Public sector union wage settlements far lower than salary increases

Based on a survey of 542 Canadian employers with 800,000 salaried employees, a new report from AON says increases for salaried employees increased 2.9% in 2011 and will increase a further 3.1% in 2012. For Ontario the increases are 2.7% in 2011 and 3.0% in 2012.

Salaried employees are usually non-unionized managers or professionals.

In contrast, Ontario unionized public sector wage settlements in 2011 have average annual increases of 1.5%, according to the Ministry of Labour -- a little more than half what salaried employees are getting. Private sector union settlements are averaging 1.8% in 2011.

Despite this discrepancy, Tim Hudak and the Progressive Conservatives have singled out public sector workers for so-called "fat raises," threatening to attack trade unions, interest arbitration, and public sector union settlements if elected.

This as the Conference Board of Canada came to the (hardly surprising) conclusion that income inequality in Canada has been rising since the 1990s. (More surprisingly, they also conclude that inequality is growing at a faster rate than even in the USA.)

The rich get richer and the rest of us get...

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