COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF PUBLIC TRANSIT

JAMES L. PERRY AND HAROLD L. ANGLE


DOI: 10.2190/YTWE-JNTV-KDRD-2293

Abstract

This article reports results from recently completed research investigating associations between labor-management relations and organizational performance in urban mass transit. Variations in organizational performance were analyzed against differences in four aspects of the collective bargaining situation: the legal framework, labor and management's organization for bargaining, relationship patterns, and the contents of the collective agreements. Among the findings were that the incidence of strikes appeared to be systematically related to variations in organizational structure, cooperative relations were generally conducive to higher performance, and the collective bargaining agreement was the most significant and direct influence on performance. Based on the research findings, a number of suggestions are made for improving labor-management relations in public transit.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.