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The politics of union decline: an historical analysis

Tope, Daniel B.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1185824363

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Sociology.
This dissertation examines relationships between politics and labor unions. Unions are important because they can reduce income inequality and are the primary advocates for policies that benefit workers and the poor. But union membership has experienced a severe decline. The substantial literature on union decline has primarily focused on how broad economic shifts, increased employer resistance, and shortcomings in union organizing strategies weaken organized labor. But the state controls union organizing. Surprisingly few scholars examine the politics of labor’s decline. I extend the union decline literature by emphasizing how political arrangements matter for labor outcomes in three separate but related analyses. The first study focuses on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This federal agency is the primary overseer of labor disputes in the United States. The NLRB is managed by presidential appointees that have vast discretion to interpret labor law. I content code the Board’s annual list of most significant ULP cases between 1970 and 2002. I use clustered logistic regression to examine whether political partisanship influences NLRB decisions. The findings support political partisanship theory. The second study analyzes labor unions' ability to build membership with workplace recognition elections. Workplaces are organized through recognition elections. But unions cannot grow if such elections are rare. Halting elections before they occur is thus a key strategy for union avoidance. I use a macro time series analysis that spans 1962 to 2002. My key findings show that when Republican presidents are in office unions are significantly less able to hold recognition elections. But the most interesting finding suggests that political factors matter most during the Republican administrations of Ronald Regan and subsequent Republican presidents. The final study draws upon theories of political partisanship and racial threat to analyze the frequency of union representation election victories across the U.S. states. This state-level panel analysis finds that Unions win fewer elections in states with Republican governors. Racial arrangements also matter. Initial growth in the black population is associated with higher rates of unionization. But after the black population passes a threshold, unions become significantly less likely to win recognition elections.
David Jacobs (Advisor)
163 p.
Political Sociology; Organized Labor; Labor Unions

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Tope, D. B. (2007). The politics of union decline: an historical analysis [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1185824363

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Tope, Daniel. The politics of union decline: an historical analysis. 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1185824363.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Tope, Daniel. "The politics of union decline: an historical analysis." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1185824363

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1185824363
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.