Decline In Union Membership Research Articles

Agency Costs, Corporate Governance and the American Labor Union

Acute agency costs exist in unions as they do in other complex organizations. Specifically, union officials are not perfect representatives of the rank-and-file workers they ostensibly represent. Far less attention has been paid to addressing the agency costs in unions than has been paid to addressing agency costs in the context of public corporations, where the separation of share ownership and managerial control long has been the subject of intense scrutiny by academics and policymakers. By contrast, context, concrete suggestions for confronting agency problems in unions are few on the ground. This Article attributes the secular decline in union membership and power largely to unions own inability to control agency costs. Specifically, workers who think that unions are corrupt and incapable of faithfully representing their interests in the workplace rationally will eschew union membership. The lack of focus on agency costs in the union context appears to be based on ideological and political considerations that tend to conflate the interests of workers with the interests of union officials, notwithstanding the fact that these interests often diverge in significant ways with workers’ focused on job security, wages and working conditions, and union officials focused on maximizing the private benefits of office. By way of solution, this article proposes a strategy of policy arbitrage consisting of identifying effective mechanisms for controlling agency costs in the corporate context that can be transferred to the union context and showing how such arbitrage could be accomplished. I identify four corporate governance mechanism as particularly promising candidates for import into the union context. First, proxy advisory firms could be employed to provide rank-and-file workers with high quality advice about how to vote in union elections. Second, existing disclosure obligations under the Landrum-Griffen Act should be both enhanced to include better disclosure of union officials’ compensation and “weaponized” by providing rank-and-file workers the right to vote up-or-down on such compensation through the provision of what are known in the corporate context as “say-on-pay” voting rights. Third, following Securities Exchange Act Rule 14a-8, union voting procedures should be reformed to give workers the right to make shareholder proposals that are distributed, along with the union’s voting materials, at union expense, to workers for their approval. Allowing rank-and-file workers to make direct appeals to other rank-and-file workers would allow workers to recommend internal corporate governance reforms of unions and empower them to nominate rival slates of union directors and officers for their unions. Finally, following well-established norms of corporate governance, independent directors should be introduced to union boards of directors and the responsibility for nominating union directors, determining compensation for top union officials, setting internal governance rules, and selecting the union’s independent, outside auditors should be removed from the board as a whole and delegated to committees of these independent board members.

Employee Intention to Join a Union in Private University

Trade unions are bodies that are not bound by any other organization and being free from the influence of employers makes them very powerful. Trade unions are also relationships between employers and their employees. Since the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis to now, there has been a decline in union membership of more than half a million. However, in this research, we found that unfair labour practices take the form of organization politics. Our main motive in this study was to identify the relationship between human resources practices and employee intention to join unions in the Malaysian education sector. We chose a particular university in Malaysia whose name is kept private and confidential. The study sample size was 120, which is sufficient for partial least squares structural equation modelling analysis. The study results reveal that the work environment, rewards, and compensation significantly influence employee intention to join a union. However, even if the employees intend to join the union, organizational politics moderate their decision to do so, and may prevent them from joining the union. The limitations of this study and suggested future research are also discussed.

The union default solution to declining union membership

The continued stasis in the now much reduced aggregate levels of union membership in Britain and elsewhere has such portent for widening inequalities in wealth and power under the neo-liberal variant of late capitalism that a union default requires introduction. In all countries around the world, the de facto system is a non-union default. Under a union default, all workers would be defaulted into membership of the appropriate union. This is not a proposal for compulsory membership, a contravention of individual liberty nor the return of the closed shop by the backdoor because workers will have the right to opt out of membership. The right to be the appropriate default union to which workers would be defaulted into in any workplace would be gained by the union passing a low minimum support threshold. This would bring with it the right to bargain over pay and conditions.

