ANALYSIS: Third Quarter Has Unions in a Recessionary Wage Crunch

First-year pay hikes in collective bargaining agreements have trended downward since the beginning of the recession. That’s to be expected. But Bloomberg Law’s database of wage settlements is revealing a couple of anomalies that suggest union negotiators might not be following proven paths to maintain wage security during an economic downturn.

Third Straight Quarterly Decline

The average first-year wage increase for union contracts negotiated in the third quarter was 2.9%, down from 3.1% in the second quarter. In the first quarter, which had one foot in recovery and one in recession, the average was 3.4%.

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