| Abstract: | Conclusion But in the final analysis the cases cited above in Switzerland, Belgium, or the Netherlands are only modest exceptions or glosses on the general absence of formal union or closed-shop arrangements continental or Western Europe, and this contrasts, of course, with the United States. Whether or not this particular divergence may be reduced in the future remains to be seen. Certainly, in the U.S. with the union movement increasingly aware of its relative (to the labor force) decline in numbers, if anything one could anticipate even greater determination to insist on strong union-security arrangements in the future. (Whether this might be offest by some growth in state right-to-work laws, is problematical). Forecasting the future of the closed or union shop, or other forms of union security in Western Europe is hazardous, although this paper does suggest some grounds for development of a trend in the direction of such developments in several countries. How then in retrospect does the West European experience relate to the broader theme of the conference, the free rider issue? Trade unionism in European history has been at least as much a social and political collective phenomenon, as it has been an economic phenomenon. Economists must be able to understand workers’ relationships to unions in terms of these collective realities, if their explanations of why workers do or do not join unions, or why unions may or may not feel compelled to seek the closed or union shop are to achieve a similar reality. This paper is submitted by the author in his private capacity. It is not intended to represent the position of the Library of Congress, where he is currently serving as a senior specialist, nor the University of Wisconsin. The paper has benefited from the comments of Morris Weisz, University of Wisconsin and Bruce Millen of the U.S. Department of Labor. |
