Union Bargaining Research Articles

Do Resident Unions Improve Graduate Medical Education Training? Benefits and Potential Pitfalls.

The last 10 years have seen an increase in union representation for residents and fellows across the United States. It is estimated that 15% of residents and fellows are represented by unions. With increasing numbers of U.S. residents and fellows in graduate medical education (GME) programs being represented by unions, the authors contend that it is worthwhile to consider the benefits and potential drawbacks of resident unions and how GME and health system leaders can best work to ensure that the educational needs of residents continue to be emphasized in an era of resident unionization. Union bargaining can be a method to secure salary increases and other benefits for residents. Unionization can also provide a mechanism for more rapidly addressing worker protection issues and allows residents to advocate on behalf of patients. Residents participating as union leaders may develop important leadership and negotiation skills as well as gain beneficial knowledge about health system structure, financing, and priorities. However, with all the possible benefits that may come with resident unionization, there are also potential pitfalls. The collective bargaining process may create an adversarial relationship between program and institution leaders and trainees. Additionally, while residents are considered employees and able to collectively bargain, the National Labor Relations Board has also acknowledged that residents are "students learning their chosen medical craft." Program and institution leaders have an obligation to prioritize resident education and adhere to accreditation requirements even when these requirements conflict with union demands. Furthermore, because of the obligation to protect the public, program leaders should maintain control of resident academic due process issues. Program and institutional leaders must continue to prioritize resident education. Furthermore, GME leaders have a joint responsibility to create clinical learning environments that are conducive to quality patient care and promote resident learning and well-being.

Negotiating job security and capital investments in response to deindustrialization: the case of Canada’s auto sector

ABSTRACT Job security has always been a paramount concern for the trade union movement. This article explores the ways that unions used collective bargaining to gain a measure of job security for their members in the face of deindustrialization as unionized factories in North America began to close in large numbers after the 1970s. These new measures included advance notice, severance pay, plant closing moratoria, restrictions placed on plant movements, transfer rights, and expanding the scope of collective ‘social’ bargaining to cover training and adjustment. In some sectors, such as automotive, collective bargaining has also been extended into areas normally left to management. The price was often high. Eventually some unions, notably the Canadian Auto Workers (established 1985; part of Unifor after 2013), prioritized winning new capital investments and product lines for unionized plants in their negotiations, though often at the cost of jobs, wage freezes or reductions, and other concessions. By focusing upon auto sector deindustrialization in Canada since the 1980s, we draw lessons from more recent union bargaining strategies, and how they constitute an important element of worker responses to industrial job loss and manufacturing closure.

Efficient virtual power plant management strategy and Leontief-game pricing mechanism towards real-time economic dispatch support: A case study of large-scale 5G base stations

Amidst high penetration of renewable energy, virtual power plant (VPP) technology emerges as a viable solution to bolster power system controllability. This paper integrates a novel flexible load, 5G base stations (gNBs) with their backup energy storage systems (BESSs), into a VPP for power system real-time economic dispatch (RTED). Leveraging BESSs dispatchable capacity, the VPP offers power support and gains economic incentives, where the dispatchable capacity is estimated based on distribution network reliability and gNB availability requirements. Then, an efficient and refined VPP management strategy is proposed, where numerous gNBs are aggregated into limited number of virtual generators (VGs). The VPP dispatchable capacity can be efficiently and accurately evaluated via VGs states. Each VG is assigned a control cost function, enabling optimal control decisions resembling power system RTED, to minimize overall VPP control costs. Finally, a power support and incentive determination mechanism is presented based on the Leontief union bargaining model, ensuring reciprocal transactions between VPP and power system. To solve the Leontief model and address information privacy issues between the two parties, a distributed iterative algorithm is developed. Simulations based on actual data and IEEE 118-bus system illustrate that the proposed approach can smoothen intra-day load profiles, achieving mutual economic benefits for the power system and VPP without compromising the security of 5G network operations.

