Short answers, pulled from the story.
A laborer performs manual work across a wide range of construction tasks, including concrete work (shotcrete, gunite, grouting, formwork), demolition, tunneling, environmental remediation, piping, paving, and loading and offloading materials. Laborers also work as assistants to tradesmen such as equipment operators and cement masons, using blasting tools, hand tools, power tools, air tools, and small heavy equipment.
As of 2008, union laborers in heavy and highway construction earned an average of $25.47 per hour, compared to $13.72 per hour for non-union laborers. When benefits such as medical insurance, vacation pay, and pension plans are included, total union compensation reached $45 per hour as of 2012.
The minimum tool kit a laborer is expected to carry includes a hammer, pliers with side-cutters, utility knife, tape measure, locking pliers, crescent wrench, screwdriver, margin trowel, carpenter's pencil or soapstone, and a tool belt with at least one pouch. A five-gallon bucket with additional tools, toolbelt suspenders, a water jug, and a lunchbox are also recommended.
Even short periods of laboring work commonly result in permanent conditions, including hearing loss, arthritis, osteoarthritis, back injuries, eye and head injuries, chemical burns from lime sensitivity, lung disease, missing fingernails, and skin scars. Many laborers are severely injured or killed in workplace accidents each year.
LIUNA stands for the Laborers' International Union of North America. It represents laborers on public and private construction projects across North America, negotiating wages and benefits and sending business representatives to job sites when workers report mistreatment. Some of LIUNA's business representatives are former laborers who were too severely injured to continue working in the field.
Yes, in some cases. Union laborers in heavy and highway construction earned average annual wages of $50,000 to $80,000, which exceeded the typical starting salary of young civil engineers, construction managers, and construction engineers, which ranged from $40,000 to $60,000 as of 2007. However, laborers are rarely employed full-time year-round, which can reduce annual take-home pay.