Stephen Lacy

Publication Date

7-1983

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

James Grimm, Kirk Dansereau, John Faine

Comments

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Degree Program

Department of Sociology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

There has been a considerable amount of literature dealing with employees' motives for joining labor unions, but very little attention has been devoted to explaining the reasons for workers deciding to oust their unions through the process of decertification. The few studies which have been conducted in the area of union decertification draw conclusions from the broad nation-wide data supplied in the N.L.R.B. Annual Reports. The remainder of the literature has been published primarily by industrial relations specialists who make speculations about reasons for particular units' choosing to decertify, and offer legal and practical advice to employers on the subject. This thesis provides empirical tests of hypotheses dealing with specific factors which could influence decertification outcomes.

A questionnaire was designed to measure variables which were indices of unit structure and background, unit heterogeneity, economic conditions, preliminary union and company campaign activity, and the actions taken by the union and company during the decertification campaign process. This questionnaire was mailed to the personnel directors of 350 U.S. firms which had experienced union decertification elections during Fiscal Year 1979. A bivariate analysis was used in testing the significance of 35 factors in contributing to election outcome from the responses provided by the 130 returned questionnaires.

Disciplines

Business | Human Resources Management | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Sociology

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