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But it wasn't just the traditional hotbeds of labour activism that saw disputes over contracting out and job security.

Workers at the CBC were locked out for eight weeks in a dispute over job security and the use of contract staff that ended with an agreement capping contract workers at 9.5 per cent of the full-time work force.

It also allows for wage hikes of 12.6 per cent over the life of the contract through to March 31, 2009, and a $1,000 signing bonus.

According to figures kept by the federal Department of Human Resources and Skills Development through the first nine months of the year average annual wage settlements called for increases of 2.6 per cent, up from 1.8 per cent in 2004.

The increases came in both the public and private sector with the public sector averaging increases of 2.7 per cent and 2.6 per cent in the private sector.

Andrew Jackson, chief economist at the Canadian Labour Congress, said some companies have sought to find savings in other ways, including having new workers receive different levels of benefits than incumbent workers.

"My sense in bargaining is most people are struggling to hold onto to what they've got," Jackson said.

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