automotive wage history

[mikefmich]

3.25
thats 21.40 an hour/41K a year.
Respectable earnings. Was that starting pay or the ceiling?

How easy was it to get one of these jobs?

I'm not following your 21.40/42k a year thing.

Back then? Wasn't awfully hard.
Chrysler was the easiest...but they would lay most folks off right before their 90 days was up.

GM was next, Ford was the hardest....but relative to the last 25 yrs, it was simple as pie

My journey started at TRW, I quit after 4 months. Worked a few small shops, which generally sucked in wages and working conditions. Went to Chrysler for a year, my boss pissed me off and I quit, to never go back in a shop.

Well....never is a funny word. Returned to Fords as a tradesperson 7 yrs later and hung around for 30 yrs.

[rex]

I'm not following your 21.40/42k a year thing.

3.25 in 1968 was the functional equivalent of 21.40 an hour

$21.40*8 hours a day = $171.20 per day
$171.20 per day * 5 days = $856 a week
$856 * 4 weeks a month = $3424 a month
$3424 a month * 12 months = $41,088 a year
before taxes of course
Actually 856 * 52 weeks = 44,512 a year

[mikefmich]

3.25 in 1968 was the functional equivalent of 21.40 an hour

$21.40*8 hours a day = $171.20 per day
$171.20 per day * 5 days = $856 a week
$856 * 4 weeks a month = $3424 a month
$3424 a month * 12 months = $41,088 a year
before taxes of course
Actually 856 * 52 weeks = 44,512 a year

Oh...you used an inflation chart of some sort.

Wanna save some time on your ciphering? Just multiply 21.40 x 2080.