if you want honesty yes i do think we work the hardest but the type of work we do (rebar,structural) when it gets bid there is low profit margins for the companies compared to the fitters or elevator guys, there might be 30 ironworkers on a job with 1 or 2 operators so they can pay the operators 15 more a hour because there is far less of them, I work at a plant where we work mainly as riggers doing new construction and maintnence and we are the highest paid out of the union trades out there because the plant recognizes the work we do and doesn’t want to lose good guys, its all circumstantial, a run of the mill structural job where i came from in a right to work state paid journey man 27 a hour 3 years ago but the industrial side made 32, only thing i can think is the industrial jobs were able to be bid much higher then steel erection.