Private Sector Union Density and the Wage Premium: Past, Present, and Future

The rise and decline of private sector unionization were among the more important features of the U.S. labor market during the twentieth century. Following a dramatic spurt in unionization after passage of the depression-era National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935, union density peaked in the mid-1950s, and then began a continuous decline. At the end of the century, the percentage of private wage and salary workers who were union members was less than 10 percent, not greatly different from union density prior to the NLRA

Participation and procedural justice: The role of national culture

Hoftstede's (1980) cultural dimensions have been shown to affect employees' perceptions of workplace phenomena. With the use of data from eight countries, it is the purpose of this paper to examine two cultural dimensions, power distance and individualism, as they impact employees' procedural justice perceptions. Using predictions from equity theory, we suggest that the relationship between participation and procedural justice perceptions is moderated by the aforementioned dimensions. The model also provides a framework for conceptualising cultural contrasts that may best lend themselves to the introduction of participation mechanisms within a global context. The current results support the notion that power distance and individualism interact with participation to negatively and positively, respectively, predict procedural justice perceptions. The results and theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Referent Selection: How the Women in Sport Journalism Shape Their Perceptions of Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is an essential construct explaining human behavior in organizations. To fully understand the construct, however, it is necessary to recognize how employees establish satisfaction levels. One method has been to explore who employees use as a basis of comparison—referent others—when establishing their perceptions of equity, which influence satisfaction. This study expanded the body of knowledge associated with satisfaction and sport organizations by using nontraditional participants—members of the Association for Women in Sports Media. The referent-selection processes used by these women in determining their level of satisfaction in five specific areas of job satisfaction were compared. The Job Descriptive Index was used to establish satisfaction levels, and a Referent Selection Instrument identified whom the participants used as a basis of comparison. The findings indicate the extent to which the participants made referent comparisons, what comparisons were made, and the relationship between satisfaction and their referent comparisons

American trade unions and public approval: can unions please all of the people all of the time?

Public opinion about labor unions has long been viewed as an important determinant of industrial relations outcomes. Yet, analyses of changes in union popularity over time have been largely qualitative and have focused on the impact of short-term idiosyncratic events. This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the determinants of American public approval of unions from 1936 to 1991. Hypotheses relating to the union wage advantage, strike activity, the national unemployment rate, and World War II, receive the strongest support. The implications of these results for organized labor and future research on attitudes toward unions are discussed