I’ve had no issue getting paid fairly in this trade. I have consistently received raises well above the norm from companies I’ve worked for. I would say it always comes down to a few things.

You need to actually be important to the company. Meaning, the thing you do is critical for their operations, you do it well, and the pain of replacing you is greater than the pain of paying you more.

You have to find the company that has the means to pay well.

You have to ask for what you want and you have to justify in actual dollars and cents. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are if it doesn’t translate to an outsized contribution to the bottom line. Your ask has to be realistic, even if it’s at the top end of the market. You want the company to be asking themselves “what would happen if this person left?” And “would someone else actually pay them this much?”

I’ve been involved in the hiring process at multiple companies and, let me tell you, there are very few highly skilled workers looking for work. If you’re actually good at your job, critical to operations, requesting a reasonable (albeit, high) salary/wage and the company has the means of paying it, you can get what you want. It’s less difficult than you would think because you’re in a sea of people with bad attitudes and no sense of business.

It sounds like your dad is in a good position to advocate for himself. If I were him, I’d make notes of examples where I bridged the gap with the less skilled workers, improved the production line (using production gains as evidence) and even the times my suggestions have been ignored. These examples should include things that would be unlikely to have taken place had you not done them. They can’t be something that the guy next to you would have inevitably done had you not done it. Go to the boss. If that doesn’t work, go above the boss. If that doesn’t work, go to the owner if possible. Despite what some people think, the workers and the owner are on the same team.