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Old 09-26-2023, 12:25 PM   #150 (permalink)
JSH
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary View Post
Ya well, I think I read it wrong. I'm not moving somewhere just to make $17/hr, which is less than I make here, and likely with higher housing costs, not to mention commuting costs from a suburb to the factory.
In any union job (or really almost any factory job) you start at the bottom end of the pay scale and progress up the pay scale based on time of employment.

Classic case of "paying your dues"

Management will talk about average pay (labor cost) because that is what they care about. Entry level workers make so little at UAW jobs because the old-timers that control the union have never been willing to give up anything - even a smaller pay raise so that entry level workers can make more. The UAW created the 2-Tier system that they are complaining about now back in 2007. Again, the company cares about average labor costs - it is up to the UAW to split that up between their members as they see fit.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary View Post
The catch is, with the benefits it's way more than what I make here. The 401K would be nice, but that's probably about all that matters. Health insurance doesn't matter, because if your employer doesn't offer health insurance then the government offers Medicaid or help paying for insurance.

Searching GM job listings, the closest job to here is in Aurora. I also lived in Aurora for 6 months, so it's the only city I'm actually familiar with, so that's good. The job starts at $17/hr. I did find a 2 bedroom home for rent for $1,550/month that's 6 miles from the warehouse. I'm not sure that's a good choice though, as the rent would be more than half my wages. But Zillow says there's a 2bd apartment for $798/month that's 13 miles away. It seems a bit suspicious. It is also along I-70, so there will be really bad traffic, both morning and evening.
Why would you want to live in a high cost city like Aurora when GM pays the same nationally no matter where you live? Work at someplace like the Flint truck plant making GM's most profitable vehicles (job security) and you can pay less than $1550 a month on a mortgage for a 3-4 bedroom house and that house payment isn't going to go up every year.

Below is at the high end of Flint houses on the West side ("nice" side) of town. Seems overpriced but it does look like it has seen a complete gut and remodel. (High end at least for normal houses)



The two-story house below is about 3 blocks from where I used to live in an older part of town near the university. Lots of parks / green space around there as the university has been actively buying and knocking down houses around the campus




Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary View Post
The big question is if the health insurance covers my wife and kids, or would I have to pay extra. The great thing about Medicaid is it covers everyone, but if my employer offers me health insurance, then no one in the family is entitled to Medicaid and I'd have to pay for health insurance out-of-pocket.
Details here: Almost 400 pages of them. UAW workers have very good and almost free health insurance. Almost no premiums or copays and very low deductibles. (From skimming it looks like the max out-of-pocket is $750 for individuals and $1500 a year for family coverage)

https://uaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2...-Exhibit-C.pdf
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The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to JSH For This Useful Post:
Isaac Zachary (09-26-2023), redpoint5 (09-26-2023)