Good luck getting a giant elevate in case you’re in a union proper now. That’s the unstated message of a July 29 report from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. It confirmed that nonunion employees’ nominal pay in June was up 5.8% yr over yr, in contrast with solely 3.8% for union employees’. The hole has been widening for a yr.
Why? Inflation. This divergence is sensible if you consider how union contracts function. Unions negotiate long-term collective-bargaining agreements between employees and employers, with a typical contract lasting three to 5 years. That locks within the union’s positive factors however leaves it with little bargaining energy or flexibility when one thing sudden or extreme, like the present inflation, hits. So until the contract is about to run out, union members are trapped after they want the liberty to barter higher raises a lot quicker.