Introduction

Introduction

Central States Pension Fund: Department of Labor Activities Under the Consent Decree and Federal Law

The Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund (CSPF) was established in 1955 to provide pension benefits to trucking industry workers and is one of the largest multiemployer plans. According to its regulatory filings, CSPF had less than half the estimated funds needed to cover plan liabilities in 1982 at the time it entered into a court-enforceable consent decree that provides for oversight of certain plan activities. Since then, CSPF has made some progress toward achieving its targeted level of funding; however, CSPF has never been more than 75 percent funded and its funding level has weakened since 2002. Stakeholders GAO interviewed identified numerous factors that contributed to CSPF's financial condition. For example, stakeholders stated that changes within the trucking industry, as well as a decline in union membership, contributed to CSPF's inability to maintain a healthy contribution base. CSPF's active participants made up about 69 percent of all participants in 1982, but accounted for only 16 percent in 2016. The most dramatic change in active participants occurred in 2007 when the United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) withdrew from the plan. At that time, UPS accounted for about 30 percent of the plan's active participants (i.e. workers). In addition, the market declines of 2001 to 2002 and 2008 had a significant negative impact on the plan's long-term investment performance. Stakeholders noted that, while each individual factor contributed to CSPF's critical financial condition, the interrelated nature of the factors also had a cumulative effect on the plan's financial condition. The 1982 consent decree between the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and CSPF came about as a result of an investigation of alleged breaches of fiduciary duty and mismanagement of plan assets, and is intended to prevent their reoccurrence. In addition to reiterating the requirement that the plan comply with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)—the primary law governing the treatment of private-sector pensions in the United States—the consent decree further outlines requirements for the plan to help ensure fiduciary controls and plan management, including seeking court approvals for the appointment of new trustees and changes to the plan's investment policy. The consent decree also delineates roles for DOL and other stakeholders. For example, it allows DOL to object to or comment on certain proposed plan actions, but does not require the agency to do so. GAO's review of plan documents found that the agency provided oversight and technical assistance in the areas specifically identified for its involvement under the consent decree, such as vetting proposed trustees prior to the court's approval. DOL is primarily responsible for enforcing the reporting, disclosure, and fiduciary provisions of ERISA for all tax-qualified pension plans, including CSPF. ERISA sets forth a “prudent man standard of care” in the execution of fiduciary duties that, according to DOL, focuses on the process for making proper fiduciary decisions. Plan fiduciaries are responsible for selecting and monitoring investment managers, but are generally not liable for the individual investment decisions of those managers. To enforce ERISA, DOL conducts examinations and investigations. Since the consent decree was established, DOL officials reported that the agency has completed two investigations of CSPF. The two investigations—completed in 1998 and 2004—were closed without adverse findings against the plan. Beyond the agencies' oversight role, DOL collaborated with CSPF and others on steps intended to improve the plan's financial position, including contributing to discussions on proposed legislation and working with CSPF on its application to reduce benefits under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. The application was not approved by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Central States Pension Fund: Investment Policy Decisions and Challenges Facing the Plan

Central States Pension Fund: Investment Policy Decisions and Challenges Facing the Plan

A Modern Union for the Modern Economy

Membership in traditional unions has steeply declined over the past two decades. As the White House and Congress are now completely Republican controlled, there promises to be no reversal of this trend in the near future. In the face of this rejection of traditional bargaining efforts, several attempts have been made to create alternative “quasi-union” or “alt-labor” relationships between workers and employers. These arrangements represent a creative approach by workers to have their voices heard in a collective manner, though still falling far short of the traditional protections afforded by employment and labor law statutes.This Article critiques one such high-profile, quasi-union effort in the technology sector—the Uber Guild. While the Guild does not provide any of the traditional bargaining protections found in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), it offers Uber drivers some input over the terms and conditions under which they work. Falling somewhere between employment-at-will and unionization protected under the NLRA, the Uber Guild is a creative attempt to help both workers and the company to better understand how they can improve the working relationship.This Article navigates the Uber Guild and other nontraditional efforts that promise a collective voice for workers in the face of a precipitous decline in union membership. Closely examining the implications of these existing quasi-union relationships, this Article explores how workers in the technology sector face unique challenges under workplace laws. For the first time in the academic literature, we argue that these workers are particularly well situated to benefit from a nontraditional union model and explain what that model should look like. While there can be no doubt that a traditional union protected by the NLRA is the optimal bargaining arrangement, we must consider the enormous challenges workers in the technology sector face in obtaining these protections. A modern union is needed for the modern economy.

