The level and growth of union/nonunion relative wage effects, 1967–1977

This paper pools cross-section data to obtain an estimate of the overall effects of unions on relative wages for the period 1967 through 1977. We found the average union wage premium for all workers to be roughly 24 percent, but that this premium varies substantially between subgroups of workers. Our analysis showed that real wage rates increased faster in the union sector than in the nonunion sector between 1967 through 1977. However, we found that this relative growth pattern in wages was caused by economic conditions rather than in any fundamental shift in the power of unions. We wish to thank James S. Cunningham, H. Gregg Lewis, and John Pencavel for helpful comments.     

Unionization and productivity in commercial banking

This paper examines the net effect of unions on productivity in the commercial banking industry. The focus of the study is on three methodological issues. First, an attempt is made to determine whether individual unions have a differential impact on banking productivity. The influence of unions on output per man-hour was initially estimated by including a union dummy variable in a Cobb-Douglas formulation of bank production. Separate binary variables were then entered into alternative specifications of the model to test the heterogeneity hypothesis. This hypothesis postulates differential productivity effects among the individual unions operating in the commercial banking sector. Second, the sample banks were paired on a case-by-case basis to assure the homogeneity of the two groupings: i.e., union and nonunion. Sample homogeneity is necessary because of the assumptions of identical production functions and output prices between the groups. Third, a complete covariance model was specified in order to estimate the impact of unionization on each parameter of the production function. In general, the unionized banks were less productive than their nonunion peers. It should be noted, however, that the standard errors were large in all the specifications. Moreover, the labor relations problems associated with one union had a large impact on the sector results.     

Unionization and faculty salaries: New evidence from the 1990s

The literature on how unionization affects faculty salaries and compensation is inconclusive. I use the 1993 National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty to investigate how collective bargaining affects faculty salaries. Union representation significantly alters the returns to individual and institutional characteristics, and unionized faculty receive a premium of between 7 and 14 percent, an earnings differential that is substantially larger than those found in most earlier studies.     

Unionization and the cost of producing hospital services

Since the inclusion of nonprofit hospitals under the provisions of the NLRA in 1974, the extent of unionization among hospital workers has increased sharply. The implications of this trend for hospital costs are examined here by analyzing data from 617 short-term hospitals in the Northeast. It is estimated that unionization on average increases production costs by 5 to 9 percent, with the bulk of this increase resulting from factors other than wage increases. Cost impacts are also found to be greater for national unions and where cost-based payment is more prevalent, and smaller for RN’s and service employees. This research was supported by Grant HS 03016 from the National Center for Health Services Research.     

Unionization and tenure and rank outcomes in Ohio Universities

We explore whether unionization affects tenure and promotion outcomes. Using data on 4,276 faculty from seven Ohio public universities, we find that unionization increases the probability that an individual will be tenured. Unionization also increases (decreases) the probability that an individual will be a full (assistant) professor. Moreover, unionization may standardize the promotion process across disciplines. The largest effect on the promotion process is related to length of service. Faculty who are with an institution longer are more likely to be tenured or in higher ranks. This result occurs for two reaization (1) The tenure and promotion processes are directly related to the number of years an individual works at an institution. Tenure decisions usually have time limitations, and although promotion decisions are not as directly tied to time, one generally becomes a full professor after the attainment of tenure and the rank of an associate professor; (2) Controlling for other factors, senior union faculty are more likely to be tenured or full professors, and they appear to be able to obtain higher ranks more easily. Our thanks to the session participants at the 1996 Missouri Valley Economics Association Conference, to Professor Michael Magura of the University of Toledo who provided most of the data and to an anonymous referree for insightful comments.     

Recent minimum wage increases and the minimum wage labor force

Coclusion  Recently Whaples (1996) reported that most labor economists believe that minimum wage laws decrease employment. Despite this, policy makers have continued to periodically raise the minimum, with the most recent increases occurring in October 1996 and September 1997. The various analyses done by Card, Katz, and Krueger, that showed little to no employment effect of past minimum wage increases, have provided additional ammunition for those who would seek further increases. However, using the estimates of Williams and Mills (1998), we demonstrate that the latest minimum wage increases substantially decreased employment for both sexes. We believe that future increases will do likewise.     

An Examination of Foster Parent Unionization: The Washington State Experience

In 2006, the Washington Federation of State Employees charted new territory by initiating an effort to unionize foster parents. Using a case study approach, we describe the development of this unique alliance, perspectives of stakeholder groups, and the social and economic conditions surrounding the organizing effort. Implications for policy and community practice are discussed.     

Immigrant qualifications: recognition and relative wage outcomes

"One aim of this study is to examine the labor market outcomes of immigrants relative to the Australian born.... In particular, this article examines both the extent of formal nonrecognition of overseas qualifications and the indirect implications for wage outcomes of a lack of full recognition of qualifications. Immigrant relative wage analysis...is the subject of the second part of this article...."     

Unions and wage inequality

Summary and Conclusions The impact of unions on the structure of wages has recently attracted renewed interest as analysts have struggled to explain the rise in earnings inequality in several industrialized countries. Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States provide a potentially valuable set of countries for examining this question. All three countries now collect comparable data on wages and union status in their regular labor force surveys. Several features of the collective bargaining institutions of these countries make them suitable for studying the relationship between unions and wage inequality. Bargaining is highly decentralized; there are no general mechanisms for extending collective bargaining provisions beyond the “organized” sector; and the fraction of the work force covered by collective bargaining is relatively modest. Thus it is possible to compare the structure of wages for workers covered by union contracts to those who are not covered, and potentially infer the effect of unions on overall wage inequality.     