Union Bargaining Power and the Amenity-Wage Tradeoff

Union Bargaining Power and the Amenity-Wage Tradeoff

Cross ownership, union bargaining with managerial delegation, and stakeholders conflicts

AbstractIn this paper, we examine when the owners negotiate union bargaining and delegate production to managers, showing that an increasing degree of cross ownership exacerbates the conflicting interests between the owners and consumers. If the bargaining power of the union is weak, the owners will choose to bargain with the union and delegate to managers simultaneously. Otherwise, the owners will bargain with the union first and then set delegate incentives to managers.

Unions and temporary workers' wages in Spain: Testing solidarity in the good times and in the bad times.

The labour market dualisation theory claims that labour unions bargain against the interests of temporary workers and that they foster inequalities between temporary and permanent employees. Conversely, the industrial relations literature argues that unions commonly follow solidaristic strategies towards outsiders. This study contributes to the literature by analysing unions' associations with temporary workers' hourly wages and the wage gap between permanent and temporary workers in Spain: one of the most prominent examples of labour market dualisation. By analysing cross-sectional surveys, unions' influence through works councils, collective agreements and union density are studied during a period of economic growth (2006-2007) and a period of recession (2008-2010). Results show that there is generally no association between these three institutions and wage differences between permanent and temporary workers. The associations with temporary workers' wages are insignificant or positive during both the period of economic growth and the period of recession.

Differentiated influence by supranational institutions: Evidence from the European Union

AbstractThis article develops a novel approach for studying the influence of supranational institutions in international cooperation. While earlier research tends to treat member states as a collective yielding influence on supranational institutions, we unpack this collective to explore differentiated supranational influence. To this end, the article makes three contributions. First, it develops a method for measuring differentiated supranational influence that makes it possible to identify which member states give ground when a supranational institution is influential. Second, it theorizes the sources of differentiated supranational influence, arguing that states are more likely to accommodate a supranational institution when they are more dependent on the resources of this institution. Third, it illustrates the usefulness of this approach empirically through an analysis of the influence of the European Commission in European Union bargaining. The analysis suggests that our approach can measure and explain differentiated supranational influence under conditions of both heightened crisis and everyday politics.

Union Bargaining Power and Institutional Investors: Evidence from 20 OECD Countries, 1980–2017

This article investigates the relationship between the share of assets held by institutional investors relative to GDP and a synthetic index of union bargaining power in 20 OECD countries from 1980 to 2017. Findings from the use of fixed-effects OLS and instrumental variables regressions show that the share of assets held by institutional investors, especially insurance companies and pension funds, is correlated with a decline in union bargaining power. The authors argue that by contributing to significant changes in corporate strategies and governance through potential effects on jobs and wages, institutional investors in most OECD countries may have weakened the influence of trade unions, thereby leading to a higher decentralization of wage bargaining. Mixed evidence is found, however, when investigating the role of complementarity across institutions to explain cross-country heterogeneity.

Optimal income taxation in unionized labor markets

This paper extends the Diamond (1980) model with labor unions to study optimal income taxation and to analyze whether unions can be desirable for income redistribution if income taxes are optimized. Unions bargain with firms over wages in each sector and firms unilaterally determine employment. Optimal unemployment benefits and optimal income taxes are lower in unionized labor markets. Unions raise the efficiency costs of income redistribution, because unemployment benefits and income taxes raise wage demands, and thereby generate involuntary unemployment. We show that unions are socially desirable only if they represent (low-income) workers whose participation is subsidized on a net basis. By creating implicit taxes on work, unions alleviate the labor-market distortions caused by income taxation. We empirically verify whether (i) participation tax rates are lower if unions are more powerful, and (ii) unions are desirable by compiling our own data set with union densities and participation tax rates for 18 sectors in 23 advanced countries. In line with our theoretical predictions, we find that participation tax rates are lower if unions are stronger. Moreover, the desirability condition for unions is never met empirically. Numerical simulations for the Netherlands confirm that unions are not desirable if income taxes are optimized and optimal participation taxes are lower if unions are stronger.