Union recognition and union security

PurposeUnion membership has declined in many countries reducing union capacity to bargain and contribute to economic equality. This paper aims to explore a more hopeful case in an Australian state, where the dramatic anti-union strategies of conservative governments have been reversed by Labor governments.Design/methodology/approachThe research frames union recognition and union security in an international context, highlighting differences between US, Canadian, UK and Australian approaches. The research focuses on the Australian state of Queensland, providing an historical account of changes to union recognition and union preference provisions, drawing on legislation, major public service agreements, newspapers and parliamentary transcripts.FindingsConservative governments in Australia have implemented anti-union strategies, and Labor governments have often failed to restore union-friendly provisions when re-elected. In contrast, the Queensland study demonstrates a substantial restoration of union security provisions when Labor governments are re-elected, rebuilding political capital with unions and potentially supporting union membership. This difference is due to unique political and institutional factors that provide governments with unfettered powers to legislate their industrial relations agenda, whether in support or otherwise of unions, and has led to the more distinctive pendulum swings to the right and left than occurred elsewhere in Australia.Originality/valueThe research contributes to debates about the factors related to declining union membership and highlights a case where unions have achieved restoration of many provisions that increase their influence and potentially their membership.

Does Strike Action Stimulate Trade Union Membership Growth?

AbstractMost of the literature on strikes has addressed one of four issues: causation, variation between sectors and countries, trends over time and the relationship between strikes and other forms of collective and individual protest. Very little research has addressed the equally important questions of strike outcomes and trade union membership despite the substantial body of research on the causes of trade union membership decline and strategies for membership growth. In this paper we reverse the usual sequence of trade union membership as a causal factor in the genesis of strikes and examine the impact of strikes on trade union membership levels. After setting out the relevant theory and hypotheses, we use a unique seven‐year dataset of trade union membership joiners and leavers from a major British trade union with a substantial record of strike activity. Controlling for other possible determinants of trade union membership, we find that months in which there is strike action, whether national or local, are associated with a significantly higher rate of membership growth, measured both by the number of joiners and by the ratio of joiners to leavers. Data from new union members suggest that perceived injustice and perceived union effectiveness both motivate the decision to join.

Back to grass roots: Peak union councils and community campaigning

AbstractPeak union bodies in Australia have a long and influential history, and most recently have developed an approach to union revitalisation based on community-based campaigning strategies. In responding to labour market changes, declining union membership and hostile governments and employers, peak union bodies have developed new ways to strengthen the collective ability of their affiliated unions to successfully represent members at the workplace level. They have embraced local-level strategies that tap into community concerns and are aimed at capacity building across the labour movement. The resulting grass-roots organisations have the potential to shape both the workplace and the public domain. We explore one example of this approach: the establishment of Local Union Community Councils by Unions NSW. We argue that although peak bodies are well placed to spearhead community campaigning, the grass-roots councils being created will need to progress through several stages of development, if they are to become self-sustaining organisations, contributing effectively over the long term to community mobilisation and stronger, more coordinated union campaigns.

The end of American labor unions: the right-to-work movement and the erosion of collective bargaining

By examining the history of the legal regulation of union actions, this fascinating book offers a new interpretation of American labor-law policy-and its harmful impact on workers today. Arguing that the decline in union membership and bargaining power is linked to rising income inequality, this important book traces the evolution of labor law in America from the first labor-law case in 1806 through the passage of right-to-work legislation in Michigan and Indiana in 2012. In doing so, it shares important insights into economic development, exploring both the nature of work in America and the part the legal system played-and continues to play-in shaping the lives of American workers. The book illustrates the intertwined history of labor law and politics, showing how these forces quashed unions in the 19th century, allowed them to flourish in the mid-20th century, and squelched them again in recent years. Readers will learn about the negative impact of union decline on American workers and how that decline has been influenced by political forces. They will see how the right-to-work and Tea Party movements have combined to prevent union organizing, to the detriment of the middle class. And they will better understand the current failure to reform labor law, despite a consensus that unions can protect workers without damaging market efficiencies. Provides a unique interpretation of labor law from a multidisciplinary perspective that encompasses history, politics, economics, culture, and psychology Considers the role organized labor played in creating the American middle class and what role it might play in the future Shows the adverse consequences of the contemporary right-to-work movement Examines the politicized nature of law in America Offers recommendations for political action to restore union vitality

Holding the Shop Together: German Industrial Relations in the Postwar Era by Stephen J. Silvia (review)

