Eh, not screwed, but good on you for wanting more…The bottom line is that if they are putting more on you, the company is growing and/or you are more vital. That should result in some more pay and work benefits.
Here’s some thought…
Relative to the industry, you’re doing OK for yourself: liveable wages, sounds like you’re treated well personally, and you’re extracting. Many people in the first year would be making half and never touching an extractor. So, you’re supporting yourself and learning. I’ve found that new hires fall into two categories in their first year: they either do great and ascend or they plateau and get left on the packaging line. So, congrats for being a swimmer.
That said, the responsibility creep without a pay creep is a common issue. What is it you really want? An assistant? More money? More opportunity to work on higher level projects and not focus on grinding production? Ask for what you want in a tactful way.
Personally, I am in a similar position, maybe a bit further down the road. I’ve found myself at the top of my lab in terms of concentrate production. I like the company and people. I recently achieved a promotion in title and job responsibilities without a pay increase. This has been due to my own ascension in skills, company growth, and, also, job turnover. So, for me, the justification in my mind to ask for more is a combination of skills, value brought/maintained production with a smaller payroll, general wage enhancement, and scarcity of my skills in my market. I’m approaching an anniversary with the company, and I plan to ask for an increase in pay but also really push for an extraction tech to run the extractor and liberate me to do higher order stuff.
I’d encourage you to ask for more pay, but, also, to expand your learning and get some extra hands to assist on the production end. A high salary is great, but, once you master your skills, extraction is basically a production line job, repetitive. For me, if I can’t grow into higher level areas of extraction, different types of extraction, the business side, etc it’s not a sustainable job. And, to grow in that way, you have to have someone else turning knobs. I look at this industry as a great one for the “watch one, do one, teach one” type of employee development. You got brought on and shown how to do stuff. Then, you started doing them and mastering them. Now, it’s time to teach someone else to pay it forward, grow the skills at the company, and liberate yourself to a degree from the producion grind.
so foolish of me