Byline: Ted Evanoff

Oct. 1--Many of the 30,000 people who applied for Honda jobs in Greensburg had high hopes of landing a big paycheck like the UAW autoworkers who earn $60,000 a year and more.

But when the 2,000-employee car assembly line opens next year, production workers will earn $14.84 an hour -- about $31,000 a year before taxes -- with an automatic $3.71-an-hour raise in 2009.

In a state starved for steady factory work, $31,000 is nothing to laugh at. But it stands out. Honda's paycheck will trail the $51,000 average wage paid by other Greensburg-area manufacturers.

A change is afoot, pressing down factory pay not only in Indiana but nationwide, ...