Linking Union Density and Union Effectiveness: The North American Experience

This study considers how union performance in terms of organizing, bargaining, and political activity are related to severely declining union density (the percentage of the workforce in unions) in the United States and the higher and stable union density in Canada. Canadian unions have remained active in recruiting new members and assign a high priority to organizing, while American unions have shown diminished organizing effort and ability. Canadian unions have demonstrated superior performance in collective bargaining as measured by resistance to concession bargaining and negotiated wage gains, among other factors. Finally, although Canadian unions experienced some political setbacks, they wielded more political influence than their American counterparts in promoting union-specific as well as broad social legislation. Density is examined as both a consequence and determinant of the divergence in union performance.     

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 Decertifications's Impact on Shareholder Wealth

Recent research correlated share price declines in financial markets with union organizing. Investors seemingly anticipate a redistribution of earnings away from shareholder returns toward employee compensation. The markets discount security prices accordingly. But were that the case, union decertification activity should correlate with persistent, abnormally high returns on equity investments. Failure to find returns that are both abnormally high and persistent invites an alternative explanation that is consistent with the data from both studies. This study finds that firms that retained union representation in decertification cases actually outperformed those that ousted the bargaining agent in a partitioned sample comparison.     

The Union Wage Effect in Japan

Previous studies point to Japanese labor unions’ lack of bargaining power that results from their organization at an enterprise level. However, a detailed examination of the institutional setting backed by the Labor Standard Law and Trade Union Law reveals that unions have strong bargaining power against deteriorating work conditions. This paper examines the effect of unions on wages using the Japanese General Social Surveys 2000–2003, which cover a period of economic stagnation. We find a robust union wage premium for both males and females. A Cotton–Neumark decomposition reveals that about one‐fifth of union workers’ higher wage is explained by the difference in the union and nonunion wage structures. We also can confirm the union wage compression effect using the DiNardo, Fortin, and Lemieux (1996 ) method. Union workers are likely to think that they will not find jobs with similar compensation packages if they leave their current jobs. In summary, unions in Japan contribute to an increase in the average wage and compress the wage distribution among their workers. This result is reconciled with previous findings by considering the uniqueness of the macroeconomic conditions of the sample period.     

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.     

Does Technological Change Affect Union Wage Bargaining Power?

This paper uses data from a survey of Canadian establishments to consider the effects of computer-based process technological change on wage bargaining power. The analysis finds that union wage differentials for blue-collar workers as a whole were lower among firms that had introduced process computerization than among those that had not. The relationship between technological change and the union wage premium differed, however, for skilled and unskilled labour. The union wage effect was lower for skilled workers and higher for general manual occupations in the sub-sample where process computerization had occurred. Explanations for these observed relationships appear to involve both economic and institutional components.     

Changes in Wage-setting Arrangements and Trade Union Presence in the 1980s

In this paper we detail the results of a retrospective survey of changes in trade union and wage-setting arrangements in the 1980s for a sample of 558 UK companies. Our key findings are as follows. (1) Complete derecognition of unions in a firm was rare even in firms with low trade union density. (2) Partial derecognition in multi-plant firms was more common. Some 13 per cent of companies with recognized unions in 1984 had had at least partial derecognition by 1990. (3) Large falls in trade union density within a firm have also been rare, though small but observable declines have been commonplace. (4) The coverage of the closed shop has substantially declined, and this decline has been most marked in the last five years. Around one-quarter of firms with recognized unions in 1990, however, still had closed-shop arrangement for at least part of their work-force. (5) There has been no clear decline in the prevalence of multi-unionism or multiple bargaining units. (6) There has been a significant move away from national/industry-wide bargaining, towards negotiations at the individual company or more often the establishment level. (7) In the absence of collective bargaining there have been clear moves away from wage-setting by formal external links, such as wages councils and multi-employer agreements, and even away from worker consultation towards more managerial discretion. (8) In deciding wage settlements, managers are increasingly influenced by company performance and less by multi-employer wage settlements.     

