Im working on a proposal paper on the origins of capitalism and while researching I have noticed that the average salary for a worker in one of Carnegie steel mills in the 1880s would be about 11 cents an hour. How would this wage compare to the workers that make Nike shoes or the workers at foxcomm?
According to http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi 11¢/hr in 1880 would be $2.58 in 2012 dollars. In 2012, Foxconn announced they would be doubling employees' wages to $630/yr. If we assume they work only 40hr/wk (probably more like 60, but let's ignore that), $2.58/hr would be $5366 (40hr/wk, 52wk/yr). That's 30¢/hr (Foxconn) in modern dollars to $2.58/hr in modern dollars (Carnegie).
So, factory workers in 1880 made at least 8 times what Foxconn's employees did in 2012.