Overview

Abstract (English)

How much more do unionized workers earn than non-unionized workers? Since the 1970s, the wage gap has varied between 10 and 25% in Canada (Renaud 1997) and between 21 and 32% in the U.S. (Freeman and Medoff 1984). However, since that time, wage differentials may have shifted in light of external pressures such as globalization, technological advancement, and demographic changes. Many changes have occurred in workplace practices, such as flexibility, employee involvement, and the adoption of technology. Since unionized and non-unionized workplaces are free to adopt innovations from each other, how they were implemented may also have contributed to shifts in wage differentials. Some components of wage differences between the two groups of workers may persist because of union policies-for example, union insistence on standard wages with no variable pay component or seniority rules. But other differences may narrow or widen as union and non-union workplaces ‘compete’ with each other (or with a common foreign competitor) by adopting workplace innovations to enhance quality, productivity, safety, or other outcomes of interest.This article investigates differences between union and non-union wages using data from the first Workplace and Employee Survey (WES). When compared with historical differences in wages, the results provide a dynamic view of wage differences between the two groups of workers.

Abstract (French)

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