Local 793 Operating Engineers had the highest average collective agreement settlement of all trades in the industrial, commercial, institutional (ICI) construction sector in 2016.
A preliminary analysis of 2016 collective bargaining settlements by the Ontario Construction Secretariat indicates that of 25 trades in the ICI sector, Local 793 fared best.
The average increase over three years for Local 793 operators was 7.3 per cent, or 2.4 per cent a year. The figures are based on settlements involving five categories of operators in the ICI sector.
The Ontario average was 4.8 per cent over three years, or 1.7 per cent a year.
The average for trades in Toronto was 5.4 per cent over three years, or 1.8 per cent a year, while the average for trades in the rest of Ontario was 4.7 per cent over three years, or 1.6 per cent a year.
As for individual trades, the Steeplejack and Sprinkler Fitters were second on the list with average increases of 6.7 per cent over three years, or 2.2 per cent a year.
Third on the list were Electrical and Elevator workers with average increases of 6.5 per cent over three years, or 2.2 per cent a year.
The average increase for Labourers over three years was 4.1 per cent, or 1.4 per cent a year.
Increases over three years sometimes do not exactly match the annual numbers because figures have been rounded off.
OCS director of research Katherine Jacobs noted in the analysis that the figures for each trade are calculated by gathering the total wage packages for each local and averaging them.