Unions, Monitoring, and Deferred Compensation: Evidence From California School Districts

Public agencies vary considerably in the extent to which they defer compensation until later in workers’ careers and often heavily backload compensation even when frontloaded compensation would likely be more efficient. I use two-way fixed effects models and detailed longitudinal data on collective bargaining agreements, salaries, and fringe benefits in public school districts in California to test two common theories about the prevalence of deferred public sector compensation. I find no evidence that stronger unions bargain for more backloaded compensation on average. However, I find suggestive evidence that unions may prefer to bargain for more backloaded compensation when their members are more veteran. I find no support for the theory that administrators prefer to defer compensation when employee performance is more difficult to monitor. These results suggest that other explanations for the backloadedness of public sector compensation may hold more promise, though they also call for additional empirical investigation.

Personal Bankruptcy Costs, Union Bargaining Power, and Capital Structure

Personal Bankruptcy Costs, Union Bargaining Power, and Capital Structure

Unions, Tripartite Competition and Innovation

We present theoretical and empirical evidence challenging results from early studies that found unions were detrimental to workplace innovation. Under our theoretical model, which extends the Cournot duopoly innovation model, local union wage bargaining is more conducive to innovation - particularly product innovation - than competitive pay setting. We test the theory with workplace data for Britain and Norway. Results are consistent with the theory: local union bargaining is positively associated with product innovations in both countries. In Norway, local union bargaining is also positively associated with process innovation.

Are bargaining concessions inevitable in recessions? An empirical investigation into union bargaining priorities and trade-offs of pay rises for job security

PurposeThis paper examines the extent of bargaining concessions in recession through investigating the effects of union bargaining on pay, job security and workforce composition.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on an original survey (n = 400) of workplace level trade union bargaining units in England, the authors employed latent class analysis to establish three groups of bargaining units on the basis of pay outcomes achieved. Linear regression analysis with moderation effects investigated whether pay rises at or above inflation in conjunction with shifts in bargaining priorities was associated with decreases in perceived job security and changes in the composition of the workforce.FindingsAround a quarter of sampled units, concentrated mostly in decentralised bargaining units in the private sector, achieved pay rises at or above the inflation rate during an economic downturn. Pay rises at or above inflation in workplaces severely affected by recession triggered changes in bargaining priorities requiring some concessions, notably in terms of employees' job security. That said, across the sample, achieving pay rises was associated with improved perception of job security and lesser use of contingent labour.Originality/valueThe findings uncover a subset of bargaining units able to secure positive outcomes for workers against a hostile economic tide, whilst demonstrating that concession bargaining is not inevitable but rather contingent on the micro-environments in which union bargaining takes place.

Greening work–life balance: Connecting work, caring and the environment

AbstractThe emerging field of green work–life balance (growing from the work–life balance and sustainability fields) largely centres its analysis around the organisational benefits of green work–life balance policies. Consequently, it often focuses on the way in which individual behaviours can reduce the environmental footprint of the organisation. This paper argues that the gendered assumptions underpinning the research mean that the nascent field of green work–life balance has failed to theorise the way in which personal, community, environmental and organisational needs interconnect. Specifically, it has failed to address the way in which ‘care’—for people and the environment—lacks recognition because of gender norms of carework. This paper proposes a theoretical framework of green work–life balance that centres both environmental and people care. This theoretical framework can be used to inform both research and practice, including the way in which unions bargain and campaign for green clauses and just transition.

