This is why you need unions to set/maintain the better wages and quality of life, even the non-union workers benefit. When the unions go, the wages/working conditions will collapse.
You also need to weed out the hacks that lower the wages and standards, with licensing, accountability & required continuous education.
Local municipalities pretty much let anything fly in residential because they lack skill, training, accountability and resources.
I don't think I'm underpaid, but the perception by homeowners is I charge too much.
They think nothing of paying a plumber what amounts to $200-$300 hours, same for an electrician.
They think nothing of paying $150-$350 for an office visit to a doctor (maybe because some/most/all is covered by insurance) for a simple 10 minute 'follow up' appointment.
Ironically we're held to a higher standard than a doctor-Compare the scenarios
Scenario #1
-You visit a doctor for an ailment. You wait and then in 10 minutes you get, "It seems like this. Take this, If you're not better in a week come back" (fee for office visit/co-pay, plus prescription).
-You don't feel better, you go back. Now the doctor wants some labs done (fee for office visit/co-pay, plus lab fees and more of your time).
-Follow up appointment (fee for office visit/co-pay). Now he wants to run some tests.
-You go get the tests (time/fee/co-pay)
-Then you go back again for another follow up visit (time/fee/co-pay), and we'll say the problem is identified/solved, whatever.
This is basic body troubleshooting dictated by best practices, insurance re-imbursement, etc.
At no time is the doctor told he doesn't know what he's doing, it took 4 visits to solve the problem, I'm not paying, I'm suing you, etc. Nor do you go in for a headache and the doctor prescribes immediate brain surgury.
Scenario #2 Basic service call
-No cooling.
-You check everything out. YOUR initial checkout of everything doesn't conclusively find a readily identifiable problem, but some minor issues that you correct. You tell the customer what you did, what you checked, your conclusion. Give them a bill (it's too high, of course), collect (hopefully), go on your way. Perfectly normal troubleshooting scenario-doing your due diligence and not conclusively finding a problem.
-They call you back, say a week later, no cooling. You check everything out again, and the actual problem has shown itself, checkable and provable. You fix it, present a bill. Now the static starts. Why didn't you find it the first time? Why do I have to pay again? They go online to ask other to see if you did your job correctly or if they were ripped off.
Even though you did the same basic things a doctor did, their perception is completely different.
