Pub Date : 2024-02-08DOI: 10.1177/0160449x241231316
Omar Davila
The history of US capitalism is one wherein occupations with higher concentrations of workers of color coincide with increased levels of exploitation. Recent studies in education show the way strained and precarious working environments led to the now infamous “teacher shortages.” I employ the lenses of critical studies of race and capitalism to examine the interest convergence dilemma vis-à-vis recent efforts to increase diversity amid substandard labor conditions in teaching. This analysis offers a cautionary note, and absent a major structural intervention, the interests of marginalized groups (i.e., stronger representation) might converge with the interests of capitalism (i.e., cheap labor).
{"title":"Teacher Diversity as Interest Convergence? A Cautionary Note","authors":"Omar Davila","doi":"10.1177/0160449x241231316","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160449x241231316","url":null,"abstract":"The history of US capitalism is one wherein occupations with higher concentrations of workers of color coincide with increased levels of exploitation. Recent studies in education show the way strained and precarious working environments led to the now infamous “teacher shortages.” I employ the lenses of critical studies of race and capitalism to examine the interest convergence dilemma vis-à-vis recent efforts to increase diversity amid substandard labor conditions in teaching. This analysis offers a cautionary note, and absent a major structural intervention, the interests of marginalized groups (i.e., stronger representation) might converge with the interests of capitalism (i.e., cheap labor).","PeriodicalId":35267,"journal":{"name":"Labor Studies Journal","volume":"102 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139851028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.1177/0160449x231218982
Breon Haskett
This study investigates the effect of adopting right-to-work on unfair labor practice charges filed at the National Labor Relations Board. Most charges accompany union elections, which are expected to decrease under right-to-work. However, this work's synthetic control method results show that unfair labor practice trends in rates and success are generally unaffected by right-to-work adoption. Underlying these stable rates of filing and success is a more resource-intensive strategy where federations collaborate on charges with their constituent members. Using the cases of Michigan and Indiana, which both adopted right-to-work in 2012 and a unique dataset of all charges filed from 2000 to 2019, I show that legal mobilization is one union activity that adjusts under right-to-work as unions and federations look to protect workers.
{"title":"The Effect of Right-to-Work on Unfair Labor Practice Charges: Synthetic Control Evidence From Indiana and Michigan","authors":"Breon Haskett","doi":"10.1177/0160449x231218982","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160449x231218982","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the effect of adopting right-to-work on unfair labor practice charges filed at the National Labor Relations Board. Most charges accompany union elections, which are expected to decrease under right-to-work. However, this work's synthetic control method results show that unfair labor practice trends in rates and success are generally unaffected by right-to-work adoption. Underlying these stable rates of filing and success is a more resource-intensive strategy where federations collaborate on charges with their constituent members. Using the cases of Michigan and Indiana, which both adopted right-to-work in 2012 and a unique dataset of all charges filed from 2000 to 2019, I show that legal mobilization is one union activity that adjusts under right-to-work as unions and federations look to protect workers.","PeriodicalId":35267,"journal":{"name":"Labor Studies Journal","volume":"19 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138956134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-10DOI: 10.1177/0160449x231218979
Jeffrey Waddoups, Kevin Duncan
Apprenticeship training in construction is an important source of human capital investment for workers, employers, and society. We address the extent to which macroeconomic fluctuations such as building booms and recessions affect apprenticeship completion rates—an important indicator of program performance. Using data from the U.S. Department of Labor, we find that one of the most important determinants of performance is a measure of macroeconomic activity during the apprenticeship period. Apprentices that register into a growing economy, as indicated by falling unemployment rates, are significantly more likely to complete their programs than those who register into a recessionary economy. We also find that apprentices in programs jointly sponsored by trade unions and signatory contractors have higher completion rates and are less affected by conditions in the macroeconomy.