Review: Food Routes: Growing Bananas in Iceland and Other Tales from the Logistics of Eating, by Robyn Metcalfe

Review: <i>Food Routes: Growing Bananas in Iceland and Other Tales from the Logistics of Eating</i>, by Robyn Metcalfe

Union framing of gender equality and the elusive potential of equality bargaining in a difficult climate

This article explores why equality bargaining appears to remain underdeveloped despite its widely acknowledged potential for tackling workplace inequalities. The concept from social movement theory of ‘framing’ is utilised to assess the prospects of moving from ‘where we are’. Findings from a study of UK-based union equality actors discuss unceasing efforts on their part to shift equality from the margins to the centre of union bargaining activity. As regards ‘where to next’, Equality Officers’ strategic deployment of the longstanding union equality frames of ‘women’s issues’ and ‘gender mainstreaming’ challenges taken-for-granted social practices within unions, offering some optimism that creative strategies can help to inject equality frames into traditional union frames, thus producing an expanded and inclusive notion of union solidarity. However, this framing activity occurs within existing opportunity structures with all their facilitative and inhibitive factors, including resistant union officers and reps, which previous research has highlighted. Therefore, a less optimistic vision is that the weight of union tradition that has long privileged male interests, combined with contemporary hostile bargaining conditions, are just too great for equality bargaining to reach its full potential.

Human Resource Management in Healthcare

Contemporary healthcare systems face several challenges. The main management challenges include shortage and low satisfaction of health professionals. Satisfaction and motivation of medical staff is crucial for their stabilization and quality work-medical performance. The positive impact of HRM practices on increasing employee satisfaction and engagement is scientifically proven. Currently, HRM practices in healthcare are used in a limited way, often only at the level of HR or labour law and union bargaining. This is indicative of the low level of HR development. It is desirable to make full use of HRM practices in healthcare. The aim of this paper is to identify and define the challenges of human resource management in healthcare and explain the importance of implementing developed HRM practices to improve the quality of health care delivery. The research method used is a literature search. The investigation of the relationship between quality human resource management and healthcare delivery is considered important because the knowledge and competency to manage people are not necessary to hold a management position in most healthcare professions in Slovakia. In the world’s best hospitals, we find developed HRM with a positive impact on employee satisfaction and medical indicators.

Will markets provide humane jobs? A hypothesis

Many features of today's jobs have not been produced by market forces emerging in individual private contracts. Instead, they resulted from social struggles and union bargaining, and they appear in collective agreements, labor regulations, and international laws. This paper presents one hypothesis explaining this observation: A negative correlation between workers' taste for amenities and unobserved productivity. I show that such correlation implies a sub-optimal provision of amenities by the market since providing such amenities leads to lower quality workers. Mandating amenities is optimal when the correlation is strong, or the dispersion of worker productivity is large.

The Dependency Structure of Bad Jobs: How Market Constraint Undermines Job Quality

Power and dependence in economic exchange shape industry structure. When a focal industry faces powerful suppliers or buyers, this can reduce industry rents. The authors argue that these dynamics also affect job quality by reducing the economic surplus available to be shared with workers. Drawing on ideas from power-dependency theory, this article explains industry earnings and job quality differences by examining inter-industry exchange patterns. The authors build on Ronald Burt’s seminal analysis of structural constraint in economic exchange using industry input-output tables. They calculate market constraint measures for recent years in the United States and link these with CPS data on wages and benefits. Analyses reveal that workers in more buyer-constrained industries (dependence on powerful buyers) experience lower wages and benefits. Findings also show that market constraint reduces the economic surplus available for union bargaining. Theory and results suggest that market concentration reduces suppliers’ economic rents, harming job quality.

Regional wage and productivity in Italy: a spatio-temporal analysis

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the empirical functioning of the regional labour market in Italy (21 Italian regions over the period 1995–2015). Starting from centralized union bargaining, it derives a micro-founded theoretical long-run relationship between the nominal wage per worker and average labour productivity. The long-run equation is then empirically verified using cointegration analysis, controlling for time and space dependence. It is found that labour productivity has a positive impact on determining the nominal wage per worker. The magnitude of the impact is, on average, 0.28 when considering both direct and indirect (spillover) effects. According to the results, regional policies aimed at reducing local disparities must foster labour productivity, particularly in the south of the country.