The Impact of Union Political Activities on Public-Sector Pay, Employment, and Budgets

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the political power of public employee unions has been a major cause of excessive growth in municipal expenditures. Previous studies, however, have not directly measured union political activities but instead have used some type of unionization or collective bargaining proxy. This paper uses unpublished data from the International City Management Association (ICMA) to develop a more direct measure of police and fire union political activity. It is found that increased union political activity leads to greater department expenditures but not necessarily to greater municipal expenditures or revenues. The results also suggest that unions increase department spending through political activity and not through the collective bargaining process itself. Further, it appears that political activity increases department spending through higher employment and not through higher compensation.     

The Viability of Trade Union Organization: A Bargaining Unit Analysis

The paper develops a model of trade union behaviour based on the concept of the viable bargaining unit. Viability rests on five conditions: membership level, service level, membership participation, employer recognition, and facilities. Unions are seen as portfolios of viable and inviable bargaining units. Six propositions are derived, concerning union scale, growth, the impact of statutory recognition provisions, the emergence of conglomerate unions, governance structures, and relations with employers. Employer dependence is central, and a simple game‐theoretic approach is used to discuss employer co‐operation. Viability at the union level is achieved by portfolio diversification and employer co‐operation.     

Exclusion and Disarticulation: The Transport and General Workers' Union in the Road Haulage Industry, 1979–1998

The attrition of trade union organization and collective bargaining in the UK is accepted as having been a principal feature of industrial relations since 1980, but there is no general agreement as to the causes. This paper explores trade union disarticulation and exclusion in a 1979–98 study of the Transport and General Workers' Union Road Transport Commercial trade group, which organizes in the road haulage industry. It emphasizes the importance of the legal framework established by the Conservative government in inhibiting union power at a time of the ongoing restructuring of road haulage, providing companies with the opportunity and incentive to exclude trade union organization and fragment union bargaining power.     

Accounting for Greenfield Union Organizing Outcomes

This paper presents a framework for evaluating and accounting for the outcomes of ‘greenfield’ union organizing campaigns. It argues that previous studies have tended to focus too much on the establishment of collective bargaining and negotiation of first contract as a campaign outcome. Instead, the effectiveness and representativeness of new union structures are emphasized, and the sustainability of those structures is emphasized as the most important outcome. A key finding from the empirical data is that campaigns that build both workplace activism and are co‐ordinated by officers create more sustainable outcomes than campaigns that focus on one or the other. The evidence shows how and why these outcomes emerge, and the paper concludes with a consideration of the theoretical and practical implications.     

Trade Union Presence and Employer-Provided Training in Great Britain

Using linked employer-employee data from the British 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey, we find a positive correlation between workplace union recognition and private-sector employer-provided training. We explore the avenues through which union recognition might affect training by interacting recognition with the closed shop, the level at which pay bargaining takes place, and multiunionism. For non-manual-labor men and women, only union recognition matters. The various types of collective-bargaining institutions have no separate effect. However, the male manual training probability is significantly increased by union presence only through multiple unionism with joint negotiation. In contrast, for women manual workers, union recognition at the workplace has no effect on the training probability.     

The Statutory Union Recognition Procedure in the Employment Relations Bill: A Comparative Analysis

This paper analyses the provisions for union recognition contained in the British Employment Relations Bill in the light of problems with the system in operation in the 1970s and with its US counterpart. First, it establishes that these problems may be attributable largely to defects in design rather than fundamental flaws, and that this is demonstrated by the relative success of the Canadian system. Second, the paper evaluates the Bill's provisions, finding that it avoids many weaknesses of the 1970s and US systems but lacks a number of the Canadian system's strengths. Consequently recognition may be readily attainable if the union already has a majority, but there could be undue delays and opportunities for employer interference if this is not the case, and in general union recognition may not translate into effective collective bargaining. However, if the provisions do help diffuse the partnership model as the government envisages, apparent weaknesses in the Bill may yet prove to be the hallmarks of a distinctive system.     

Between Fragmentation and Centralization: South Korean Industrial Relations in Transition

This study investigates profound changes in South Korean industrial relations after the Asian financial crisis of 1997. Korea's neoliberal labour reforms have produced a large number of non‐standard workers, deepening the union representation gap. Realizing that the fragmented enterprise unions could not adequately protect workers from this degradation of labour, trade union leaders began a major organizational drive at the industry level and tried to institutionalize sectoral bargaining. A political space for union centralization was partially opened because the state needed labour's co‐operation to implement neoliberal reform packages. However, disorganized centralization in Korea, where important decisions on wages and working conditions have been negotiated mainly at the company level, has faced limitations in achieving meaningful changes in the dualistic structure of the labour market. This study concludes with a review of changes in Korea's labour law in 2010 and a discussion on the effects of the law on bargaining rights of non‐standard workers and the incipient industry‐level bargaining. This trend towards union centralization may continue, but the notable gap between the formal bargaining structure and actual practice is expected to widen.     

