The impact of unionization on the incidence of and sources of payment for training in Canada

Abstract

This paper uses the Adult Education and Training Survey (AETS) to look at the effect of unions on the incidence and sources of payment for training in Canada. Simple tabulations indicate that union workers are more likely to engage in training activities than nonunion workers. The higher incidence of training among union workers is driven by the fact that they are more likely to take training courses offered by their employers than nonunion workers. This suggests that union workers are more likely to participate in training activities that enhance their firm-specific human capital. This union effect disappears, however, once we control for a variety of factors such as age, education, and in particular, firm size and seniority. Everything else being equal, unions have little effect on the provision of training in Canada. Finally, we present some limited evidence that unions help increase the participation of firms in the financing of training activities.