Toronto – September 2, 2022 – With Labour Day upon us it is fitting that we reflect on the union advantage that has consistently paid dividends to workers over the past five years according to the nation’s statistics bureau which has crunched the numbers between 2017 and 2021.

According to Statistics Canada, unionized employees both permanent and temporary have benefitted from having a collective agreement by earning an average of $5.00 per hour more than their non-union counterparts between 2017 and 2021.

When it comes to temporary employees the union advantage is even more stark where the average union member out earned their non-union counterpart by nearly $9.00 per hour in 2020 and an average of $8.00 per hour in the five-year period.

Unionized permanent employees have benefited from the union advantage on average by $4.00 per hour over the past five years with their average hourly earnings at $33.68 in 2021 compared to $29.57 among non-union employees across all industries.

When workers are united they speak with a stronger voice and this pays greater dividends when negotiating with an employer as the numbers continue to support this time tested strategy. This Labour Day lets us not forget the power of our collective voice to forge a brighter future for ourselves and community.