Labor Unions, Alternative Forms of Representation, and the Exercise of Authority Relations in the American Workplace

Posted: 22 Feb 2013

See all articles by John Godard

John Godard

University of Manitoba - Department of Business Administration

Carola M. Frege

London School of Economics - Department of Industrial Relations; Rutgers - School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR)

Date Written: January 1, 2013

Abstract

We draw on a telephone survey of 1,000 American workers to explore whether alternative, non-union forms of representation appear to be filling the gap left by union decline, whether this matters to authority relations at work, and whether it may help to explain union decline. We find that non-union associations do not appear to be filling the gap, but that management-established, non-union representation systems are one-and-a-half times as widespread as is union representation and are evaluated somewhat more favourably by workers. We also find that both unions and management-established systems bear positive associations with authority relations at work before controlling for management practices, but that these are substantially weakened once management practices -- especially "bureaucratic" practices -- are entered. We argue that, in the case of unions, this is likely because unions cause employers to adopt these practices. But this is not likely in the case of management-established systems, which are more likely to be set up in conjunction with these practices. Finally, our results suggest that management-established systems are often in violation of the Wagner Act. But they bear no association with the propensity to vote for a union. Instead, it is bureaucratic practices that matter, independently of these systems.

Keywords: unions, representation systems, HRM, dignity, justice, fairness, labor law

JEL Classification: J51, J83, J88

Suggested Citation

Godard, John and Frege, Carola M., Labor Unions, Alternative Forms of Representation, and the Exercise of Authority Relations in the American Workplace (January 1, 2013). Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 66, No. 1, 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2221584

John Godard (Contact Author)

University of Manitoba - Department of Business Administration ( email )

Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 5V4
Canada
204-474-8433 (Phone)
204-275-0181 (Fax)

Carola M. Frege

London School of Economics - Department of Industrial Relations ( email )

Houghton Street
London, WC2A 2AE
0171 955 7032 (Phone)

Rutgers - School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR) ( email )

Piscataway, NJ 08854
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
671
PlumX Metrics