Now we get to the rut of the issue. Charging $45 per hour in the late 80s (roughly $80 per hour inflation-adjusted) had to be due to unions...and so people responded...and that has us where we are now.
So, I credit the UNIONS for this nightmare that California has become.
Building a house or commercial structure got cheaper due to illegal alien labor just when, exactly?
That’s right, it never got cheaper. The contractors have been taking it in markup. The benefit never was passed onto home buyers or businesses building a new office or warehouse.
That figure of $45 per hr is absurd. Perhaps $45 adjusted for inflation, but even that seems very high.
$45 an hour in the 80’s? That is insane.
I don’t believe $11 an hour current day.
Construction labor, White, Black, or any other color is in short supply. Wages have gone up and are way above that, unless the heavy tax burden and cost of doing business in CA has kept wages low.
I’m in construction and have constant price pressure, even though wages and material costs are sky rocketing. I’d love it if people really put their money where their mouth is. Instead of asking why I’m more expensive or if I will match a low ball price from a sleazy competitor, they should be asking what my employee wages are and if I’m paying all the Worker’s compensation and payroll taxes.
I’d love to be able to pay my labor $45 an hour, but I’d never sell another job or go out of business very quickly.
So, I credit the UNIONS for this nightmare that California has become."
An excellent point, but one that's manifesting itself across the entire nation (just at a more recent & slower pace in other places).
I've been in the trades since 1979, and can tell you that non-union journeymen only made half that wage in the late 80s.