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 acti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial relations (Berkeley) 1996-01, Vol.35 (1), p.78-105
Main Authors: ROSE, JOSEPH B., CHAISON, GARY N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Associations
Bargaining
Canada
Certification
Collective Bargaining
Comparative analysis
Effectiveness
Employees
Employers
Employment
Labor
Labor force
Labor law
Labor market
Labor negotiations
Labor sector
Labor unions
Lobbying
Membership
North America
Organizational Effectiveness
Political Action
Political activities
Political influences
Political participation
Political Power
Politics
Private sector
Public sector
Recruitment
Studies
Success
Trade unions
Trends
Union membership
Unions
United States
United States of America
Voters
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0019-8676
1468-232X
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-232X.1996.tb00396.x