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The Present and Future of Unions Settling for Less

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The New Collective Bargaining

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Economics ((BRIEFSECONOMICS))

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Abstract

I ask what the new collective bargaining means and whether it will last? I conclude that ultra-concession bargaining evolved from the declining size and influence of American unions and will become the way of the future in collective bargaining. I also recognize that ultra-concession bargaining can sometimes benefit unionized firms and their workers by making employers more competitive and saving jobs, though we do see some clearly negative consequences in the limits of collective bargaining as a way to promote and protect the workers’ voice at the workplace.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For example, Caterpillar announced in February 2012 that it would be closing a locomotive plant in London, Ontario, after locking out workers for a year. The company had demanded that the Canadian Auto Workers agree to a 50 % wage cut and substantial cuts in employee benefits and pensions. The plant employed 670 workers, whose work would be transferred to other facilities in North and South America (Austen 2012b).

  2. 2.

    For US/Canadian comparisons of first wave concession bargaining (as wage freezes or reductions, lump-sum payments, and two-tier wage provisions) see Rose and Chaison (1996, 88). Concessions occurred more often in the United States (often at least twice as often as measured as a percent of settlements in 1981–1992).

  3. 3.

    As dramatic indicator of rising employer opposition to unions nationally, there has been an increase in employer lockouts at impasses in bargaining (Greenhouse 2012).

  4. 4.

    For a discussion of the use of collective bargaining coverage to measure union influence see Schmitt and Mitukiewicz (2011, 4). A comprehensive and cross-national review of the impact of collective bargaining coverage, including its link to bargaining power, is Traxler and Brandl (2009).

  5. 5.

    A major reason for the decline in collective bargaining coverage and union membership is the inability of unions to organize a sufficient number of new members to offset losses caused by mass layoffs and the transfer of work abroad in the industries of greater union presence (Chaison 2010). It would be difficult to exaggerate the extent to which American unions have declined in size and influence, and with it, bargaining power. As one observer succinctly summarized the situation “the United States has the smallest and most besieged union movement among advanced economies” (Reich 2012, 2).

  6. 6.

    As a result, union bargaining power, as measured by wage gains, tends to be low when there is low union bargaining coverage (Mishel 1986).

  7. 7.

    In other words, the demand for unions would decrease if workers saw unions as less effective in winning and maintaining improved wages and working conditions whether such is caused by greater employer opposition, deregulation, or the declining ability to strike (Kaufman 2004).

  8. 8.

    It might result in not only union defeats in union organizing drives but also the emergence of independent nonunion forms of worker representation (for example, representation through workplace joint consultation committees) that do not challenge employer control as does collective bargaining (e.g., Greenhouse 2011b).

  9. 9.

    For example, cutting public employee’s pay and benefits to balance state budgets could in the long-term drive the best public employees into jobs in the private sector and thus lower the quality of government services, while also reducing consumer spending by public workers and cutting revenues from sales taxes (Maher 2011).

  10. 10.

    Bunkley (2011) reports on an auto industry analysis that predicts employment in that industry will return to its prerecession levels by 2015 (an increase of 28 %) and that employment on lower wage tiers of two-tiered wage systems account for 23 % of hourly workers at Chrysler, 17 % at General Motors, and 12 % at Ford.

  11. 11.

    Uchitelle (2011) described how the creation and expansion of a lower wages tier in a two-tier wage system negotiated with General Electric eventually led to lower labor costs and made the company globally competitive. This resulted in job gains.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA

    Gary Chaison

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Chaison, G. (2012). The Present and Future of Unions Settling for Less. In: The New Collective Bargaining. SpringerBriefs in Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4024-6_5

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