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Public Sector Unionization Grows

The composition of the labour movement has fundamentally changed over the last twenty years. The article below reviews dramatic changes in public and private sector unionization and some surprising differences that have emerged between Ontario and the rest of Canada. Potential for growth is possible, even in the public sector. Ontario has 1.3 million public sector workers and currently 943,000 of them are covered by a union. That means that 72.2% of public sector employees have union coverage.    Since 1997, public sector union density has modestly increased from about 70% to 72% of total public sector employees.  With a significant increase in public sector employment also occurring over that period, there has been an increase in public sector union coverage from 652,000 to 943,000 employees–  about a 47% increase in 19 years . That still leaves another 363,000  unorganized public sector employees. Assuming that 10% of public sector employees are management (130,000)

Union membership in Canada increases (despite claims otherwise)

The Globe and Mail (regurgitating in today's print edition claims from the Canadian Press) gets it wrong in a story about the labour movement and the new private sector union, UNIFOR.  They claim that "Union membership has declined in Canada in recent years".  In fact, as the easily available Statistics Canada chart copied below shows, union coverage has grown by 164,000 employees from 2008 to 2012, growing in 3 out of the last 4 years. Union coverage (Thousands) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total employees, covered and not covered by union Total employees, all industries  14,464.30 14,124.40 14,371.20 14,635.80 14,841.10 Public sector 3,412.10 3,415.00 3,511.10 3,563.00 3,600.80 Private sector 11,052.20 10,709.40 10,860.20 11,072.70 11,240.30 Union coverage Total employees, all industries

Union wage advantage grows by $1.71 per hour

The gap between union and non-union wages in Ontario has grown significantly since the start of the recession in 2008, increasing by $1.71 per hour, Statistics Canada data indicates. The hourly union advantage grew by 34 cents per hour each year on average.  For a full time worker, that means the advantage for having union coverage in your workplace is growing by about $663 per year.  Compared to five years ago, that means the union wage advantage for an employee working full time hours has grown by $3,334 per year. In July 2008, the union premium was already considerable at 26.5% ($25.75 average wage per hour for those with union coverage versus $20.35 for those without, a $5.40 an hour difference). Five years later, in July 2013, the union premium had grown to 31.7%.  Union wages averaged $29.56 in 2013 versus $22.45 for workers without union coverage.  That is a $7.11 advantage for workers with union coverage. Temporary Workers: the biggest advantage? Unionized tem

Public sector wages lag private sector

Conservatives often suggest that public sector settlements are out of whack with private sector settlements. In fact, the evidence from Ontario over the last couple of decades proves the opposite. Public sector settlements have fallen behind private sector settlements.  Here is the data from the Ontario Ministry of Labour: Percent increase Annual average  increase Public Sector Settlements Annual average increase Private Sector Settlements 1990 6.8% 6.3% 1991 5 4.6 1992 2.6 2.7 1993 0.5 1.9 1994 0.1 1.1 1995 0.2 1.7 1996 0.3 2.2 1997 0.7 2.3 1998 1.3 2.1 1999 1.4 3.1 2000 2.7 2.4 2001 2.9 3.0 2002 2.9 3.0 2003 3.5 1.9 2004 3.1 2.7 2005 2.7 2.4 2006 3.0 1