Empirical evidence on the union free-rider problem: Do right-to-work laws matter?

This study provides detailed statistics by state, industry, occupation, and worker characteristics on private sector wage and salary workers covered by union collective bargaining agreements but who are not union members. A distinction is made between those workers who value the benefits of coverage more than the cost of membership, the true free riders, and those who do not, the induced riders. A probit union membership equation is estimated on a sample which excludes the covered nonmembers. Predicted probabilities are then calculated from the estimated model, yielding a quantifiable measure of the true free-rider problem. The author gratefully thanks Barry T. Hirsch, David A. Macpherson, and an anonymous referee for their constructive comments and insightful ideas. Any errors remain the sole responsibility of the author.     

Heterogeneity and union membership determination

This paper formalizes theoretical and empirical analyses of the determination of union membership. It is argued that an important (and usually ignored) consideration affecting the union status of workers is the externalities between (potential) union members: The gain a worker derives from unionization is affected by the characteristics of the workers who already belong to the union, and the gain union members derive from admitting an additional worker to membership depends on that worker’s characteristics. Thus, two conditions must hold if a worker is to join a union: (1) unionization should increase his wage, and (2) union members must benefit from adding him. The main implication of this analysis is that in a given industry/occupation a union is more likely to form among workers withlower rents. To test this proposition, I present an empirical analysis using data from the May 1979 Current Population Survey (CPS) Public Use Sample. A procedure for measuring worker’s rent is discussed and certain relationships between rent and union membership are identified. I am most indebted to Finis Welch for many valuable comments and suggestions throughout the preparation of this study. I have also benefited from comments made by Mark Killingsworth, Kevin Murphy, Mark Plant, the editor of this journal, and an anonymous referee. The generous availability of the computer facilities at Unicon Research Corporation is appreciated.     

Unequal and Unfair: Free Riding in One‐Shot Interactions

This study investigates the effect of status on perceptions of and reactions to free riders. Extrapolating from expectation states theory, I posit that higher status actors are granted a greater degree of social leniency than lower status actors when it comes to free riding. Specifically, I hypothesize that higher status actors are less likely to evoke the same negative emotional and behavioral responses elicited by lower status free riders. Using gender as an indicator of status, I employ a simple vignette to examine this relationship. Results validate previous findings related to the negative emotional and affective responses individuals have toward free riders. Furthermore, while findings fail to support the stated hypotheses, additional results demonstrate the subtle complexity of the relationship between gender, status, and free riding as well as its effect on the emotional and behavioral responses of individuals within small groups. As a result, I suggest that an outright rejection of the stated hypotheses may be premature and that further research in this area is warranted.     

Perceptions of union power,service, and confidence in labor leaders: A study of member and nonmember differences

Attitudes toward specific aspects of unionization held by the subjects of large national samples of the U.S. work force (the1977 Quality of Employment Survey) and the general population (the1972–1978 General Social Surveys) are examined in two separate analyses. Comparisons of the attitudes held by union members and nonmembers are made on specific dimensions of union power and service and confidence in union leaders. Nonmembers are found to have stronger perceptions that unions are influential in running the country and that unions are stronger than employers. Conversely, union members have stronger perceptions that unions offer protection, job security, improve wages and conditions of work, are worth their dues, and have greater confidence in union leaders. Discriminant analysis of data over a five-year period also revealed that union members have a stable higher confidence level in union leaders than nonmembers. Explanations for such union member and nonmember differences are hypothesized. The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Brent Schooley. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Western Academy of Management meetings at Monterey, California, 1981.     

The inflation-unemployment trade-offs of union members

Social preference functions between inflation and unemployment are estimated for individuals classified by union status using Gallup Poll presidential popularity data. We expected union members to assign higher weights to unemployment and lower weights to inflation than those who are not union members, but we found the reverse. Union members weight unemployment relative to inflation less than nonunion members because they weight unemployment less. Given the emphasis that trade union leaders place on reducing unemployment rather than inflation, this suggests a divergence in views between union leaders and the rank and file. The authors are indebted to Jeff Moore and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. Any remaining errors are our own. Smyth’s research was aided by the LSU Foundation.     

Unionism and voter turnout

Conventional wisdom suggests that union members and their families are more politically active, and more likely to vote, than nonmembers. This study presents, to our knowledge, the first systematic empirical examination of that conventional wisdom. Results suggest that union members are more likely than nonmembers to vote in a general election, and that union campaign efforts increase voter turnout generally. There is no evidence, however, that union family members are more likely to vote than nonmembers, or that union status affects an individual’s likelihood of voting in a primary election. The authors wish to thank Robert Perloff, Donna Sockell, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. This study was partially supported by a Columbia University Graduate School of Business Faculty Research Fellowship and a Faculty Research Grant from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Business.     

