In class, we learned that avoiding unions enables businesses to decrease costs, keep operations flexible, and increase outputs. Union workers tend to receive higher wages and benefits than non-union workers. Unions create tighter regulations around promotions based on seniority and rules regarding scheduling, discipline, and termination. To mitigate the staffing costs incurred by unionization, companies can train managers and supervisors to recognize the early signs of unionization. Trained staff will know to report those activities and limit them to non-work time in non-work areas. When rumors of unionization are floating around, companies can mitigate the risk of legal action by ensuring managers and supervisors know to avoid TIPS: threatening, interrogating, promising favors, or spying on employees engaging in unionization efforts.
Survey data from 2017 shows that 48% of nonunion members would vote to unionize their workplace if they could. Why? Higher wages, better benefits, access to adequate programs, more convenient access to unemployment insurance, paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave. On average, a worker covered by a union contract earns 10.2% more in wages than their counterpart with similar education, occupation, and experience in the same sector. Hourly wages for women represented by a union are 4.7% higher than for nonunionized women. Black workers in a union earn 13.1% more than their nonunionized Black peers, and Hispanic workers in a union are paid 18.8% more than their nonunionized peers.
Despite the benefits of unionizing, early studies showed that unionized workers were less satisfied with their jobs. However, recent studies suggest more to the story; it’s not the unions making them unhappy. Workers who choose to unionize are often already dissatisfied with their jobs. They join the union to gain power over their position and voice their complaints. Workers experiencing poor working conditions suffer from job dissatisfaction and are more likely to complain and join a union. Workers experiencing fair benefits, equal pay, and safe working conditions are happy and satisfied with their jobs and are not likely to join a union. An EPI analysis concluded that private-sector employers spend nearly $340 million per year hiring union avoidance advisers to help them prevent employees from organizing. Companies need to hold themselves accountable if they wish to dodge the financial burden triggered by unionization. Instead of paying to avoid organizing, firms could fund the implementation of programs encouraging employee participation and input, where they can express themselves and feel represented.
To determine where I stand on joining a union, I briefly interviewed someone with more experience. My interviewee was the union chairman for his police department for twelve years before becoming the sheriff. Now he sits on the other side of union negotiations. He was adamant that unions are essential for protecting people and holding management accountable. They ensure consistency in the workplace, safe conditions, and equitable compensation. His only grievance with unionization was that negotiations between unions and firms could create a tense, accusatory undertone in the work culture. After the interview, I decided that I would prefer to unionize whether I was a worker or a manager.
Laroche, P. (2017, August 30). Research shows unionized workers are less happy, but why?. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/08/research-shows-unionized-workers-are-less-happy-but-why
Shierholz, H., Poydock, M., & McNicholas, C. (2023, January 19). Unionization increased by 200,000 in 2022. Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/unionization-2022/
