DHAST, you make some interesting points. It's true, for instance, that 58k isn't "a lot" of money; it's also true that living in LAX is likely to be more expensive than living in, say, LIT or IAH or any number of other American cities.

But facts are facts, and you are ignoring many in order to support your position.

1.
From http://www.salary.com/careers/layout...74&part=Par555

"The average yearly American salary is $39,795 per year - or $19.13 per hour."

Per my earlier post, I stand by my assertion that $58k is 40% more than $39.8k; actually, it is 45% more. I didn't double-check StSebastian's facts, as he appears to have reliable sources. Presumably, both the figures for "average American worker" and average mechanic reflect people living all over the country - including LAX and LIT and IAH and everywhere else. So if the figures cited above are correct, then mechanics do indeed make 45% more than the average worker, and I maintain the "average" worker may not feel a lot of sympathy for them on that count.

2.
You state that "Living in L.A. on one income, $58k is nothing." It's true that single-income households make less than dual-income households. However, I am unaware of any rule, any regulation, or any data that says that mechanics must be the only working member of a household. According to Ameristat.com (http://www.ameristat.org/Content/Nav...Households.htm)
at least 56% of all married-couple households are two-earner/dual-income; and according to a slightly dated article from the Portland Business Journal, in 2003 there were roughly 29 million dual-earner married-couple households nationwide, and only 15 million single-earner married-couple households. In other words, these days it is far more common to have 2 working adults than 1 in the typical American household; and presumably, mechanics are no more immune to this trend than you or I.

3.
Combining these two data points leads to a surprising conclusion: the mechanic salary cited by StSebastian is 33% higher than the median household income in the United States, according to the US Census (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/incom...statemhi.html), and 5% higher than the median household income in New Jersey, the state with the highest household income in the country, even though by a 2 to 1 margin, most US married-couple households are dual income.

4.
As for benefits, you claim that "Most people in non union jobs have those benefits as well." I perhaps did not choose the best examples to make my point; according to the Department of labor, 77% of American workers have access to paid holidays and paid vacation, and 59% have access to paid sick time. But I do assert that union members continue to receive benefits surpassing that of most Americans. According to the Department of Labor (http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/ebsm0002.pdf), "Union members had higher rates of coverage for most benefits;" "Union members generally enjoyed greater access to benefits;" "Union members paid 11 percent of the medical care premium for single coverage while their nonunion counterparts paid 20%;" 70% of union members had access to defined benefit retirement plans compared to 16% of nonunion; 89% of union members had access to medical care compared to 67% of nonunion; 73% of union members had access to dental care compared to 43% of nonunion; 56% of union members had access to vision care compared to 26% of nonunion; 33% of union members had acces to no-premium family health care coverage compared to 7% of nonunion; 83% of union members had acess to paid jury leave compared to 68% of nonunion; 57% of union members had 10 or more paid holidays per year compared to 61% of nonunion members who had 8 or fewer paid holidays; and compared to nonunion workers, the average union worker has more days of paid vacation across the duration of his entire career, peaking at a delta of 5.6 additional paid days of vacation compared to nonunion workers after 25 years of service.

No one is "blaming the mechanics." Facts is facts. Only 1 in 12 American private sector workers is unionized; the other 11, on average, have access to lesser benefits than that 1 union worker. Unions are out of touch with reality, and the mechanics are going to learn that the hard way, I'm afraid. The public support just isn't there.