Labor Contracts Win Only 2.3% Pay Hike, Lowest on Record
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WASHINGTON — Major labor contracts forged through collective bargaining in 1985 gave private industry workers just 2.3% in wage hikes in the first year--the lowest average since such records were first kept in 1968, the Labor Department reported today.
More workers lost their cost-of-living benefits than had them added to their contracts, the department said, but by the end of the pacts, 85% of the 2.193 million workers affected by the 1985 settlements will have an increase in wages averaging 3.5% a year.
If all of the settlements, which generally extend two or three years, are considered, however, workers got an average of just 2.7% annually over the life of the contracts.
About 72,000 workers, a third of them in the construction industry, took wage decreases of 8.8% in the first year.
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