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Construction unions in NYC have certainly done this. We have a terrible subway because it costs about 10x/mile to build here compared to London or Paris. Unioni

by et2o 7y ago

Construction unions in NYC have certainly done this. We have a terrible subway because it costs about 10x/mile to build here compared to London or Paris. Unionized employees often make $300,000 or $400,000 a year for manual labor. Crane operator make $700,009 a year. It's completely insane.

bumby 7y ago
I'm curious where you're getting these wage stats from
- Rebelgecko 7y ago
  I wouldn't be surprised if they're accurate. Here in the port of LA there's around 20 guys making $400,000-600,000. You could make the argument that the work can be dangerous, requires skill, etc. etc. But that skill must be highly genetic, because most of them work or used to work the same union jobs as their fathers. Edit: after doublechecking TransparentCalifornia there might only be around 15 guys making $400k and up at the harbor. I accidentally included some firefighters, who also have a tendency to rack up the overtime.
  - bumby 7y ago
    I would guess those numbers have to be largely due to overtime regardless of occupation. In a previous job, it wasn't unheard of for blue collar workers to get $200k+ but overtime hours made up a disproportionate amount of their income. This was in the midwest where housing and cost of living is relatively cheap, so it may even be on par with the numbers quoted for longshoremen.
    - 55555 7y ago
      Yeah but is the overtime real?
      - bumby 7y ago
        In my experience, yes. The overtime is "real" in the sense that it's actually needed and worked. Of course there's people who will game the system like in any arrangement and put off work so that they can instead do it while getting paid an overtime rate, but that seemed to be the exception. What makes you question whether or not it is "real" overtime?
cit55775 7y ago
Citation needed on these numbers. They strain credulity.
- pokstad 7y ago
  I personally knew longshoremen who were making close to $300k working as clerks in an office (this was about 15 years ago, so adjust for inflation). Clerks were the most coveted job that senior longshoremen wanted since you sat in an AC office away from any danger and made top dollar.
- maximente 7y ago
  it's all online, just go look it up. here's some firefighter that makes $300k. help yourself. https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/PositionDetail.aspx?employeeid=16920906 https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/PositionDetail.aspx?employe...
dataanalysis8 7y ago
Interesting data for Los Angeles (from maximente link below https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/PositionDetail.aspx?employeeid=16920906 https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/PositionDetail.aspx?employe...) I fetched the data using curl and filtered out any rows where wages were less than 24,960 (minimum wage in California). Wages: Max = $526,553 Mean = $111,095 Median = $106,749 P75 = $137,051 P90 = $173,958 P95 = $201,611 https://ibb.co/qk2dfd9 https://ibb.co/qk2dfd9 Health And Retirement: (not sure if this is a separate yearly contribution by the city) https://ibb.co/c19Qcff https://ibb.co/c19Qcff

by et2o 7y ago

bumby 7y ago

I'm curious where you're getting these wage stats from

Rebelgecko 7y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if they're accurate. Here in the port of LA there's around 20 guys making $400,000-600,000. You could make the argument that the work can be dangerous, requires skill, etc. etc. But that skill must be highly genetic, because most of them work or used to work the same union jobs as their fathers. Edit: after doublechecking TransparentCalifornia there might only be around 15 guys making $400k and up at the harbor. I accidentally included some firefighters, who also have a tendency to rack up the overtime.
- bumby 7y ago
  I would guess those numbers have to be largely due to overtime regardless of occupation. In a previous job, it wasn't unheard of for blue collar workers to get $200k+ but overtime hours made up a disproportionate amount of their income. This was in the midwest where housing and cost of living is relatively cheap, so it may even be on par with the numbers quoted for longshoremen.
  - 55555 7y ago
    Yeah but is the overtime real?
    - bumby 7y ago
      In my experience, yes. The overtime is "real" in the sense that it's actually needed and worked. Of course there's people who will game the system like in any arrangement and put off work so that they can instead do it while getting paid an overtime rate, but that seemed to be the exception. What makes you question whether or not it is "real" overtime?

cit55775 7y ago

Citation needed on these numbers. They strain credulity.

pokstad 7y ago
I personally knew longshoremen who were making close to $300k working as clerks in an office (this was about 15 years ago, so adjust for inflation). Clerks were the most coveted job that senior longshoremen wanted since you sat in an AC office away from any danger and made top dollar.
maximente 7y ago
it's all online, just go look it up. here's some firefighter that makes $300k. help yourself. https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/PositionDetail.aspx?employeeid=16920906 https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/PositionDetail.aspx?employe...

dataanalysis8 7y ago

Interesting data for Los Angeles (from maximente link below https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/PositionDetail.aspx?employeeid=16920906 https://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/PositionDetail.aspx?employe...) I fetched the data using curl and filtered out any rows where wages were less than 24,960 (minimum wage in California). Wages: Max = $526,553 Mean = $111,095 Median = $106,749 P75 = $137,051 P90 = $173,958 P95 = $201,611 https://ibb.co/qk2dfd9 https://ibb.co/qk2dfd9 Health And Retirement: (not sure if this is a separate yearly contribution by the city) https://ibb.co/c19Qcff https://ibb.co/c19Qcff