The Average Salary of a Forklift Operator for GM
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for a forklift operator and operators of similar industrial trucks and tractors was $13.98 in the USA in May 2008. In that same year, the BLS estimated there were 610,300 industrial truck and tractor operators in the USA, which accounts for about 13% of total material moving occupations, or jobs involved with moving materials in industrial and factory settings.
- Variations due to experience, type of work, job responsibilities and level of training mean that this median wage can vary significantly. In addition, because the cost of living differs from city to city and state to state, forklift operators in some parts of the United States will earn considerably more than those in other parts of the country. In addition, the presence of unions in some parts of the nation will further affect wages.
- In almost all cases, unionization will increase the wages and benefits earned by individual workers, but unions are not present in all parts of the nation. Forklift operators at General Motors are members of the Union of Auto Workers, which is the general union for all autoworkers at GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
- Although neither the UAW nor GM makes public the wages for forklift operators, these workers can expect to make somewhere around the average wage for a GM worker, again depending upon experience, seniority, and level of training. According to Kristin Dziczek of the Center for Automative Research, the average wage for a GM worker is $28 per hour, so GM forklift operators will earn approximately this amount. This does not include other benefits such as health insurance and pension plans.