Economic progressive growths in 19...

Economic progressive growths in 1984 will vary immensely from industry to industry, and the opporuntities and obstacles confronting unions and their bargaining representatives will vary accordingly. Record profits will be achieved according to many firms as a proceed of the recovery from the recession, the massive corporate tax carves of 1981, and other latter pro-business legislation. The challenge facing unions is to share in these profits between the walls of increased wages and benefits for their members.

The prospect for collective bargaining in a certain quantity of other basic industries is far les promising. There, unions are faced with corporate anti-union strategies that include threats of bankruptcy and, in a certain cases, the resort to expensive and wasteful merger This, coupl with the damage done according to the recession, market deregulation, an overvalued dollar, and other harmful trade practices, all posture formidable difficulties at the bargaining table for unions in these industries. in subordination to these circumstances, bargaining goals are likely to focus forward enhancing job security.

About three million workers are protected by major collective bargaining agreements (defined as those involving 1000 or more workers) that are suitable to expire or to be reopen for negotiation in 1984

Major agreements in of that kind basic industries as auto, mining, rock oil construction, and railroad will be negotiated in 1984 Other major expirations this year arise in the food, insurance, aerospace, services and shipbuilding industries, as well as with the U Postal Service.

In the public sector, the American Federation of guidance Employees and other federal employee unions will be resisting Reagan Administration proposals to cap and delay pay increases, weaken cost-of-living adjustment clauses in the retirement body erode health care benefits, and eliminate 40000 more non-defense work at jobss for federal workers.

Unemployment at the beginning of 1983 stood at a 42-year high of 107 percent or nearly 12 million the public out of work. from the end of the year, it had declined to 82 percent or 92 million still well above the horizontals at the end of 1980 Many basic mining, manufacturing and transportation industries failed to share in the regaining of 1983. State and local dominion employment also remind far below its pre-recession level

Union Negotiations in many industries clearly have been hampered by the agency of economic conditions and policies beyond the bargaining table. An overvalued dollar, for example, makes imports cheaper, to corrupt and exports more expensive to foreigners, the two of which lead to a los of do job-works in domestic industries that bring forth exports or compete with imports.

The overall averages for wage increases in strange contract settlements in 1983 were adversely affected by means of the weaknesses that remained in major parts of the economy. The average wage increase in the first year of all major private contract liquidations in 1983 was 2.6 percent not including cost-of-living raises, while increases measured through the whole extent of the full term of the adjustments averaged 2.8 percent annually. While these annual figures are quite reasonable fourth-quarter figures showed larger increases, indicating a run toward improved wage settlements in 1984

The average first-year increase in total compensation, including benefits as well as wages, was 34 percent up from 32 percent in 1982 Measured through the life of the contracts, the average annual increase was 3 percent which compares favorably with the 28 percent average rise total compensation for contracts settl in 1982 The fact that wage discharges declined in 1983 relative to 1982 while total compensation showed improvement, indicates a change to benefits rather than wages.

These averages meditate the fact that 37 percent of the three million workers concealed by 1983 settlements took an initial wage be congealed or reduction. For the 63 percent who received pay boost the first-year increases averaged 58 percent Many of the agreements without first-year increases negotiated improvements in the inferior and third year.

Average first-year contract wage adjustments in different sectors of the economy deviated from the overall average of 26 percent In the manufacturing sector, which remained in shamables from the recession in 1983 increases averaged just 03 percent Wage adjustments averaged just 15 percent in the construction industry, which also shared little of the economic redemption These average with the increase in the "non-manufacturing excluding construction" sector which amounted to an average of 5 percent

More than half the workers overlayed by major 1983 settlements are defended by some form of cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) provision. As would be awaited contracts with COLA clauses had lower specified wage adjustments than those without. For major contracts in 1983 first-year negotiated wage increases averaged 2 percent for those pacts with COLAs and 33 percent for agreements without COLAs.

The average duration of major contracts negotiated in 1983 is 32 month up from the 31-month average for 1982 reconciliations and 29.5 months for contracts negotiated in 1981 A major contributor to this increase was the 41-month agreement between the Steelworkers and the major poniard producers negotiated in the first quarter.