{"title":"Apprenticeship Program Performance and Macroeconomic Fluctuations: A Case Study of Nevada's Construction Industry","authors":"Jeffrey Waddoups, Kevin Duncan","doi":"10.1177/0160449x231218979","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160449x231218979","url":null,"abstract":"Apprenticeship training in construction is an important source of human capital investment for workers, employers, and society. We address the extent to which macroeconomic fluctuations such as building booms and recessions affect apprenticeship completion rates—an important indicator of program performance. Using data from the U.S. Department of Labor, we find that one of the most important determinants of performance is a measure of macroeconomic activity during the apprenticeship period. Apprentices that register into a growing economy, as indicated by falling unemployment rates, are significantly more likely to complete their programs than those who register into a recessionary economy. We also find that apprentices in programs jointly sponsored by trade unions and signatory contractors have higher completion rates and are less affected by conditions in the macroeconomy.","PeriodicalId":35267,"journal":{"name":"Labor Studies Journal","volume":"493 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138982951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-01Epub Date: 2023-08-30DOI: 10.1177/0160449x231196227
Lisbeth Iglesias-Rios, Mislael Valentín-Cortés, Paul J Fleming, Marie S O'Neill, Alexis J Handal
Precarious employment is an important social determinant of health inequities. Through in-depth qualitative interviews (n = 35), we examine precarious employment and labor exploitation, their potential impact on the working environment, and, ultimately, the health of farmworkers. We present results from the community-based participatory Michigan Farmworker Project. Our analysis identified dimensions of precarious employment and labor exploitation that involved lacking access to fundamental labor and social rights-including dehumanization-discriminatory occupational practices, and insufficient access to health care and social benefits. Policy reform is needed to address precarious employment and labor exploitation among farmworkers due to their potential long-lasting health effects.
{"title":"The Michigan Farmworker Project: A Community-Based Participatory Approach to Research on Precarious Employment and Labor Exploitation of Farmworkers.","authors":"Lisbeth Iglesias-Rios, Mislael Valentín-Cortés, Paul J Fleming, Marie S O'Neill, Alexis J Handal","doi":"10.1177/0160449x231196227","DOIUrl":"10.1177/0160449x231196227","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Precarious employment is an important social determinant of health inequities. Through in-depth qualitative interviews (<i>n</i> = 35), we examine precarious employment and labor exploitation, their potential impact on the working environment, and, ultimately, the health of farmworkers. We present results from the community-based participatory Michigan Farmworker Project. Our analysis identified dimensions of precarious employment and labor exploitation that involved lacking access to fundamental labor and social rights-including dehumanization-discriminatory occupational practices, and insufficient access to health care and social benefits. Policy reform is needed to address precarious employment and labor exploitation among farmworkers due to their potential long-lasting health effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":35267,"journal":{"name":"Labor Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"336-362"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11210576/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43597851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-26DOI: 10.1177/0160449x231212606
Stuart Eimer
This article contributes to the study of union renewal. It considers the case of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ which has grown significantly during a period when the overall labor movement has declined. Local 32BJ's organizing success is explored focusing on the trigger tactic, an overlooked component of SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaigns. Trigger mechanisms take the competitive pressures companies face seriously, recognizing that unionization has costs, and that increased costs are a problem for an individual firm if its competitors are non-union. The trigger tactic binds companies in a given market together to ensure that the bulk of employers go union at once, or not all. This tactic knits together the material interests of workers in different companies and appears to reduce employer opposition to unions. Given its success, SEIU's whole union organizing with a trigger mechanism may offer a potential model for renewal for unions organizing in similar industries.
{"title":"When Unions Organize Workers and Capitalists: Union Growth, the Trigger Mechanism and Service Employees International Union's Justice for Janitors","authors":"Stuart Eimer","doi":"10.1177/0160449x231212606","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160449x231212606","url":null,"abstract":"This article contributes to the study of union renewal. It considers the case of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ which has grown significantly during a period when the overall labor movement has declined. Local 32BJ's organizing success is explored focusing on the trigger tactic, an overlooked component of SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaigns. Trigger mechanisms take the competitive pressures companies face seriously, recognizing that unionization has costs, and that increased costs are a problem for an individual firm if its competitors are non-union. The trigger tactic binds companies in a given market together to ensure that the bulk of employers go union at once, or not all. This tactic knits together the material interests of workers in different companies and appears to reduce employer opposition to unions. Given its success, SEIU's whole union organizing with a trigger mechanism may offer a potential model for renewal for unions organizing in similar industries.","PeriodicalId":35267,"journal":{"name":"Labor Studies Journal","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139236181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-20DOI: 10.1177/0160449x231215110
Ryan H. Nelson
Voting behavior in union representation elections is influenced by rational and non-rational choices alike. This study shows a correlation between one nonrational choice, political partisanship, and such voting behavior. Comparing general election support for Democratic U.S. Presidential nominees where union representation elections occurred—a proxy for political partisanship—with support for a union in those representation elections shows positive, highly statistically significant correlations between Democratic support and union support in every consecutive twelve-month period between the 2008 and 2020 general elections. Furthermore, between 2008 and 2020, the magnitude of this correlation increased to a statistically significant degree.