Participation in union activities: A multivariate analysis

Multivariate analysis is used to estimate a model of member participation in local union activities. A sample of 387 members of the UAW living in the Detroit area was drawn from the1961 Detroit Area Study: Work Group Influence and Political Participation. It was hypothesized that participation would be positively associated with level of schooling, current wages, seniority, skilled jobs, job dissatisfaction, dissatisfaction with the local union, desire for another job, commitment to the labor movement, and getting along with others. OLS and Logit estimation techniques were used and support was found for all hypotheses except those related to wage levels and seniority.     

Antecedents of Union Commitment: The Impact of Union Membership Differences in Vertical Dyads and Work Group Relationships

Relational demography has recently been employedto investigate the influence of workplace diversity onorganizational outcomes, such as organizationalcommitment, turnover, and performance (O Reilly,Caldwell, & Barnett, 1989; Tsui & O Reilly, 1989;Tsui, Egan, & O Reilly, 1992; Tsui, Egan, &Porter, 1994). In the present study, we utilize thetechniques and theoretical framework employed in the relational demography literature to examine theimpact of heterogeneous union membership status withinwork groups and vertical dyads, and the effect of thesedifferences on union commitment. A composite dataset was created from two Australianhospitals. Analyses of the data were confined to 460nursing staff who could be identified within 43 specificwork groups (hospital wards). The results indicate that while no relationship was found betweendifferences in membership status among co-workers inwork groups on commitment, differences between membersand their supervisors served to decrease union loyalty and belief in unionism (controlling for otherunion and organizational factors). Importantly, we foundsupport for an interaction effect between work groupsand vertical dyads. Differences in membership status among co-workers were observed to lowerunion loyalty and willingness to work for the union whensupervisors were nonunion members. The implications ofsuch findings for union policy are addressed.     

Union rent appropriation and ex post analysis

A data set of 106Fortune 500 firms is used to investigate the extent of union rent appropriation in 1977. The analysis identifies the existence of an appropriable asset with greater value in use than exchange as a necessary condition for union rent appropriation. The empirical analysis utilizes a new source of unionization data and explicitly addresses the problems associated with ex post analysis. The results suggest capital- and firm-specific efficiency are major sources for union rent appropriation. The authors thank Barry Hirsch for providing data used in this study and also thank Jon Nelson, David Macpherson, Mark Roberts, Chella Courington, seminar participants at The Pennsylvania State University, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper. Machine readable copies of the unionization data and an appendix describing the programs used to generate the results are available from Ted W. Chiles at the Department of Economics, School of Business, Auburn University at Montgomery, 7300 University Drive, Montgomery, Alabama, 36117–3596.     

What does a motorcyclist look at while driving at urban arterials?

To design adequate measures for enhancing riders' safety, a necessary first step is to understand the riders' visual scanning strategies under different traffic conditions. This paper presents the preliminary analysis of eye tracking data collected by three riders in the Athens metropolitan area, riding along urban arterial motorways and along an undivided urban road. Apart from the fixation duration and location, the fixated road elements and specific objects were annotated and analysed. The mean duration of fixations was found to be higher on urban roads than on motorways for all traffic densities. Riding in the condition of restricted flow seems to be more demanding for the riders, since the mean duration of fixations was higher in restricted flow than in free or congested flow on motorway and also higher than in free flow on urban road. The riders' fixation locations differed between motorway and urban road, especially in the vertical plane. The analysis of fixated road elements and specific objects indicates the specific points of interest of riders in each case. Although results should be validated with data from more riders, they provide hints on direction of future research efforts to enhance riders' safety in urban environments.     

RACE, GENDER, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND UNION SUPPORT: AN ANALYSIS OF SOUTHERN TEXTILE WORKERS

This paper examines race and gender differences in class consciousness and union support among a random sample of textile workers in a small North Carolina city. Class consciousness is treated as an ordinal variable consisting of class verbalization, class action orientation, and endorsement of egalitarian change. Union support denotes a recognition of the union's instrumental role in improving work and working conditions. The analysis reveals that blacks are significantly more class conscious and prounion than whites. On the other hand, males and females tend to share similar levels of class consciousness and union support. Comparisons by race, within gender and by gender, within race, are provided for finer distinctions and extended discussion. A multiple classification analysis reveals that racial differences persist and that gender differences remain unimportant when the covariates of age, job dissatisfaction, education, income, and skill are considered.     

Employee perceptions of reputation: An ethnographic study

The ability of organizational members to identify and analyse stakeholder opinion is critical to the management of corporate reputation. In spite of the significance of these abilities to corporate reputation management, there has been little effort to document and describe internal organizational influences on such capacities. This ethnographic study conducted in Red Cross Queensland explores how cultural knowledge structures derived from shared values and assumptions among organizational members influence their conceptualisations of organizational reputation. Specifically, this study explores how a central attribute of organizational culture – the property of cultural selection – influences perceptions of organizational reputation held by organizational members. We argue that these perceptions are the result of collective processes that synthesise (with varying degrees of consensus) member conceptualisations, interpretations, and representations of environmental realities in which their organization operates. Findings and implications for organizational action suggest that while external indicators of organizational reputation are acknowledged by members as significant, the internal influence of organizational culture is a far stronger influence on organizational action.     

