The Growth of Union Decertification: A Test of Two Nonnested Theories

This article tests two rival theories of the growth of union decertification: a neoclassical and an institutionalist. Both perform well when they are independently tested against the data. However, Cox nonnested hypothesis tests indicate that when these two theories are tested against each other, the institutionalist theory is superior to (i.e., variance encompasses) the neoclassical theory.     

Testing the Monopoly Union Model: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

This study applies stochastic frontier analysis to test the monopoly union model. This approach allows the use of a wider data set than has been previously employed. We fit a stochastic cost frontier to data from the U.S. manufacturing sector that includes exogenous sources of potential inefficiency including unionization. Our findings suggest that over the 1972–1982 time period, more heavily unionized industries in the U.S. manufacturing sector were more likely to operate off their labor demand curve. This result is inconsistent with the monopoly union model predictions.     

A Segmented Model of Union Participation

This article presents and explores a model of union participation using union orientation as a segmenting criterion. Union orientation is shown to have a strong relationship with participation rates. The relationship between union segmentation, social networks, and political socialization is explored. The implications of this approach for union policy are explored.     

Union Influence on Local Union Leaders' Perceptions of Job Insecurity: An Empirical Test

Although recent studies have demonstrated that union workers value job security, little research exists about what causes these perceptions and how unions might affect them. In this study, a job insecurity measure is developed and analysed using a sample of union members. The results indicate that the relationships between union variables and individual perceptions of insecurity depend on the organizational level at which threats occur (e.g. arbitrary supervision or organizational decline). Furthermore, for higher source-level threats, union members are often sensitive to the wage-employment trade-off in that, if they perceive their union to effectively raise wages, they have higher levels of job insecurity. However, work rules do not appear to have much effect on reducing job insecurity perceptions.     

Union Workers,Union Work: A Profile of Paid Union Officers in the United Kingdom

Twelve years ago, Working for the Union presented an analysis of paid trade union officers working for UK unions. This paper returns to the themes of this earlier study using a fresh survey of union officers carried out in 2002. It provides limited support for two of the principal findings of the earlier research: that union work is performed differently by officers with different demographic and attitudinal characteristics and that union management systems can be effective in encouraging officers to respond to a new bargaining and organizing agenda.     

Union Growth in Malaysia and Singapore

This paper examines the determinants of trade union membership growth in Malaysia and Singapore for the period 1965–1983 and finds that the standard Western-based aggregate model of trade union growth applies to these countries. However, regression results suggest that the model's key variables have differential effects in the two countries.     

Justice and Union Participation: An Extension and Test of Mobilization Theory

Heeding John Kelly's call to reorient the field of industrial relations towards the study of injustice, we employ mobilization, social exchange and organizational justice theories to specify and test a model of union participation. Using individual‐level survey data from public‐sector union members to test our model, we find that differences in worker perceptions of workplace injustice and union justice explain slightly more variation in members’ union participation than more traditional measures of job satisfaction and union instrumentality perceptions. The implications of our analysis for researchers and union practitioners are also discussed.     

Trade Union Growth and Decline in Asia

We examine trends in union density and union influence in several Asian countries. Though we find variation in union density, all countries experienced union decline in the 1990s. Asian countries also vary on our new union influence measure. We use a logics of action framework to examine the institutional context surrounding union growth, decline and influence in each country. Based on our examination of how these institutional contexts are changing, and what we know about the strategies of unions, we are not hopeful regarding the near term prospects for reversing union decline.     

Union Mobilization: A Consideration of the Factors Affecting the Willingness of Union Members to Take Industrial Action

Drawing on mobilization theory, this article seeks to identify the factors that shape the willingness of union members to take industrial action. The study utilized data from a large‐scale survey (N = 1,111) carried out in a financial services union during the renegotiation of a collective bargaining contract. The results suggested that individuals were more willing to engage in industrial action when they experienced a sense of injustice or unfairness in the employment relationship and when they held a collectivist orientation to work. Moreover, their propensity to take industrial action was greater when they considered that their union was an effective instrument of power. Workplace representatives were also important, particularly when they were seen as being responsive to their members' needs in situations of perceived injustice. The implications for mobilization theory and for union strategy are discussed.     

Securing a Union Contract: Impact of the Union Organizer

Unions fail to secure a first contract after winning a representation election in approximately one out of four campaigns. This paper extends the limited research on first-contract determinants by developing and testing a model that incorporates the role of the union organizer. Although union organizers typically do not negotiate first contracts, the empirical results suggest that the organizer's personality and actions during a campaign are important determinants of first contracts.