Labor‐Management Partnerships' Effects On Unionists' Interaction Networks: Evidence From Us Public Schools

Abstract

Industrial Relations scholars have argued that labor‐management partnerships influence union leaders' communication patterns within organizations. To date, however, these arguments have lacked theoretical clarity, as well as strong empirical support. We address this gap by developing and testing hypotheses that concern how the emergence of labor‐management partnerships shape union leaders' communication patterns within and between worksites (Study 1), as well as how these communications patterns associate with frontline workers' attitudes about their jobs and their union leader (Study 2). We test our hypotheses using multi‐source, multi‐year data from the context of U.S. public schools.