Collective bargaining negotiations settled during the first three quarters of 2020 resulted in an average first-year increase in wages and benefits of 2.7 percent or $1.59, reports the Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) in its latest Settlements Report. This compares to an average first-year increase of 2.8 percent or $1.66 reported during the same period in 2019 and of 2.9 percent or $1.67 reported for all of 2019.
Negotiated increases, measured by percentage, steadily rose by about 0.1 percent per year from 2011 through 2018, and then remained stable from 2018 to 2019. “However, with the 0.2 percent reduction in the size of increases so far in 2020, this trend appears to be changing,” CLRC observes in the report. CLRC further notes that the average dollar-amount first-year increase negotiated so far this year is more than double that reported in 2011, which was the low-point during the 15-year period covered in the report.
The largest average first-year increase reported so far this year came from the Northwest Region (AK, ID, OR, WA) at 4 percent or $2.15. The lowest came from the South Central Region (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX) at 1.8 percent or $0.63. The craft with the highest increase was the Operating Engineers at 3.5 percent or $2.24. The craft with the lowest increase by percentage was the Iron Workers at 2 percent and by dollar amount was the Insulators at $1.00.
“Two major forces are acting on the rates,” says CLRC, “the COVID-19 pandemic and the shortage of craft workers (which may become less prominent under the current circumstances).” CLRC issued a special addendum to the report addressing the impact of COVID-19 on first-year settlements in 2020.
The full report also provides data and analysis about rates set to be paid across all contract years, including increases negotiated prior to 2020. AGC members can access the full report in the Labor & HR Topical Resources area of AGC’s website under the main category “Collective Bargaining” and subcategory “Collective Bargaining Agreement Data.” (Be sure to first login as an AGC member.)
AGC’s collective bargaining chapters are reminded to please send settlements information to CLRC at clrc@clrcconsulting.org promptly after completion of bargaining. Chapters and members are also reminded that CLRC is available to assist with custom projects, such as analyses of local market share, contract language costs, union vs. nonunion wage and benefits comparisons, and wage and benefits benchmarks, at a discount for AGC affiliation. For more information about these services, visit the CLRC website or call CLRC at (202) 347-8440.