Reviewed by: Holding the Shop Together: German Industrial Relations in the Postwar Era by Stephen J. Silvia Adam T. Rosenbaum Holding the Shop Together: German Industrial Relations in the Postwar Era. By Stephen J. Silvia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013. Pp. xvi + 280. Paper $29.95. ISBN 978-0801478970. In the wake of the so-called cultural turn, the history of postwar German industrial relations does not necessarily register as a subject worthy of scholarly inquiry. Recent events, however, might cause detractors to reconsider. In early November 2014, the 20,000-member German Locomotive Engineers Union (GDL) staged a four-day strike in pursuit of a 5 percent wage increase and a thirty-seven-hour workweek. Although the strike was called off on the third day, it effectively paralyzed transportation networks across Germany, leading to chaos at train stations, massive traffic jams on [End Page 474] highways, and epic lines at bus depots, not to mention delays in the shipment of goods. As of the writing of this review, the German government is considering legislation that would prevent smaller unions from incapacitating the country’s economy and infrastructure through such actions. In this 2013 monograph, economist Stephen J. Silvia provides a more positive assessment of German trade unions and their role within the industrial relations system. As the culmination of three decades of research, Silvia’s book utilizes new evidence and an interdisciplinary approach to detail the trajectory of German industrial relations over the course of the postwar decades. In recent years, both trade unions and employers associations have dealt with economic downturn, political challenges, and declining memberships; but Silvia maintains that these organizations can rely on a solid framework endorsed by the state—a system of “supportive pillars” that has made German trade unions and employers associations among the most successful in the world (41). Refuting the “erosion” (1999) and “exhaustion” (2009) arguments of scholars like Wolfgang Streeck, Silvia contends that the industrial-relations system retains a central place in the German economy, providing it with some of its most distinctive features. This present-minded history of the “social partnership” between trade unions and employers associations ultimately celebrates corporatism and its ability to weather economic and political storms. Silvia’s analysis of the framework and evolution of the German industrial-relations system is facilitated by the unique organization of this book. Chapters one and two focus on the historical framework of industrial relations, discussing labor laws, state institutions, and the distinctly German practice of co-determination (Mitbestimmung). Silvia traces the roots of the postwar system to the Imperial and Weimar eras; and although he does not dwell on the Third Reich, he does suggest that the contentious legacy of the Nazi era “has served as a moderating force to this day” (221). After identifying historical precedents and underscoring the influence of the state, Silvia turns his attention to the central players within the industrial relations system: the trade unions and the employers associations. In chapter three, Silvia offers a quantitative analysis of declining union membership in postwar Germany. Among the more important conclusions are that Europeanization actually strengthened the German labor movement, as did German unification, albeit temporarily. Conversely, Silvia asserts that the decline in Germany’s labor milieu—which he defines as “social custom”—has played a role in the drop in union density. Chapters four and five offer a more historical approach, detailing the separate histories of the postwar trade-union movement and the employers associations. Within these sections, the author pays special attention to how both organized labor and management have recently modified their strategies, experimenting with new forms of recruitment, activism, and collective bargaining. In conclusion, Stephen J. Silvia has provided economists and historians with a readable and clearly argued story of trade unions, employers associations, and the [End Page 475] challenges that they have faced. It uses a variety of sources, including government legislation, membership data, and newspapers, to paint a complex picture of the German system of industrial relations. Moreover, the unique organization allows individual chapters to effectively stand alone, with chapter four providing an especially useful history of postwar trade unions. That being said, the organization does present some problems. For...

Book review: Save Our Unions: Dispatches From A Movement in Distress, by Steve Early

