inland empire
That's some pretty country to wake up in right there, I always like going to California. I wouldn't want to pay the bills but I like going there. Is the pay better there?
I'm a carpenter in the union. Omaha's $20 an hour Kansas City and Chicago are $30
Illegals here have construction jobs beat down to $8-$12 an hour.
I had my own framing company for a couple years I was very proficient and productive, making $25-$40 an hour depending on if I hired help or not. I made less hiring help, they couldn't keep up with me.
Back in the 80's The packinghouses here were hiring people out of highschool at $12 an hour to start, I had friends making $16 an hour first year out of high school.
I had a girlfriend who was a prison guard back then making $13.
There have always been immigrants in Omaha. it's an immigrant's town since the pioneer days but in the 80's after the INS had raided all the packing houses in nebraska a few corrupt Congressmen and Senators with the packing industry in their pockets got the head of the INS fired and ordered the Federal Government to cease enforcement.
The word got out and within a couple years packing house jobs became minimum wage as the corporations began to exploit the new people afraid to get deported.
Among the other ethnics, We have always had Latinos in Omaha, and they used to make good money here like everybody else.
Then the Packinghouse boys got into swinging hammers and construction became a minimum wage job.
Things may turn around.
We have a new Law in Nebraska that applies to transportation and construction...
If an Employer wishes to hire subcontractors, the subs must:
Be a bona fide business
Be established as a business prior to their relationship with the employer
The contract with the employer may not impose exclusivity or retaliation upon the sub
Must offer their services to the market not just one customer
And must be registered with the state.
Registration with the state requires a sales and use tax permit
The sales and use tax permit requires proof of lawful residency.
If any subcontractor makes a complaint to the state that he is being treated as an employee but paid as a subcontractor then and only then will the state investigate.
the fines are $500 first offense per individual
And $5,000 second offense per PLUS the Employer must pay to the state back taxes and insurance on the misclassified employee back to the day the employee began to work for the employer.
There were a few companies went down over this. CYC construction was one of them taking advantage of their workers.
The Union here in Omaha is not powerful. It doesn't even have 10% of the construction business in the region. This is a win for all workers.
The Carpenters got new leadership.
We broke from the AFL_CIO and the old way of doing things is gone. We have guys from all ethnicities as brothers it's not like back in the old days.
And we don't go around disrespecting non union guys anymore calling them rats, were all in the same boat. were all tradesmen.
The focus of the Carpenter's union these days is to use our numbers to insure everyone in our trade union or not is treated legally and fairly.
Al my trips to California were in a semi...
Do you have any insight into construction in your area?
What's it like there?
Nice to Meet you, Mike in Omaha
