Nonprofit Management’s Perceptions of Unions in Government-Funded Child Welfare Agencies: Can They Help Raise Wages in This Triangular Relationship?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study explores the potential of unions as a solution for addressing chronic low compensation in government-funded nonprofit human services organizations. We used the primary child welfare agencies in New York as a collective case to study nonprofit management’s views on the role labor unions can play in addressing these issues. Our in-depth interviews with 15 nonprofit leaders reveal several findings: 1) Existing unions were relatively weak and had achieved limited gains for workers, which in turn demotivated workers to unionize; and 2) Most leaders doubted that unions can help in this matter because government, as opposed to nonprofits, controls prices. Some leaders, however, expressed a belief that a larger-scale worker unionization could provide nonprofit management with more leverage to ensure the government pays adequate contracts. We also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the role unions can play in helping improve worker compensation in nonprofit-union-government funder triangular relationships.