Manufacturing unions are negotiating larger wage hikes in 2020 than in 2019, unlike unions in other industries, according to the latest update to Bloomberg Law’s database of wage settlements.
Average first-year wage hikes in manufacturing-sector contracts rose from 3.1% to 3.3% in the latest biweekly period that ended Nov. 18, well ahead of the year-to-date average of 2.9% in 2019. Meanwhile, the average pay increase for non-manufacturing contracts stayed the same at 3.6%, which trails the year-to-date average of 3.9% in 2019. In state and local government contracts, the average also stayed put at 2.6% in the latest biweekly period,...