It does depend somewhat though on where the plants are located. Even in Boston (where I am), there are people who make less in spite of the high cost of living, but in some parts of the country, I believe the cost of living is significantly lower.
I live in a chronically high unemployment, high welfare rural area. At the same time, so many of them have farm backgrounds, and the available jobs are tough....logging, construction, etc.... Folks get excited at $10-11 dollar jobs that come open, and that’s only 20,000 a year. Many can make that work out here because they have a piece of the farm that gramps left everyone, and because both husband and wife work.
$17 an hour where I live would be welcome in spades. Anyone moves here with a small to medium business would do great with a ready work force that is far more interested in work than in unions. The problem might be a relatively small population for the entire county (about 25,000), but they’d get hard workers.
That doesn’t make 17 grand be a lot of money, though. It just isn’t when you factor in the daily necessities of transportation, fuel, home, food, clothing, family needs, etc.
But it’s a liveable income for a lower middle class lifestyle, and that’s all these folks would be asking.
I agree with those who said that losing 8% of your income is better than losing 100%, which is what the unions managed to do on behalf of these now unemployed workers.