Supply & Demand for Union Services
Demand Side : Other things equal, the higher the price of union services (as measured by monthly dues, initiation fees, & the value of time expected to devote to union activities), the lower the proportion of workers that will want to join a union.
(We will discuss union services or benefits shortly.)
Supply Side : It is costly to provide union services.
The higher the price of union services the more willing the unions are to provide the services.

Supply & Demand for Union Services
Price of Union
Membership
% of Work Force
Unionized

Supply & Demand for Union Services
Price of Union
Membership
Demand
% of Work Force
Unionized

Supply & Demand for Union Services
Price of Union
Membership
Supply
% of Work Force
Unionized

Supply & Demand for Union Services
Price of Union
Membership
Supply
Demand
% of Work Force
Unionized

Supply & Demand for Union Services
Price of Union
Membership
Supply equilibrium
Demand
% of Work Force
Unionized

Supply & Demand for Union Services
Price of Union
Membership
Supply equilibrium
P*
Demand
% of Work Force
Unionized

Supply & Demand for Union Services
Price of Union
Membership
Supply equilibrium
P*
Q*
Demand
% of Work Force
Unionized

In 2011, 11.8 percent of employed wage and salary workers were union members.
Union membership varies with many factors.

2008 Union Membership (% of employed workers) by Gender, Race, & Hispanic Ethnicity
Group
White Men
White Women
Black Men
Black Women
Hispanic Men
Hispanic Women
% Union
Members
13.2
11.1
15.9
13.3
11.0
10.0
Union membership is higher among men than among women.
Blacks are more likely than Whites to be union members,
& Hispanics are less likely than non-
Hispanics to be union members.
(From the Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2010.)

2008 Union Membership (% of employed workers) by Age
Group
% Union
Members
16 to 24 yrs old
25 to 34 yrs old
5.0
10.7
Union membership was higher among middle-aged workers & lower among younger & older workers.
35 to 44 yrs old 13.4
45 to 54 yrs old
55 to 64 yrs old
65 yrs & older
16.0
16.6
9.0
(From the Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2010.)

2008 Union Membership (% of employed workers) by Sector
Sector
Public Sector
Private Sector
% Union
Members
36.8
7.6
Union membership is much higher among the public sector (government employees) than among the private sector.
(From the Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2010.)

2008 Union Membership (% of employed workers) by Industry
Industry
Transportation
& Utilities
Construction
Information
Manufacturing
% Union
Members
22.2
15.6
12.7
11.4
Union membership varies with industry.
Membership is considerably greater in transportation, construction, & manufacturing than in other industries.
Mining 6.9
Wholesale & Retail Trade 5.2
(From the Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2010.)
Financial Activities 1.8

2008 Union Membership (% of employed workers) by Selected States
State
New York
North Carolina
% Union
Members
24.9
3.5
Union membership ranged from a low of 3.5% for North
Carolina to a high of 24.9% for New
York.
Pennsylvania 15.4
New Jersey
Delaware
Maryland
18.3
13.4
12.6
(From the Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2010.)

An employer is a union shop if a worker must join the union within a specified time period in order to remain with the employer.
The argument in favor of the union shop concerns the “free-rider” problem. The workers get the benefits gained by the union and should therefore contribute to the union and not “ride free.”
The argument against the union shop is the individual worker rights argument. A worker should be able to decide if he/she wants to be a member of the union.

Many states, especially many southern states, have “Right-to-Work” laws.
These laws outlaw union shops & make it hard to unionize.

an attempt to deny the firm the labor services of all union members.

Whether a strike is successful in enabling a union to win concessions from management depends on
• the monopoly power of the firm in the product market;
• the ability of the firm to stockpile product in anticipation of a strike;
• the firm’s financial resources to withstand a strike; &
• the union members’ financial resources to withstand a strike.

Note: To say that a firm has some monopoly power does not mean that the firm is necessarily a monopoly. Rather, it means that the seller has some control over the price of its product.
So, if a firm has some monopoly power, it can raise its price without losing all its business.
Consequently, it can pass some of the cost of higher wages along to its customers in the form of higher prices.
Thus, a union will be better able to win concessions from a firm with monopoly power.

