The humanity! Rising wages and benefits in home construction

Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
32,080
10,880
136

Think of all the shareholder value that could have been, and instead is going to the people doing the thing.
Yes yes, I know plenty of builders are small businesses. Point being, rising wages for these kinds of jobs is excellent news IMO.
As I once read, you can't expect to live in the 1st world and not pay 1st world wages

On a semi-related note, I was talking to one of the machinists at work who's been here around 20 years I think? He makes 2/3 what I do, and he's 20 years older than I am. I feel like after that long and given his skills, he should be making as much as I do (I'm sure OT factors into his pay...but still)
 

bbhaag

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2011
6,885
2,250
146
I don't have a problem with skilled laborer's earning a decent wage. They actually know how to do something that 75% of the general population doesn't. You have a skill that someone needs then you deserve to get paid an appropriate wage.
Kinda like plumbers, electricians, carpenters, mechanics, pipe fitters ect.

Fucking Boomers man......they wanted every one to go to college and experience the same hippy dippy bullshit they did and it has had a domino affect that has lasted generations. Now all these years later most of those degrees are worth shit and the cost to get one is astronomical.

To long has this country looked down its nose at the trades and the trade schools associated with them.
 
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ivwshane

Lifer
May 15, 2000
32,527
15,406
136
I don't have a problem with skilled laborer's earning a decent wage. They actually know how to do something that 75% of the general population doesn't. You have a skill that someone needs then you deserve to get paid an appropriate wage.
Kinda like plumbers, electricians, carpenters, mechanics, pipe fitters ect.

Fucking Boomers man......they wanted every one to go to college and experience the same hippy dippy bullshit they did and it has had a domino affect that has lasted generations. Now all these years later most of those degrees are worth shit and the cost to get one is astronomical.

To long has this country looked down its nose at the trades and the trade schools associated with them.

Should we assume by the words you chose to use that you don't think unskilled labor doesn't deserve to be paid better? If that is the case, do you not see how your attitude is no different than the "Americans don't appreciate the trades"?
 

Indus

Lifer
May 11, 2002
11,715
8,175
136
My bathroom had some tiles fall off.. I got quoted a ridiculous amount

So I decided to DIY it myself. After I broke it.. I discovered that it was a ridiculous amateur job.. they used mold resistant board for the shower walls and cement board for the other parts of the bathroom.

What a fucking idiot.

Made me realize.. if you want the job done right.. you gotta do it yourself instead of overpaying for an amateur job.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
23,003
21,127
136
I don't have a problem with skilled laborer's earning a decent wage. They actually know how to do something that 75% of the general population doesn't. You have a skill that someone needs then you deserve to get paid an appropriate wage.
Kinda like plumbers, electricians, carpenters, mechanics, pipe fitters ect.

Fucking Boomers man......they wanted every one to go to college and experience the same hippy dippy bullshit they did and it has had a domino affect that has lasted generations. Now all these years later most of those degrees are worth shit and the cost to get one is astronomical.

To long has this country looked down its nose at the trades and the trade schools associated with them.

I'm a hippy dippy progressive and I think the trades should make good money AND have fucking benefits like healthcare and paid time off and all that shit. That shit is hard work. Pretty much ask any progressive and you'll probably hear the same.

The problem is the party of the blue collar worker, the GQP, is against all of these things. Basic skilled labor getting paid a living wage and healthcare and paid time off! HAHAHAHAHAHHA! YOU COMMUNIST!

Raising the minimum wage would be a start in the right direction. If a skilled laborer laying brick can now go get a job less hard on their bodies for $15 an hour, and maybe some benefits, some will, that should force builders to pay more to get those laborers, thus raising those wages. But the GQP is against that completely.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
I don't have a problem with skilled laborer's earning a decent wage. They actually know how to do something that 75% of the general population doesn't. You have a skill that someone needs then you deserve to get paid an appropriate wage.
Kinda like plumbers, electricians, carpenters, mechanics, pipe fitters ect.

Fucking Boomers man......they wanted every one to go to college and experience the same hippy dippy bullshit they did and it has had a domino affect that has lasted generations. Now all these years later most of those degrees are worth shit and the cost to get one is astronomical.

To long has this country looked down its nose at the trades and the trade schools associated with them.

That's ridiculous. Technological progress across the board means there is less necessary work to be performed in all sorts of endeavors. As that has progressed, employers didn't hire apprentices when there were journeymen begging for work. Even with that, a huge skills gap has developed in many technical trades as Boomers age out of the workforce.