Teamsters extracted premium wages for their drivers of forklift trucks.

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The numbers are becoming nearly as clear as information about starting salaries in traditional professions (last I heard, half a million per good engineer is the going rate, which would make sense if viewed as a few years worth of premium back-wages for a talented engineer, being hired a couple of levels above entry-level).

FORBES: Entrepreneurs are the New Labor: Part III

Yet the overall cost premium, based on the difference in absolute wages between the U.S. and China, is actually expanding, so labor arbitrage involving China and other low labor cost markets will likely persist.

FORBES: Manufacturing May Be Coming Back to the U.S., Long-Term

In health care, for instance, Christian Democrats want to start decoupling contributions from wages by introducing a small flat-rate premium.

ECONOMIST: Doubts are growing about Angela Merkel, at least at home

Sarkozy proposes that employers pay a 25% premium for work beyond 35 hours a week but be exempt from social taxes on overtime wages.

FORBES: Vive la Difference

Wages in the Philippines are slightly higher than in India since the Filipino accent commands a premium.

ECONOMIST: How the Philippines beat India in call centres