A firm that can stockpile its product is able to accumulate inventory.
Durable goods, such as cars, can be stockpiled; perishable goods, such as fresh fruit, can not be stockpiled.
If a firm can stockpile its product, then it will still have product to sell in the event of a strike.
Thus, the firm will be in better condition and able to hold out longer without giving in to union demands.
Thus, a union will be less able to win concessions from a firm that has a stockpile of product.

A firm will greater financial resources can hold out longer during a strike without going bankrupt.
Thus, a union will be less able to win concessions from a firm that has considerable financial resources.

If a union’s members have substantial financial resources, they will be able to hold out longer during a strike and still be able to pay bills and eat.
Thus the union will be better able to win concessions from the firm.

Because a strike imposes costs on a firm (loss of production, sales, & profit), the employer will pay more to avoid a strike of a particular length.
The longer the expected duration of strike, the greater the wage increase they are willing to concede.

Because a strike imposes costs on employees
(loss of income), they will accept less to avoid a strike of a particular length.
The longer the expected duration of strike, the smaller the wage increase they are willing to accept.

There is an expected strike duration at which the employer & the union will accept the same wage.
This point is the Settlement Point , where the employer & the union come to an agreement.

% wage increase
Expected duration of strike

% wage increase
Firm concession curve
Expected duration of strike

% wage increase
Union resistance curve
Expected duration of strike

% wage increase
Firm concession curve
Union resistance curve
Expected duration of strike

% wage increase
Firm concession curve settlement pt.
Union resistance curve
Expected duration of strike

% wage increase
Firm concession curve settlement pt.
Union resistance curve
S* Expected duration of strike

% wage increase
Firm concession curve settlement pt.
W*
Union resistance curve
S* Expected duration of strike

when a third party is brought in to settle a dispute between labor & management
Types of arbitration include:
Splitting-the-difference arbitration
Final offer arbitration

The arbiter selects a solution halfway between the union’s offer & the employer’s offer.
Example: union offer: $20
Employer offer: $10
Arbiter’s decision is halfway between 10 & 20 which is $15.

The arbiter asks each of the two parties for their final offer and selects the offer that he/she thinks is most reasonable.
Example: union offer: $18
Employer offer: $6
If the arbiter thinks the appropriate wage is $15, he/she would pick the offer closest to that value, in this case, $18.

Internationally, union membership rates vary considerably. Membership in the United
States is much lower than in many other countries.

Union Membership As a % of Total Paid Employees
Country
China
Iceland
Norway
Brazil
France
Canada
United Kingdom 1999
Australia 1998
India 1997
Germany
Japan
Singapore
U.S.A.
1998
2000
1999
2002
Year Membership (%)
2000 90.3
2000
2000
1992
1994
1999
89.4
70.6
44.0
31.0
30.1
29.5
28.1
26.2
26.1
21.5
18.0
13.3

Gender Differences in Union Preferences
Women have traditionally had lower union representation than men.
There is no evidence that women have less of a preference for unions than men.
In fact, survey evidence indicates that women tend to be more supportive of collective action to achieve goals than men and are more likely to vote for a union.

Reasons for Gender Differences in Union Membership
Women tend to be concentrated in industries and occupations where unionization is below average.
Traditionally, unionization has been highest among blue-collar workers in manufacturing, whereas women have been concentrated in clerical and service occupations, which have lower rates of unionization.
Within the manufacturing sector, women are concentrated in more competitive industries, while unionization is greater in monopolistic industries.

75% of the difference in unionization between men and women is explained by the underrepresentation of women in highly organized occupations and sectors.

Effects of Union Policies on Women’s Union Membership
Male craft unions did not begin to admit women until the late 1800s and were not hospitable to women (and blacks) long after they no longer formally excluded them.
Unions have been criticized for having made little effort to organize women workers and for not supporting women’s own efforts to unionize.
Only recently has emphasis been placed on the provision of benefits such as parental leave and day care, which are important to women.

