ANALYSIS: Wage Hikes for Union Workers Didn’t Slump Much in 2020

Collective bargaining in 2020 wasn’t as much of a cost-saving opportunity for employers as one might expect from a year ravaged by economic instability and job losses. True, management-side negotiators gained some wage concessions from unions, compared with recent years. But contracts ratified in 2020 still promised workers an average pay raise of more than 3%, which is higher than it was at any time during the long recovery period following the Great Recession.

First-year wage increases averaged 3.1% among 840 union contracts ratified in 2020, down from 3.3% in contracts ratified in both 2018 and 2019, according to Bloomberg ...