Collective bargaining in 1989: talks set in diverse industries (EXCERPT), Monthly Labor Review Online, Jan. 1989

Collective bargaining in 1989: talks set in diverse industries

W.M. Davis and Fehmida Sleemi

About 3.1 million workers are under major collective bargaining agreements (those covering 1,000 workers or more) scheduled to expire or be reopened in 1989. They constitute 36 percent of the 8.6 million workers under all major agreements in private industry and State and local government.

In private industry, scheduled bargaining will cover 2.1 million of the 6.1 million workers under major agreements, or about 35 percent, compared with 38 percent in 1988 and 30 percent in 1987. In State and local government, bargaining will involve 968,000 of the 2.5 million workers under major agreements, or about 39 percent. This proportion was 42 percent in 1988 and 49 percent in 1987.

In private industry, 78 percent (1,630,000) of the workers whose contracts are slated for renegotiation in 1989 are in nonmanufacturing industries, compared with 63 percent in 1988 and 53 percent in 1987. They are concentrated in communications (534,000 workers), construction (434,000), and retail trade (240,000). Manufacturing industries with the largest number of workers under contracts slated for renewal are transportation equipment manufacturing (mainly aerospace), with 111,000 workers, and primary metals (mostly steel and aluminum production) with 107,000. (See tables 1 and 2.)

This excerpt is from an article published in the January 1989 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.

Read abstract Download full text in PDF (1,386K)

Collective bargaining outlook for 1995.—Jan. 1995.

Collective bargaining in 1994.—Jan. 1994.

Collective bargaining in 1993: jobs are the issue.—Jan. 1993.

Collective bargaining in 1992: contract talks and other activity.—Jan. 1992.

Collective bargaining during 1991.—Jan. 1991.

Collective bargaining during 1990.—Jan.1990.

Within Monthly Labor Review Online:
Welcome | Current Issue | Index | Subscribe | Archives

Exit Monthly Labor Review Online:
BLS Home | Publications & Research Papers