Segmentation and wage determination

Dans leurs écrits récents sur la segmentation socio-économique, les Américains ont utilise des données secondaires recueillies dans le secteur industriel, pour démontrer que les arguments qui veulent que les salaires soient fixés par la population active ou fonctionelle, étaient limités. A l'aide de données recueillies principalement dans des maisons de commerce canadiennes, cette étude explore les effets d'une notion alternative du fonctionnement de la segmentation, sur le processus d'établissement des salaires. En employant de nouvelles techniques de classification, on a identifié trois groupes économiques de base, et examiné les différents aspects de la fixation des salaires à l'intérieur de ces groupes économiques. On a particulièrement montré que la perspective de segmentation pouvait fournir une réinterprétation intéressante des profile réguliers de l'expérimentation des salaires.
Recent American literature on socioeconomic segmentation has employed secondary data gathered at the industrial level to demonstrate the limitations of functionalist or human capital explanations of earnings determination. In this paper, we utilize primary Canadian data collected from business establishments to explore the effects of an alternative operationalization of the segmentation notion on the wage determination process. Using some new classificatory techniques, we identify three basic economic clusters, or segments, and examine the distinctive aspects of wage determination within these economic groups. In particular, we show that the segmentation perspective can provide an interesting reinterpretation of standard experience-earning profiles.     

Changing patterns of wage labor migration in the Kilenge area of Papua New Guinea

Using data obtained from a village census completed in 1977, the authors examine the importance of economic and social factors in migration decisions in the village of Ongaia, Papua New Guinea. The effects on migration of opportunities at place of destination, pressures in place of origin, and connections between town and village are investigated; motivations for return migration are discussed     

Unionization and Income Growth of Racial Minority Immigrants in Canada: A Longitudinal Study

This study examines the effect of unionization on the labor market integration of newly arrived immigrants in Canada. We find that non‐white recent immigrants gain access to unionized jobs at a slower rate than do white recent immigrants. The effect of unionization on earnings is somewhat lower for non‐white recent immigrants than for white recent immigrants. These findings are based on growth curve modeling of longitudinal data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID). Therefore, unionization does not contribute to reducing the earnings gap of non‐white recent immigrants relative to white immigrants and the native‐born.     

Capacity and Solidarity: Foundational Elements in the Unionization Strategy for Immigrant Day Labourers

Recent scholarship has been reasonably optimistic about unionization as a mechanism of labour justice for immigrant workers in casual and contingent work. This optimism rests on two assumptions: (1) that unions have the capacity to absorb immigrant workers in nonstandard work and (2) that casual, immigrant labourers enjoy the kind of solidarity that underpins collective action. This paper examines these assumptions critically through a case study of construction unions and Latino immigrant day labourers in Denver, Colorado and Baltimore, Maryland. I use participant observation and in‐depth interviews with nine labour unions, 19 Latino immigrant day labourers, and two (non‐union) day labour organizing projects in the cities to examine questions of capacity and solidarity. I find that the existing foundations for unionizing day labourers may be weak in certain cities and communities. Union capacity is undermined by structural fragmentation and specialization in market segments that are inaccessible to day labourers. Strategically, in an age of de‐unionization, unions also face pressures to “add value” for employers by sorting the workforce into high quality and low quality categories. Locals indicate day labourers would likely fall into the latter category, thus precluding membership. The foundations for solidarity are similarly weakened in the cases studied. Culturally, day labourers in Denver and Baltimore emphasize self‐reliance and material well‐being over collective action and the pursuit of justice. To work toward unionization, organizers should be prepared to confront deficits of capacity and solidarity in other cities as well, especially those where homelessness is prevalent among day labourers, where immigrant populations are newly arrived, or where local union cultures are unreformed. I suggest that union collaboration, a cooperative type of occupational unionism, and commitments to training day labourers may help boost union capacity to absorb day labourers, while the creative use of material incentives should figure prominently in organizing strategies.     

Unionization Matters: An Analysis of Post–World War II Strikes

Recent macroeconomic analyses of post–World War II US strikes conclude that union density during a given year does not affect the occurrence of strike activity during that same year, a finding attributed to the institutionalization of collective bargaining after WWII. However, this argument does not take into account two processes that may render new bargaining units more radical than established bargaining units and, hence, more likely to use strikes as a weapon against capitalists. Because macrolevel changes in union density are reflective of the organization or lack of organization of new bargaining units (Freeman and Medoff 1984), the effect of union density on strikes should still be present. However, given the average contract length of two years during this time period (Cecchetti 1987; Vroman 1989), this effect should be delayed by about two years by the presence of total no-strike pledges in most contracts (Perusek and Worcester 1995). An ARIMA time-series analysis confirms that union density has a two-year lagged effect on strike activity in the post–WWII time period, 1947–1977.     

Unionization decisions of members and nonmembers of an employee association

The determinants of intent to unionize were investigated using the responses of 405 employees of a large public university, 243 of whom were members of an employee association. Members and nonmembers indicated significantly different levels of union vote intent, general beliefs, specific beliefs, and normative pressures. They also used a different union vote decision model. General beliefs about unions appear to play a significantly greater role in unionization decision of nonmembers. On the other hand, while considering unionization, specific beliefs about unions were significantly more important for association members. Association members were less likely to vote for unionization.     

On institutions and wage determination

This paper examines the difficulties encountered in incorporating necessary institutional features of the labor market in wage change analysis. A simple ‘institutional’ model is advanced to clarify the method and implications of the incorporation of the relevant institutional detail. Certain lacunae of the research literature are identified and the need for relations supplemental to those already identified in that literature emphasized. Further process in applied work necessitates,inter al., recognition of the endogeneity of contract length and mode.