News - Canadian Hourly Wages Soar 8.3%, Weekly Hours constant since 2020.

Unions Prove Beneficial

Recent Growth (2020–2023)

Work Metrics for union-associated workers

In the past three years, unionized workers have continued to see positive wage growth. From 2020 to 2023, hourly wages grew from $33.62 to $36.46, marking an 8.44% increase over the three-year period. This represents an average annual growth rate of 2.81%.

Weekly earnings also saw a significant boost, rising from $1290.19 in 2020 to $1408.25 in 2023—a 9.15% increase. This increase in weekly earnings, averaging about $39.35 per year, underscores the importance of unions in maintaining and enhancing workers’ financial well-being.

It’s worth noting that weekly hours worked remained relatively stable, increasing slightly from 38.4 hours in 2020 to 38.6 hours in 2023, a 0.52% increase. Therefore, the rise in earnings is almost entirely attributable to higher hourly wages, not additional working hours.

Non-Unionized Workers contrast difference.

Don’t belong to any union? You’d probably work for 39.5 hours a day in 2023, slightly up from 39.4 hours in 2020.

That’s far better, because people who did not belong to any union worked for 40 hrs a week in 2005, contrast that 38.7 hours of unionized workers in the same year.

Maybe that does not make any big difference, right? But think about it – Non-Unionized workers work slightly more than a unionized worker, but still earn less, save less money every week.

The hourly wages have increased from $16.6 in 2000 to $35.16 in 2023, at an average of $0.773 every year.

For those not in any union, the average weekly earnings have increased from $667.48 to $1393.55 every week – $17.72 less a week than a unionized member in 2023, worth around 2.6 gallons of gas every week.

Reduction of Wage Gap

Data Source suggests close similarity between those covered by Unions and Collective Agreements. Therefore, no elaboration on the intersection between Unionized & (Unionized and Collective Covered has been made)

Over the years, the wage gap between unionized and non-unionized workers has narrowed significantly. In 2000, unionized workers earned $102.64 more per week than their non-unionized counterparts. By 2023, this gap had shrunk to just $14.70.

Growth in Earnings for Both Groups

Both unionized and non-unionized workers have seen significant growth in their weekly earnings. From 2020 to 2023:

Unionized workers experienced a 9.15% increase in weekly earnings.
Non-unionized workers saw a 12.21% increase.

This shows that while unionized workers continue to earn more on average, the gap is closing.

Unionized Workers Continued Lead

Despite the faster growth among non-unionized workers, unionized workers still earn more on average. The average growth rate over the years has been considerably better, and the weekly earnings along with the mean hourly wages have been consistently better than their non-unionized counterparts.

To conclude, Unions are the way forward. In a country like India where unions are scare, complaints of work-life balance, wage inequality are always heard. All countries must have their own unions to combat inequality.

References : Data Source – Statistics Canada

Required Citational Reference as per website norms – https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410013401

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Maarthandam