Steve Early Save Our Unions: Dispatches From A Movement in Distress, Monthly Review Press: New York, NY, 2013; 343 pp: 9781583674277, $79 (hbk) Those looking for an analysis of recent trends and events in the USA's beleaguered trade-union movement will do no better than Save Our Unions, by the long-time union organiser, socialist, and labour journalist Steve Early. Save Our Unions is not another dreary look at declining union membership and concessionary agreements. Nor it is a rerun of the by now superannuated debate between the 'serving model' and the 'organising model' as the universal salvation of organised labour in neoliberal America. Rather, Early turns an experienced and critical eye on what is actually happening beneath the conventional industrial relations radar. In this highly readable volume, we find not only fading confidence in labour-management co-operation schemes, but the new forces implementing different approaches meant to fit situations that unions have not always found familiar. Early in the book, we meet the 'unorganised' fast food workers who struck at McDonalds and other major chains in cities across the USA in 2012 and 2013. Though supported by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), they were not union members, and nor were they seeking traditional union recognition or formal agreements from their employers. Rather, they have merged into a movement known as 'Fight for Fifteen', demanding a US$15 minimum wage. No doubt the long-range goal is union organisation, but the methods are more those of social movements than those of traditional trade unions. Similar tactics have been used by workers in the huge concentrations of warehouses at the centre of the USA's reshaped just-in-time logistics system, found near Chicago, Los Angeles, and in New Jersey. Again with some backing from unions, these workers have formed their own workplace organisations, and have taken various levels of action to win small gains and grow. In seeking possible ways out of organised labour's decline, Early also looks inside the more conventional unions; offering a history of the rank-and-file rebellions that have often appeared in US labour history. Starting with the Miners For Democracy in the 1970s, which threw out the corrupt leaders of the United Mine Workers, the author takes us through the 1990s, when the Teamsters for a Democratic Union-backed reformer Ron Carey beat an equally corrupt clique in one of America's biggest unions. Both rebellions eventually saw grassroots mobilisations beat back attacks by powerful employers for a time. Early also looks at more recent rank-and-file upsurges in large local unions of the Teamsters, Communications Workers, and Machinists, among others. All these rebellions reveal a strong desire for change from below, and an ongoing, possibly accelerating trend. Most notable of these was the 2010 victory of the grassroots Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) in the Chicago Teachers Union, the second-largest local teachers union in the country. This electoral overthrow was followed by one of the best organised strikes in recent years, when in 2012, more than 27,000 teachers beat back most of the tidal wave of neoliberal 'reforms' proposed by the mayor and backed by the Obama administration. What all of these rank-and-file movements have in common is a commitment to union democracy, a rejection of the labour-management co-operation ethos of the last three decades, a greater willingness to employ militant direct action tactics, and the construction of dense workplace organisation--in other words, a turning away from the norms of US 'business unionism'. …

A Union Representative's Perspective of Declining Union Membership

Union membership has declined 24.2 percent since 1945. Declining union membership leads to economic losses for labor unions. The problem is relevant to scholars and the labor movement, requiring a deeper understanding of union membership decline. In this qualitative study, experiences with declining union membership are explored with union representatives in Los Angeles County. The conceptual framework uses three models: the utility of union membership, human motivation, and collective bargaining to identify relevant elements of union membership decisions. Twenty face-to-face interviews were conducted with participants who had a minimum of 3 years experience as a full-time union representative. The data were coded, and themes developed using the modified van Kaam method and NVivo 10 software. Three primary emergent themes resulted: (a) globalism is the primarily perceived cause of declining union membership, (b) unions should be more effective in collective bargaining, and (c) communication with union members must increase. The results from this study could be used to improve internal union communication, increase operational efficiency, and develop leadership training. The implications for positive social change include new insights to support labor union leaders in efforts to identify relevant needs, increase membership, retain jobs, and improve the economic health of their members.

The Three R's Revisited: Retirement, Rithmetic, Rectify

For 30 years following the end of World War ll, a defined benefit (“DB”) pension plan was the centerpiece of the retirement income strategy adopted by both private and public sector employers. However, with the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) in 1974, followed four years later when paragraph “k” was added to 401 of the Internal Revenue Code, the past 40 years have seen a strategic transformation. That is, defined contribution (“DC”) plans, especially the 401k, have rapidly increased to become the dominate employer retirement income strategy, especially in the private sector.Today various factors combine to make prudent reexamination of public sector DB retirement plans both timely and vital. These factors include (in no order) the Great Recession, recurring (and perplexing) economic bubbles, stubborn wage stagnation (exacerbating income and political disparity), a steep decline in union membership and collective bargaining, apparent rips in the fabric of our social contract, et cetera. Investigating this quintette is beyond the scope of this Paper, the main objective of which is to encourage a positive public dialogue regarding whether the cost/benefit ratio of public DB retirement plans is both equitable and sustainable. And in that light, there is growing concern that 19% of taxpayers approaching retirement in the 55 to 64 age bracket (and 31% overall) report no retirement savings or pension at all. So, will shrinking middle class taxpayers, financially weakened because their wages have been stagnant for decades, and with a too small, if indeed any retirement income nest-egg at all, continue to make near-millionaires out of public servants who retire at age 55? Really? And also continue to turn a blind eye toward a shameful truth; i.e., that 40% of the city’s children are trapped in abject poverty, with their American Dream turning into a nightmare?