Union membership has declined from over
25% in the mid-1950s.

Women’s unionization has declined more slowly than men’s. The change in the relative unionization of men and women is partly attributable to the decline in the size of the heavily unionized and predominately male manufacturing sector.
Also contributing is an increase in unionization in sectors in which women are heavily represented, such as the public sector, and among white collar and service workers, including clerical and health care workers.

What are the benefits of unions?
They increase the wages of their members. Overall, the relative wage advantage of union members is about
17-18 percent.
Research indicates that unions raise women’s wages at least as much as they raise men’s.
As women become more attached to the labor force and gain seniority, the economic advantages of unionization to them may increase because unions tend to provide greater benefits to workers with more seniority.

Other Benefits of Unions
Unions increase the fringe benefits of their members relative to nonmembers.
They provide members with nonpecuniary benefits by giving them greater opportunity to shape their work environment by communicating their preferences to employers through the collective bargaining process, and by providing for grievance procedures.
Unions have the potential to reduce tension between work and family by negotiating for family leave, on-site day care, and flexible schedules.

A Social Benefit of Unions
On balance, unions reduce wage inequality among all workers by providing relatively high paying job opportunities for many less skilled workers.
This means that deunionization has contributed to rising wage inequality.

As long as women remain underrepresented in unions (compared to their representation in the labor force), the impact of unions is to widen the malefemale pay gap, since men benefit from the union wage premium to a greater extent than women.
The decrease in unionism has contributed to a reduction in the male-female wage gap because it has been associated with a decrease in the male advantage in unionization.

We have seen that unions offer many advantages to workers, such as higher wages and fringe benefits.
However, since the quantity of labor demanded is negatively related to wages, these higher wages are associated with lower employment.
Hence, the gains of the employed workers are at the expense of those who are not hired due to unionization.

The Glass Ceiling in Union Leadership
As in corporate America, women appear to face a glass ceiling, when it comes to union leadership positions.
In 2012, only 15 percent of AFL-CIO executive council members were women.

Women have been more successful in attaining middle-level positions at the local level and some have even reached some top-level positions.
However, among the 4 major elected posts
(president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary), women tend to be most heavily represented in the secretary position, which is the lowest rung.

Why do unions lack women in key leadership positions?
1. Employed women usually have to juggle home and job responsibilities, leaving little time available for union activities.
2. Election to leadership positions often takes years of working with the rank and file members to reach the top posts. This work usually starts when union members are in their 20s, which coincides with most women’s childbearing years.

3. Women often underestimate their abilities and are less likely to place themselves on the leadership track.
4. The underrepresentation of women in union leadership positions makes other women’s advancement more difficult, because it reduces the opportunities for women to receive informal mentoring and to find role models.

5. Women also often must contend with sexual harassment and the perception that women are not tough enough to negotiate contracts and participate in bargaining.
6. In addition, women frequently lack the education and experience required for leadership positions, such as union negotiating skills and institutional knowledge about union offices.

Prospects for women in unions are improving.
Efforts are being made to
• include women in executive positions,
• take greater account of women worker’s needs, and
• train women to develop their leadership skills.

What does the future hold concerning unions?
Trends suggest that unions are likely to continue to lose members in the future.
However, even if unions are unable to meet their membership goals, they are likely to remain a significant political & economic force.

The union movement was originally founded on white, older men.
Given the changing composition of the labor force, unions must reach out to different workers, including women & white-collar workers.
Unions have been making efforts to appeal to more diverse groups of workers.

What might unions do in the future?
Unions can evolve into a different type of organization.
They can shift away from being organizations concerned with employment & wage gains & towards being organizations that offer a variety of services & benefits to their members.
In so doing, they may have more success in providing value & a perceived need to their membership.
Edward Potter of the Employment Policy Foundation referred to this type of union as “the working person’s AARP.”