B.C. was among half of the provinces in Canada to see unionization rise in the first half of 2010.
According to Statistics Canada data, the number of unionized workers in B.C. increased 1.3% to 30.4% of employed workers in the province from 29.1% in the same period last year.
B.C.’s increase was one of the largest in the country, followed by a 0.6% increase in Prince Edward Island, a 0.5% increase in Manitoba and a 0.4% increase in Newfoundland and Labrador. New Brunswick and Ontario rounded out the remaining provinces with a marginal increase of 0.1%.
The move erases the decline in unionization over the past few years reported by the Business Council of BC in September (See "Unionization in B.C. on the decline: Business Council of BC " – BIV Business Today, September 22).
Nationally, unionization edged up to 29.6% of employed workers in Canada, from 29.5% with increases primarily among women workers. The bulk of unionized workers remain in the public sector, education, utilities and health care and social assistance.
According to StatsCan, unionization rose faster in large companies with more than 100 employees and remained constant for firms with fewer than 20 staff. Unionization appeared to decline in firms with between 20 and 99 staff.