Why do people join trade unions? The impact of workplace union density on union recruitment

Against the background of the general decline in union membership in Western countries, this study analyses factors influencing an individual’s choice whether to join a trade union. The focus is on the effects of workplace union density and individual political attitudes. Micro data covering the entire Danish workforce combined with European Social Survey data enable for the first time the statistical analysis of the effect workplace union density has on union recruitment. Workplace union density is used to measure the power of social custom in workplace union membership, constituting an instrumental motive for joining the union. Self-placement on a political left-right scale measures political attitude which is assumed to constitute a value-rational motive. The statistical results indicate that workplace union density is the main predictor of whether or not an employee is going to join a union, even when other variables such as gender, occupation and industry worked in are taken into consideration. In addition, the results indicate that political attitude is also an important factor.

Wages, Exchange Rates, and the Great Inflation Moderation: A Post-Keynesian View

Several explanations of the “great inflation moderation” (1982-2006) have been put forth, the most popular being that inflation was tamed due to good monetary policy, good luck (exogenous shocks such as oil prices), or structural changes such as inventory management techniques. Drawing from Post-Keynesian and structuralist theories of inflation, this paper uses a vector autoregression with a Post-Keynesian identification strategy to show that the decline in the inflation rate and inflation volatility was due primarily to (1) wage declines and (2) falling import prices caused by international competition and exchange rate effects. The paper uses a graphical analysis, impulse response functions, and variance decompositions to support the argument that the decline in inflation has in fact been a “wage and import price moderation,” brought about by declining union membership and international competition. Exchange rate effects have lowered inflation through cheaper import and oil prices, and have indirectly affected wages through strong dollar policy, which has lowered manufacturing wages due to increased competition. A “Taylor rule” differential variable was also used to test the “good policy” hypothesis. The results show that the Taylor rule differential has a smaller effect on inflation, controlling for other factors.

Union Strategy: A Conceptual Framework

Over the last decade a large decline in union membership and influence has been observed in many countries. This observation has prompted many researchers to consider the means by which individual unions are able to mitigate the effects of less favourable economic and political conditions on their functions as institutions designed to represent and defend worker interests. Such research suggests that unions can improve their labour market and political position through the reformulation of established union strategies. This paper contributes to this research agenda by developing a more robust construct of union strategy. It begins with a critical evaluation of the concept of ‘strategy’ and ‘strategic choice’ within the organisational studies and business strategy literatures, as well as its use in industrial relations theory. From there it develops a conceptual framework of union strategy. This framework posits that union strategies can be analysed in terms of four dimensions: objectives, methods, tactics and the level at which strategies are formulated and implemented. It also considers the nature of the strategy formulation process. This model, it is argued, could be operationalised in cross-national research on union strategy to investigate specific strategic patterns, the determinants of specific strategic patterns, and the relationship between different strategies and measures of union effectiveness.

Neoliberalism, Piven and Cloward's Bargaining Theory, and Wages in the United States, 1965-2006

The political economy of the United States during the last thirty years has been described as neoliberal. Part of the neoliberal turn involves reducing or eliminating income support programs such as AFDC/TANF, waging war against organized labor, and increasingly conservative (i.e., neoliberal) public policies. Following an analysis by Lewis (2001) which showed that wages increased in response to higher average monthly AFDC payments, I update and expand this test of Piven and Cloward's bargaining power theory of wages by looking at other factors which may influence worker bargaining power: unions, interest rates, policy liberalism, and economic growth. I use time-series data on the U.S. covering 1965-2006 and find that AFDC/TANF benefits have a short-term positive effect on private-sector wages while declining union membership, punitive interest rate shocks, and increasingly conservative public policies have reduced the bargaining power of private-sector workers.

Crime and the Decline of Unions

In this paper we investigate the relationship between union membership and crime. Using state level data between 1993 and 2006, we find the elasticity of crime with respect to union membership is roughly −0.5. From our results, we predict the decline in union membership has increased crime by 15 per cent since 1993. Furthermore, we find the elasticity between union jobs and crime is larger in absolute value when using an instrumental variable approach to control for the impact unions have on labor market efficiency.