On the occasion of Labour Day weekend, the CEO/business leader panel was asked to assess where the union movement is going, its positive contributions to society, and its negative effects.

Over the brief period of the last five years, panelists perceive the private sector unions as in decided decline and the public sector unions on the ascent.

CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel see a moderate contribution to improved health and safety as a positive contribution of the union movement to society. Among many negative effects, the strongest are “harm[ing] the economy by protecting unproductive workers” and “plunder[ing] the taxpayer by extracting absurd contracts from public sector employers.

These are the key findings from the current web-survey of the COMPAS panel of CEOs and business leaders undertaken for the Financial Post under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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