Corrine Cookie Peterson, a 72-year-old widow, arrives at AIM Aerospaces manufacturing plant in Sumner at 6:30 a.m. to assemble ventilation ducts for Boeing jets. <\/p>\n
Arthritis restricts her to a 40-hour week, with no overtime. Some days, she comes home with hands orange from chemicals, her eyes itchy from the fiberglass. <\/p>\n
After seven years, shes worked her way up from a starting wage of $10 an hour to $13.30. <\/p>\n
Peterson supports the 17-year-old grandson who lives with her in Bonney Lake thanks to her monthly Social Security check for about $1,000. <\/p>\n
Thats my house payment, says Peterson. I mainly work for my utilities and food and to keep him in clothes. Ive gone to the food bank quite a few times. <\/p>\n
Petersons low wages are not exceptional. <\/p>\n
In 2013, outside of Boeing, a third of production workers at local aerospace parts manufacturers companies that get tax breaks intended to preserve good jobs in the state earned between $10 and $15 an hour, a Seattle Times analysis of state data shows. <\/p>\n
AIMs filing to the state shows that three quarters of the 314 production workers at its Sumner plant at the end of 2013 earned $15 an hour or less. <\/p>\n
Two thirds of the production workers at AIMs Auburn and Renton manufacturing plants fell in the same low-wage category. <\/p>\n
Minimum wage <\/p>\n
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Excerpt from:<\/p>\n
Low wages for aerospace workers despite tax breaks for employers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Corrine Cookie Peterson, a 72-year-old widow, arrives at AIM Aerospaces manufacturing plant in Sumner at 6:30 a.m. to assemble ventilation ducts for Boeing jets Continue reading