The union that represent Manitoba Hydro workers says just as customer rates are on the rise, so too are salaries for the utility's executives.

The IBEW Local Union 2034 released figures obtained from Manitoba Archives that show several Hydro executives have seen sizeable increases.

Mike Velie, the business manager of IBEW, says executives are getting even more compensation than the union could ever have anticipated.

"Very surprised. Certainly there have been reports that there was increases of around seven per cent over three to four years, but when we saw increases in excess of over 20 per cent we were definitely shocked," said Velie.

Based on the compensation report, Hydro CEO Scott Thompson took home a basic annual allowance of $400,284 in 2013. A year later, that number jumped to $463,426.

Nine vice-presidents appear to have had salary hikes of between 16 and 23 per cent in 2014.

Velie said Hydro workers who are about to hit the bargaining table are outraged.

"We're looking for something very fair in our negotiations, you know, single digits lower ... and when you see executives getting 10 [times] that amount in their increases.... It's all about fairness."

But Brian Luce, Manitoba Hydro's vice-president, said the figures listed in the report aren't accurate representations of executives' salaries.

Luce said the so-called "basic earnings" in the report include performance-based pay raises, as well as things like downtown allowances, vacation pay, and the fact that 2014 happened to be a longer, 27-week pay period.

The figures obtained by the union, then, aren't properly broken down in the report and may be misleading, Luce said.

"There are other allowances, such as the downtown allowance that everybody gets in this business, that are reflected in there that [are] not part of base salary," said Luce.

"When it comes to compensation for senior managers at Hydro, or the executive team, annual adjustments aren't automatic.... Your actual salary increase is relative to what you deliver and what you promised to deliver at the beginning of the year."

Despite what the union is saying, executives actually only saw pay increases of seven per cent, Luce said, adding upper management at Hydro are actually paid less than most Crown corporations and other utility companies its size.

Hydro rates in Manitoba are set to go up by 3.95 per cent as of Aug. 1. With or without the pay bumps for executives, some customers in the province still feel they are being over-charged.

"I already feel like I'm paying a lot, and of course now I think to myself, 'If they weren't being paid so much, of course my bill wouldn't be so high, because charges on my Hydro bill are not just for my hydro — they're for the cost of running the business," said Scott Pool.

Hydro said salaries are going to keep going up in order to stay competitive in the market and retain talent.