

Earnings in the steel industry vary by type of production and occupation but are higher than average earnings in private industry. Average weekly earnings of nonsupervisory production workers in 2002 were $968 in iron and steel mills, and $687 in establishments making steel products from purchased steel, compared with $619 in all manufacturing and $506 throughout private industry. Earnings in selected occupations in steel manufacturing appear in table 2.
Table 2. Median hourly earnings of the largest occupations in steel manufacturing, 2002
| Occupation |
Iron and steel mills and ferroalloy manufacturing |
Steel product manufacturing from purchased steel |
All industries |
| First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers |
$24.96 |
$21.80 |
$20.64 |
| Electricians |
20.67 |
|
19.90 |
| Millwrights |
20.60 |
|
20.19 |
| Production, planning, and expediting clerks |
19.70 |
|
16.18 |
| Maintenance and repair workers, general |
19.33 |
17.39 |
14.12 |
| Crane and tower operators |
18.40 |
15.48 |
17.47 |
| Machine feeders and offbearers |
18.37 |
|
10.50 |
| Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders |
18.17 |
|
14.79 |
| Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
15.40 |
13.05 |
11.81 |
| Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand |
14.76 |
11.77 |
9.48 |
Union membership, geographic location, and plant size affect earnings and benefits of workers.
In most firms, earnings or bonuses are linked to output. Workers receive standard benefits, including
health insurance, paid vacation, and pension plans. The iron and steel industry traditionally has been
highly unionized. In 2002, 37 percent of workers in steel manufacturing were members of unions or covered by union contracts,
compared with 16 percent in manufacturing and 15 percent in all industries. In some instances, companies are closed shopsthat is,
workers must belong to the union in order to work there. EAFs, though, typically are nonunion. The overall decline of employment in
traditional integrated steel mills, together with the growth of EAFs, have caused union membership to decline in recent years.
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