I've been in and out of the union, employer and employee. In some parts of the country(Aerospace industry in Southwest) a good job shop machinist makes more in a non-union shop (in my experience,) whereas in other parts of the country the sharp ones working in non-union shops get about 60% of union scale and very few benfits. It seems as though the union jobs in these areas are all held by relatives, third and fourth generation. The point being, it's hard to make generalizations. |