Union Construction Research Articles

Human Resource Data in the Construction Industry

Unionized construction workers in a major midwestern city were surveyed to collect data on education, training, experience, employment history, and a variety of other demographic variables. The characteristics of this local work force were analyzed and, where possible, contrasted with the data on the national construction labor force. The implications of the findings were discussed as they relate to the need for human resource planning in the construction industry. For example, the data indicated that younger workers are not joining unions in the same numbers as in the past. The anticipated result is a future shortage of skilled workers in the unionized sector of the industry, which has implications for construction productivity and for the funding of various worker benefits. The need for improved human resource planning was stressed.

Valence of and Satisfaction with Job Outcomes

Approximately 2,800 unionized construction workers were surveyed and responses were received from 703, representing all crafts except Boilermakers. The workers were asked about the importance they attach to various job related factors and their satisfaction with each factor. The 28 individual factors were reduced to seven using a factor analysis technique. The most important set of factors were those relating to the intrinsic nature of the work: working like a craftsman, performing challenging work, etc. The set of factors with which the workers was most satisfied was that of Performance Level: high productivity; quantity; and doing your work in a craftsmanlike manner. Individual factors that require attention on the part of contractors to improve worker motivation and satisfaction were identified using a 2×2 matrix that allowed the combination of importance and satisfaction scores. Overall satisfaction with the job was measured and a multiple regression analysis revealed that satisfaction with intrinsic factors makes the greatest contribution to general job satisfaction.

Labor‐Management Cooperation: Operation MOST

Unionized contractors and construction unions are in difficulty today because of their apparent increasing lack of competitiveness with the nonunion sector of the industry. Problems contributing to this are examined, as are efforts by labor, management, and others to remedy the problems. In Columbus, Ohio, labor and management established Operation MOST (Management and Organized Labor Striving Together) as a cooperative program to regain the share of the construction market lost to nonunion firms. This program encompasses a variety of activities and has been very successful. It is now being copied in various locations throughout the country. Several recommendations are made as to activities that should be undertaken by the parties to continue their cooperative spirit and to allow the unionized contractors to improve their cost competitiveness.

Social policy and construction wage formation: the Alberta experience

A number of social policies affecting the level of construction wage settlements are examined theoretically. Next, the empirical magnitudes of the effects of a subset of these are estimated within a pooled cross-sectional, time-series regression analysis of wage settlements in the unionized construction industry of Alberta over the past two decades. Particularly of note are the reductions in wage settlements due to the legal sanction of centralized collective bargaining and the imposition of wage controls; the increases in wage settlements due to large upswings in government sponsored building activity (with an elasticity coefficient of 0.3); and the neutrality of wage settlements with respect to any short-term increases in government subsidized trades training and the legalization of no strike, no lockout agreements.

Book Review: Labor-Management Relations: Union and Open-Shop Construction

Book Review: Labor-Management Relations: Union and Open-Shop Construction

Union and Open-Shop Construction.

Union and Open-Shop Construction.

Labor market adjustments in the unionized contract construction industry

The unionized construction labor market reaches equilibrium by means of three adjustment mechanisms: wage changes, changes in the quality of workers hired, and the migration of workers in and out of the market. The relative importance of the three mechanisms in local labor markets depends on laws and institutional rules. This paper examines some of the important institutional rules and presents a model of market clearning where wage adjustments are infrequent.

Union Versus Nonunion Construction in the U.S.

A major study of the construction industry was conducted by MIT Department of Civil Engineering, to compare and contrast wages and labor management practices in union and nonunion construction. Union firms were found to be larger and primarily engaged in commercial, industrial, or heavy construction; nonunion firms are smaller and primarily engaged in light constructtion. Nonunion wages, are, on average, considerably lower than union wages; however, the distribution of nonunion wages for any trade is large, with the top 10% exceeding the union journeyman's rate for that trade. Occupational structure was found to be a key determinant of relative efficiency; union journeymen are too narrowly specialized for small-scale light construction and too broadly skilled for very large-scale industrial projects. Consequently, nonunion firms dominate light construction and are rapidly gaining ground, using new training approaches, on the superprojects. Nonunion firms are attempting to penetrate the middle-size range by developing common benefit plans and job-referral programs to compete with union firms.

Training and Entry into Union Construction

Training and Entry into Union Construction

Book Review: Manpower: Training and Entry into Union Construction

Book Review: Manpower: Training and Entry into Union Construction

Journeyman Upgrading in Union Construction

Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and SocietyVolume 15, Issue 3 p. 313-323 Journeyman Upgrading in Union Construction WILLIAM S. FRANKLIN, WILLIAM S. FRANKLIN *Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Texas at San Antonio.Search for more papers by this author WILLIAM S. FRANKLIN, WILLIAM S. FRANKLIN *Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Texas at San Antonio.Search for more papers by this author First published: October 1976 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-232X.1976.tb00633.x Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Volume15, Issue3October 1976Pages 313-323 RelatedInformation

The Skilled-Unskilled Wage Differential in Construction

Discussion of the short-run fluctuations in the skilled-unskilled wage differential in unionized building construction industry in the United States during the period 1953 through 1970. Characteristics of the skill differential in construction; Factors related to supply and demand; Significance of the interdependence of utility among construction workers. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)

DIVISION OF ENGINEERING: CEMENT AND CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY IN THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS*

Transactions of the New York Academy of SciencesVolume 23, Issue 8 Series II p. 675-680 DIVISION OF ENGINEERING: CEMENT AND CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY IN THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS* Ernst Gruenwald, Ernst Gruenwald Lone Star Cement Corporation, New York, N. Y. One of a party of United States concrete specialists that inspected the Soviet Union's construction industry in the summer of 1960, visiting five research and development centers, four cement plants, nine precast concrete plants, and construction sites in several large cities.Search for more papers by this author Ernst Gruenwald, Ernst Gruenwald Lone Star Cement Corporation, New York, N. Y. One of a party of United States concrete specialists that inspected the Soviet Union's construction industry in the summer of 1960, visiting five research and development centers, four cement plants, nine precast concrete plants, and construction sites in several large cities.Search for more papers by this author First published: June 1961 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2164-0947.1961.tb01401.x † This paper, illustrated with slides, was presented at a meeting of the Division on May 10, 1961. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume23, Issue8 Series IIJune 1961Pages 675-680 RelatedInformation