Collective Bargaining and Staff Salaries in American Colleges and Universities

Abstract

Our study is the first study that addresses the impact of collective bargaining coverage on salaries in academia for employees other than faculty. We use data from a 1997-98 study on the costs of staffing in higher education conducted by the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers and other sources to estimate the impact of staff unions on staff salaries in American higher education. Our best estimate is that for the occupations in our sample, collective bargaining coverage raises staff salaries by at most 10 to 20 percent relative to the salaries of comparable higher education employees not covered by union contracts.