Union security and the right to work: A comprehensive bibliography

Abstract

From scholarly treatises to ideological polemics, more has been written in the past 50 years about union security and the right to work than almost any issue in labor law. It has been a profitable source of study for academics in several disciplines, and practitioners from both sides of the labor bar have contributed generously to the literature.

For persons doing current work in the field, this vast accumulation of research and analysis provides an invaluable point of departure. Unfortunately, these materials are often somewhat difficult to find. Combing the traditional indices of legal and periodic literature is a time-consuming task, and a specialized bibliography has heretofore been lacking. Hopefully, this will supply the need.

Notwithstanding my best efforts at thoroughness in compiling this bibliography, I will admit that I use the term “comprehensive” with great trepidation, for it is in the nature of things that persons who make such claims are soon taught their folly. Given the scope and popularity of the topic, it is inevitable that I overlooked some worthy books and articles.

The bibliography is divided into broad and sometimes overlapping categories, and where a book or article was placed was often a close decision. Within each category, the materials are listed in chronological order.