Union Professors: Framing Processes,Mobilizing Structures,and Participation in Faculty Unions*

This study traces the development of union loyalties among community college professors. Assuming that activism is motivated by contextual and ideological factors, the paper analyzes the ways that social networks, collegiate workplaces, and framing practices transform political bystanders into committed union members. Using data from a study of junior college professors in Kentucky (N = 329), the study finds that union participation is strongly linked to a distrust of campus administrators and having pro‐union friends and colleagues. Likewise, perceptions of union efficacy, a liberal identity as well the professor’s education level predicted the actual joining of their campus’ faculty union.     

Union wages, rents, and skills in health care labor markets

We examine the effect of unions on the earnings of health care workers, with emphasis on the measurement and sources of union wage premiums. Using data constructed from the 1973 though 1994 Current Population Surveys, standard union premium estimates are found to be substantially lower among workers in health care than in other sectors of the economy, and to be smaller among higher skill than among lower skill occupational groups. Longitudinal analysis of workers switching union status, which controls for worker-specific skills, indicates a small impact of unions on earnings within both high and low skilled health care occupations. Evidence is found for small, but significant, union threat effects in health care labor markets. It has been argued that recent legal changes in bargaining unit determination should enhance union organizing and bargaining power. Although we cannot rule this out, such effects are not readily apparent in our data. The authors appreciate the assistance of David Macpherson, who helped develop the CPS data files used in the paper.     

No city for migrant women: construction workers’ experiences of exclusion from urban governance and discrimination in labour markets in Ahmedabad

ABSTRACT

Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, and a reflection of India’s story of exclusionary economic growth. This article focuses on research carried out with women construction workers with the help of a migrant construction workers’ union in Ahmedabad. It describes the method used by women members of the union to make visible their experiences as migrants in the city – with men, local authorities, and employers – to highlight the additional burdens that they bear due to a negligent state and industry, advocate for better working and living conditions, and raise consciousness of gender inequalities that need to be integrated into the demands of the workers’ union.     

WHY DO WORKERS JOIN UNIONS? THE IMPORTANCE OF RENT SEEKING

Union status models ignore the fact that rent-seeking prospective members have an incentive to bid up entry costs so that higher union wage gains make union jobs more costly to obtain. The standard presumption that higher union wages cause firms to substitute toward higher quality workers is shown to be incorrect under most plausible assumptions; the observed positive correlation between wage gains and the propensity to join a union underestimates the size of the true supply response. The union/nonunion wage differential reveals more about the social cost of unions than the gain to an individual worker from union membership.     

Sustaining and Developing Women's Trade Union Activism: A Gendered Project?

Against the background of heavy membership decline, the increasing importance of women as a source of members for unions and union efforts to attract women into membership, this paper explores the nature of women's union activism. The focus is on why women stay active in unions. The paper employs Klandermans' model as a framework for examining senior union women's activism. This study suggests that the model is gendered in that women's experiences and perceptions of trade unions are highly gender specific and further that their union activities are underpinned by a feminist paradigm. The women in the study expressed a strong desire to ensure that the union works for women, indicative of the gendered nature of their commitment to the union. They revealed gendered bargaining priorities and thus gendered perceptions of union instrumentality. Their social integration within the union is shown to be highly or partially contingent upon, formal and informal women's support networks.     

Union membership,economic rents,and migration behavior

This study represents an extension of the human capital paradigm as it relates to an individual’s decision to migrate. It differs from previous studies by incorporating union membership, a labor market variable, into the model. In effect, the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 granted a monopoly bargaining position to unions. The theoretical implication of a union’s monopoly bargaining position is that union wage levels will increase relative to nonunion wages. The increase of relative wages results in union membership granting a property right that possesses positive net present value and hence reduces an employed union member’s probability of migrating. Additionally, the supra-competitive remuneration of union members results in a surplus of labor supplied to union firms. Employers respond by using quality screening to hire workers from the larger labor pool. As a result, unemployed union members will on average possess higher levels of human capital, which will increase their probability of migrating above that of their unemployed nonunion cohorts.     

Health conditions and job hazards: Union and nonunion jobs

Blue-collar union members are more likely than nonunion blue-collar workers to report health conditions caused by job accidents and by bad working conditions caused by noise, smoke, heat, and dust. This is consistent with blue-collar union members’ evaluation of hazardous job conditions and with their indemnity claims filing behavior for industrial injury or occupational disease. Union members are also more likely to be found in industries with higher injury rates. Age and marital status are positively associated and being female and education are negatively associated with a self-reported job related health condition. We thank Steve Zrebiec for research assistance and Bill Greene for the maximum likelihood routines. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Council on Compensation Insurance or Brigham Young University.