{"title":"Political Partisanship and Union Representation Elections","authors":"Ryan H. Nelson","doi":"10.1177/0160449x231215110","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160449x231215110","url":null,"abstract":"Voting behavior in union representation elections is influenced by rational and non-rational choices alike. This study shows a correlation between one nonrational choice, political partisanship, and such voting behavior. Comparing general election support for Democratic U.S. Presidential nominees where union representation elections occurred—a proxy for political partisanship—with support for a union in those representation elections shows positive, highly statistically significant correlations between Democratic support and union support in every consecutive twelve-month period between the 2008 and 2020 general elections. Furthermore, between 2008 and 2020, the magnitude of this correlation increased to a statistically significant degree.","PeriodicalId":35267,"journal":{"name":"Labor Studies Journal","volume":"111 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139258608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-05DOI: 10.1177/0160449x231199823
Michelle Kaminski
This study draws on three well-established streams of leadership research: transformational leadership, servant leadership, and five-factor personality theory and applies them to the labor union context. The study tested the relationship between these theories and both leader and union effectiveness. The sample consisted of 240 respondents who rated the leadership of 60 participants in the 2018 and 2019 Harvard Trade Union Program. Results indicated that the best predictors of both leader effectiveness and union effectiveness were the transformational and servant leadership styles. In contrast with other research, the five-factor personality variables (extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, and agreeableness) had no significant relationship with leadership effectiveness after controlling for the leadership style models. Only two of the five personality variables, extraversion and emotional stability, were related to union effectiveness after controlling for the effects of transformational and servant leadership. Discussion includes implication for labor educators.
{"title":"Effective Union Leadership: Evidence from the Harvard Trade Union Program","authors":"Michelle Kaminski","doi":"10.1177/0160449x231199823","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160449x231199823","url":null,"abstract":"This study draws on three well-established streams of leadership research: transformational leadership, servant leadership, and five-factor personality theory and applies them to the labor union context. The study tested the relationship between these theories and both leader and union effectiveness. The sample consisted of 240 respondents who rated the leadership of 60 participants in the 2018 and 2019 Harvard Trade Union Program. Results indicated that the best predictors of both leader effectiveness and union effectiveness were the transformational and servant leadership styles. In contrast with other research, the five-factor personality variables (extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, and agreeableness) had no significant relationship with leadership effectiveness after controlling for the leadership style models. Only two of the five personality variables, extraversion and emotional stability, were related to union effectiveness after controlling for the effects of transformational and servant leadership. Discussion includes implication for labor educators.","PeriodicalId":35267,"journal":{"name":"Labor Studies Journal","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135726652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-29DOI: 10.1177/0160449x231195429
Sergio Saravia
{"title":"Book Review: <i>Essential. How the Pandemic Transformed the Long Fight for Worker Justice</i> by McCallum, Jamie","authors":"Sergio Saravia","doi":"10.1177/0160449x231195429","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160449x231195429","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35267,"journal":{"name":"Labor Studies Journal","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136135700","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-19DOI: 10.1177/0160449x231201252
Emily E. LB. Twarog
In this roundtable, labor studies scholars examine the viability of the Clean Slate for Worker Power project. Engaging themes such as labor law, immigrant workers, and organizing strategies, the contributors debate the limits of U.S. labor law, the tendency of scholars to silo our work and our research without engaging an intersectional approach, and the practical realities that impact the U.S.' low rates of unionization.
{"title":"Is US Labor Law Reform Enough? A Conversation About the “Clean Slate for Worker Power”","authors":"Emily E. LB. Twarog","doi":"10.1177/0160449x231201252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160449x231201252","url":null,"abstract":"In this roundtable, labor studies scholars examine the viability of the Clean Slate for Worker Power project. Engaging themes such as labor law, immigrant workers, and organizing strategies, the contributors debate the limits of U.S. labor law, the tendency of scholars to silo our work and our research without engaging an intersectional approach, and the practical realities that impact the U.S.' low rates of unionization.","PeriodicalId":35267,"journal":{"name":"Labor Studies Journal","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135779561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}