Beyond the Contract: Organizing Benefits of Collective Bargaining Regimes

• In Event: Labor and Labor Movements Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Roundtable 6: Unionization, Collective Bargaining, and Worker Organization

Abstract

Collective bargaining regimes – the legal-regulatory frameworks that govern the formal unionization process and enable workers to collectively negotiate contracts with their employers – are associated with numerous benefits for workers: higher wages, increased job security, better fringe benefits, improved working conditions, and greater autonomy. But most of these well-documented benefits of collective bargaining regimes are the result of a contract; collective bargaining regimes enable workers to obtain strong contracts that then provide these material benefits. But how else do collective bargaining regimes benefit workers? Specifically, how do collective bargaining regimes affect the labor organizing process prior to a contract? Conversely, how do bans on collective bargaining impede workers’ organizing efforts? To investigate these research questions, I conduct 30 semi-structured in-depth interviews of graduate student workers at two nearby universities – one with collective bargaining rights and the other without them – as well as participant observation of graduate student union events. I find that collective bargaining regimes do more than just enable workers to secure a strong contract; they advantage workers by facilitating the organizing process by 1) providing clear and achievable goals, 2) promising tangible benefits, 3) prescribing a set of structured activities, 4) increasing the salience of the union, and 5) facilitating the building of momentum. These benefits motivate workers to get involved, augment their sense of collective efficacy, and help develop network internalities, which strengthens the union and increases workers’ collective power. This power can help win a strong contract (if legally possible), but it can also be funneled toward other tactics and pursuits – such as lobbying, advocacy, protests, elections, wildcat strikes, etc. – that may generate downstream benefits.

Author

• Jacob Solomon Ginn, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill