Union craft workers in 2022 enjoyed an average 3.8% increase in wages, fringe benefits, and other employer payments, a new survey is reporting.
That figure is up from the 2.8% recorded in 2020, but still significantly lower than a 4.6% highpoint reached just at the edge of the Great Recession in 2008.
The Washington-based Construction Labor Research Council report says that of the nine regions it surveyed, wages last year showed the greatest gains in the Northwest with an increase of 5.2%.
Gains were smaller in the West North Central region, which logged a 3.2% jump. Other sections of the country, including the Mountain Northern Plains, Southwest Pacific, and Southeast, all saw increases in excess of 3%.
The most modest gains were recorded in the glazier category at 2.5%, while teamsters saw the biggest increase at 4.4%. Further down the list: operating engineers, cement masons, millwrights, and carpenters, all with increases at or above the 4% level.
According to Construction Labor Research Council figures, the actual monetary gain has improved from well under $1 in 2011 to $2.33 last year.
By Garry Boulard
