Of course if your not a healthy person the trades are not for you . You have to have a skill . Either you have a skill or you flip burgers . Simple .
Cheap cars are back, but...
- Thread starter GR_CoB
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Michigan needs to pay better. FWIW - I have run in to plenty of electricians from Michigan (and Ohio, Indiana and Illinois - the traditional rust belt), working in factories down here.
A plumber makes 80k plus working 40hours . Plus good retirement etc . Of course if your just a helper ( doesn't have a license) your not making much over 25 a hour . If married and your wife works doing anything useful family income is over 100k . In Michigan a family can live with dignity and have a good life with 100k .
Those numbers you have there are not correct, a union electrician in Detroit makes $46 an hour on his check , plus benifits . No they aren't getting rich but it's middle class in Michigan and they don't have to drive junk vehicles and rent a dumpster apartment. So what do you suggest that people do ? Sit on their butt and cry ? Wait for a government handout? I've never known a poor plumber or electrician .
So BLS survey data - which corporations must respond to by law as part of unemployment is bunk? Good way for a CFO to end up in jail, so no - its 100% accurate.
I nowhere said people should wait for a handout. I simply commented that some people are struggling. Your the one that were saying there lazy and they should "participate"
Ok it's not accurate, I have 2 friends in the industry, license plumber and licensed electrician in the state of Michigan and they both make well over $40 an hour on their check. It's the union wage for Detroit. So you're wrong , maybe it's old data ? Heck McDonald's pays 19.00 a hour . There are jobs out there if people want to get off their butt get their hands dirty and pick themselves up.
You can argue the data all you want - its actual data from the QCEW.
Your friends may very well make $40 an hour - per my post #53 there in the 90th percentile for their profession. Tell them congratulations.
And as I said, its the people that have jobs (or 2, or 3) that are struggling.
Lol ok it's called the prevailing wage . Total pay and benefits is 74.00 a hour for the plumber . Everyone in the union makes the same amount unless your supervision which ratchets up per level , foreman etc . But you know more because the Internet said so . They aren't in the 90th percentile, it's the norm in Michigan . Your in the south , wages for labor are pathetic down there .
You can go look up the data yourself. You clearly have no idea what the QCEW is. Its a quarterly report that all businesses over 50 employees must fill out, completely and accurately - by law. If they don't there in violation of all kinds of federal and state payroll laws and most likely will be put through a not so friendly audit which can result in lots of not nice things for the CFO. So the numbers are sound.
What percentage of electricians in Michigan belong to the Union? My guess is its just like everywhere else and its about 12%.
You also know nothing of the South - yet you make fun of it. Typical.
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I think you both are right, but note that the BLS data posted is from 2019. I would expect the wages to be up significantly today (i.e., six years later). The data on the map is from 2022.
Good catch - updated Table from May 2024. That is likely the latest - the 2025 QCEW is not due until June this year I believe. https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/2600000
Hourly median wage = $34.94. 24,670 electricians in the state of Michigan. Its honestly not gone up a whole lot since 2019 actually.
Not making fun of the south just stating facts about labor wages . 12% union national average . Not in Michigan , most projects of any substance is union . I'm neither pro or con union . Just stating facts that Americans are getting fatter, lazier and more ignorant as time goes by . Thank Facebook for all three . And parents that want their kids to be friends.
There are people in abject poverty in my neighborhood who drive late model trucks and SUVs.
It’s hard to watch.
A Journeyman electrician can make 100K a year with overtime, A lot of electricians never get their journeyman & get stuck at a lower wage.
My brother makes over 150K as a HVAC service tech but works 70-80 hours a week.....30 or so hours of it being emergency calls in the middle of the night, Lets say a freezer or the A/C goes down at a Whataburger, It has to be fixed right away.
There's good money to be made in the trades especially with emergency on-call stuff. A lot of service companies here don't have over 50 employees & can't think of one that's union.
My brother makes over 150K as a HVAC service tech but works 70-80 hours a week.....30 or so hours of it being emergency calls in the middle of the night, Lets say a freezer or the A/C goes down at a Whataburger, It has to be fixed right away.
There's good money to be made in the trades especially with emergency on-call stuff. A lot of service companies here don't have over 50 employees & can't think of one that's union.
Whatever , you think your right. Your set in your ways apparently. You won't find a licensed plumber in Michigan that would work for 35 bucks an hour , my buddy's company paid hourly retirement contribution is 7.50 a hour on top of his pay. That's not even counting the retirement for years served in the union . It's 150 for them to step in your house let alone do anything . But keep showing your numbers .
I'm always on the hunt for cheap beaters for daily, last august I bought a 500 dollar rusty camry that needed brakes. It's got 304K on it now and the rear subframe is shot so I'm searching for another. I do all my own work so I really dont mind buying a beater ever year or two. Always have my trusty 02 silverado as a backup if the beaters breakdown.
A vehicle that has proven reliability means nothing if the previous owners neglected it to the point of no return! A low price on those vehicles means nothing, if in fact, it is junk.
A vehicle with a bad rap on the internet can be well maintained, and a fantastic point A to B daily driver, yet the internet told people otherwise, so they won’t even look at them regardless of price.
I haven’t been in the car business since January of this year, but people have gotten so accustomed to crazy prices that they question cheap prices. The immediate response is, “What’s wrong with it?” They simply don’t trust it. Not everyone has that BITOG sense of checking a car out and knowing what to look for.
People are so accustomed to high prices, therefore, a cheap car must be junk! That’s my take. It may be wrong, but there it is.
A vehicle with a bad rap on the internet can be well maintained, and a fantastic point A to B daily driver, yet the internet told people otherwise, so they won’t even look at them regardless of price.
I haven’t been in the car business since January of this year, but people have gotten so accustomed to crazy prices that they question cheap prices. The immediate response is, “What’s wrong with it?” They simply don’t trust it. Not everyone has that BITOG sense of checking a car out and knowing what to look for.
People are so accustomed to high prices, therefore, a cheap car must be junk! That’s my take. It may be wrong, but there it is.
What I meant was that all work deserves a living wage. There's no sense that someone who goes out and works every day should be on food stamps, gov't assistance because their employer is ripping them off.
Yet our lower-ranked, enlisted, military personnel with a couple of kids have to do just this to survive.
There directed to do so, so there everyone knows there is an issue. https://www.wtrf.com/news/national-...-hit-by-inflation-to-sign-up-for-food-stamps/
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