Union Exclusion and the Decollectivization of Industrial Relations in Contemporary Britain

A major focus of the Conservative government's employment policy since 1979 has been the reduction of union power within the labour market, the employment relationship and as representatives of a separate ‘labour interest’ in society ' union exclusion. The principal impact of the legislative changes is to deny workers access to resources of collective power, thereby commensurately increasing employers' discretion to determine the terms of the employment relationship. When forming new subsidiaries and establishments, or purchasing non-union subsidiaries, employers have been able to resist unionization and recognition except on their own terms, but comparatively few have terminated existing union recognition agreements, preferring to marginalize the role of unions through the adoption of partial exclusion policies ' joint consultation, direct communication, performance-related pay, and the fragmentation of common employment and bargaining.     

Union Involvement in Workplace Change: A Comparative Study of Local Unions in Canada and Mexico

This paper examines the sources of local union power to cope with workplace change. Are workplace unions active participants, merely passengers, outright opponents, or entirely excluded from the change process? Drawing on 18 case studies and a survey conducted in the auto and metalworking industries in Mexico and Canada, the results suggest that greater internal solidarity, stronger articulation with other levels of union and community activity and the pursuit of an autonomous agenda all provide the basis for enhanced local union bargaining power in the context of globalization. This general conclusion applies to Canadian as well as Mexican local unions and suggests analytical paths for understanding the construction and renewal of union power.     

Trade Union Decline and Union Wage Effects in Australia

Union density in Australia fell precipitously in the 1990s. This study investigates how union wage effects may have changed as a result. The findings from 1993 data suggest that union/nonunion wage differentials were very small, especially among workers in high-density industries. By 2001 the overall union wage effect had increased significantly; however, the union/nonunion wage differential was no longer correlated with union density at the industry level.     

Union Representation Elelctions and Firm Profitability

Union representation elections are associated with significant declines in firm profitability. In addition to the significant mean effect of union elections on the equity value of firms, there exists substantial variation in the magnitude of equity losses across individual election events. Cross-sectional variation in shareholder equity losses can be explained by the labor intensity of the firm, the size of the union wage premium and fraction of workers organized in "the firm's industry,." the presence or absencse of right-to-work lows in the state where the election is held, the member of workers covered in the representaion election, and the number of previous union representation election in the firm. The empirical results indiacte the equity losses are the greatest in industries where union wage gain are the highest and unionization rates are the largest, and in the most labor-intensive firms, independent of the size of the bargaining unit involved in the election. The latter result indicates the presence of union spillover effects.     

Models of Union Wage Determination: What Have We Learned Since Dunlop and Ross?

This study surveys the development and current status of models of union wage determination since Dunlop and Ross first wrote on the subject in the 1940s. To start, I identify eight empirical dimensions of the union wage effect that models have endeavored to explain and predict. A number of alternative theoretical models are then examined, starting with Dunlop's "economic" and Ross' "political" models and extending to the plethora of models and extensions found in the modern-day literature. Examples include standard monopoly, efficient contract, and bargaining models, as well as offshoots such as median voter, insider-outsider, property rights, and principal-agent models. The article then examines the extent to which these various models generate hypotheses and insights apropos to explaining the eight major empirical dimensions of the union wage effect. The conclusion summarizes what has been learned, the major shortcomings of this literature, and steps for further progress.     

Influences on Trade Union Organizing Effectiveness in Britain

Do British trade unions vary in their effectiveness in maintaining organization and membership in workplaces where they have an established bargaining presence? Do highly developed national union recruitment strategies and innovation in recruitment strategy boost consolidatory organizing and recruitment effectiveness (CORE)? Results suggest that (1) there is some variation in internal organising effectiveness between unions, and (2) national union innovation in recruitment policy is positively associated with internal organizing effectiveness where unions organize blue‐collar workers, but negatively associated with internal organizing effectiveness where unions organize white‐collar workers.