THE DETERMINANTS OF UNION ELECTION SUCCESS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: AN INTERSTATE ANALYSIS
KEVIN M. O'BRIEN
DOI: 10.2190/41LG-DKYC-5QK6-DA9E
Abstract
A large body of literature exists on the determinants of union election success in the private sector but the only extensive study for the public sector is that by Bronfenbrenner and Juravich [1]. They found that increased bargaining unit size and a higher state unemployment rate both decreased the probability of a union winning a certification election. This study extends the public sector literature by including a number of election determinants not used in the previous study. The new explanatory variables are the existence of a single state bargaining law, the percentage of unions with an AFL-CIO affiliation, voter turnout, and the presence of multiple unions on the ballot. This study also includes an alternative measure of union election success: the percentage of votes received by the winning union. One of the new variables, higher voter turnout, increased the percentage of union election wins in a state while a single state bargaining law, AFL-CIO affiliation, and higher voter turnout increased the percentage of votes of the winning union. It was also found that a higher public sector unionization rate and the presence of a right-to-work law in a state decreased both measures of union election success. The results were based on data for states that had certification elections in 1991 and 1992.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.