In 2002, average weekly earnings for production workers in the printing industry were $573, compared with $619 for all production workers in manufacturing. Weekly wages in the printing industry can vary significantly by industry sector ranging from $431 in commercial screen printing, to $638 in commercial lithograph printing. Average hourly earnings of the largest occupations in the industry also vary as shown in table 3.The principal union in this industry is the Graphic Communications International Union. About 6 percent of printing industry employees are union members or are covered by a union contract, compared with 15 percent of workers throughout the economy, but this proportion varies greatly from city to city.
Table 3. Median hourly earnings of the largest occupations in printing, 2002
| Occupation |
Printing |
All industries |
| General and operations managers |
$35.93 |
$32.80 |
| Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products |
23.90 |
20.54 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers |
21.88 |
20.64 |
| Prepress technicians and workers |
16.05 |
14.98 |
| Printing machine operators |
15.02 |
13.95 |
| Customer service representatives |
14.89 |
12.62 |
| Job printers |
14.84 |
14.47 |
| Bindery workers |
11.02 |
10.51 |
| Machine feeders and offbearers |
10.49 |
10.50 |
| Helpers--production workers |
10.18 |
9.25 |
|
