Blue collar can be top dollar
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
Madera Community Community Center is starting on a new teaching facility to train mechanics. The state-of-the-art department will be ready in about a year, according to Dr. Terry Kershaw, the college’s vice chancellor.
This is good news, especially in light of other news, reported last week by the Wall Street Journal that demand continues to rise for skilled workers in trades. Mechanics, machinists, welders, carpenters, plumbers, steamfitters, and electricians all are being sought by manufacturers and builders.
The problem is, there’s a shortage. Students hesitate to go into the trades because they have been brainwashed into thinking something is wrong with you if you are a blue-collar worker — that you are of a lower class.
As a result, a lot of youngsters find thmselves in a college where they are ill-suited for success instead of in a trade school where they might excel.
If students could have met a couple of my friends a few years ago, they could have had a different outlook.
First was Mike the plumber. He was a member of the first chamber of commerce I belonged to. He worked hard and ran a little plumbing business mostly from a bruck. One night, we had a chamber committee meeting at his house. My eyes almost fell out. It was about 5,000 square feet on a bluff overlooking a harbor. Mike was not hurting.
No. 2 was Eldon, the drywaller. He, too, had a small business, employing about five. He worked as a subcontractor, installing drywall in homes and offices. It was typical for him to take home $250,000 a year.
Skilled tradespeople earn as much if not more than most college graduates. They enjoy their lives and often are more independent. Let’s see, what’s wrong with that?
