Abstract
Like many industrial unions, the UAW places great emphasis on pattern-following contract settlements. However, research on the rationales for pattern bargaining has been scarce, and evidence testing these rationales has been absent. The usual rationale for pattern bargaining is to take wages out of competition. However, this paper presents evidence of important internal union political reasons for pattern bargaining. If intra-union wage comparisons cause union members to feel unfairly treated, elected leaders will be challenged. Thus, the UAW leadership pursues pattern bargaining to minimize political conflicts and maintain stability.
Unless you know where you came from you don’t have the sense of direction that will lead you to the goals you seek.
Walter P. Reuther
That word “solidarity” isn’t rhetoric. For a union, it’s everything.
Bob White
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Helpful comments by the Editor and an anonymous referee and financial support from the Jacob K. Javits Fellows Program, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Industrial Relations Section, Princeton University, are gratefully acknowledged.
Walter P. Reuther collection, Box 98-2, Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University (WSU). Walter P. Reuther was UAW President from 1946 to 1970.
White (1987, p. 51). Bob White was Director of the UAW Canadian Region from 1978 to 1985 and has been President of the National Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of Canada (CAW) since 1985.
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Budd, J.W. The internal union political imperative for UAW pattern bargaining. Journal of Labor Research 16, 43–55 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685712
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685712