Question:
The only reason most skilled trades are high paying jobs is that the
trade union system is designed to keep people OUT of them.
If anybody could go to trade school to become a plumber, carpenter etc.
then they'd be paying $7-$8 hour like most other non-union blue collar
jobs.
Answer:
Depends on the region. Here, most of the trades, unless they work for a
large employer, are non-union. Most of the trades are taught through the
county vocational school system, either for the high schoolers or for
adults. This open system has not reduced the wage scale. Laborers may
make $7-$8 an hour, but Apprentice, Journeymen, and Master (masons,
electricians, plumbers, etc.) make much, much more.
But we still get idiots who think that they can have a career
without training past high school.
