Union Wage Gains Declined Slightly Before Pandemic Set In

Union-negotiated pay raises saw a month of weaker overall gains, putting the brakes on a strong showing for unions even before the economy began slowing down because of the novel coronavirus, Bloomberg Law data shows.

Unions negotiated an average 3.4% wage increase to take effect in the first year of their agreements, based on 196 contract settlements added to Bloomberg Law’s database so far this year. That’s down one-tenth of a percent from two weeks ago. This is the second straight biweekly period in which the database average declined. The last two consecutive drops of average pay increases took place ...