Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
If the wage differentials are that high, that starts to make a difference. Why are the graft costs higher for non-union jobs? Seems like politicians who like privatization are the cause of those, not whether the job is union or non-union.
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The privatization is pushed as saving money because the private contractors won't be subject to the same "government red tape" (e.g., unions and civil service rules).
It's pretty simple. My uncles were union carpenters and iron workers, and back in the day when someone got hired for a union job fresh off their training (a journeyman), at a point when they knew what they were doing but had modest work experience, they'd get $30-$40 an hour in NYC when the minimum wage was close to $5. The nonunion guys would get hired knowing squat at $10 an hour and move up with on-the-job training. But for someone experienced, comparing a $50 union wage and a $20 non-union one was pretty common. And the non-union work sites were also overrun by minimum wage workers (and sometimes sub-minimum wage illegal workers) who especially could do things done by carpenters on union sites. Never as well, of course, but they could do them.
