite everyone knowing each other's salaries, there isn't widespread disharmony and chaos. That is, in the union at least. e: discussing pay with my friends who are "Information Workers" often leads to a bizarre situation, wherein they attempt to use intangibles to justify their wages. Given the extremely personal nature of most people's self-identification and the way a career is to many people an extension of self, I typically opt not to talk to them on this topic because it is a major flashpoint. frest fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Apr 17, 2014 |
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Apr 17, 2014 14:10
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