What Do Unions Do?

This comprehensive economic assessment of unions by two Harvard economists challenges the prevailing view of trade unions as monopolies whose main function is to raise their members' wages at the expense of the general public. Using data from individuals and business establishments, they demonstrate that in addition to raising wages, unions have significant non-wage effects on industrial life. Unionization, they argue, often leads to higher productivity, more stable work force and provides protection for vulnerable employees. They describe the role of unions as the collective voice of workers, which creates a vehicle of direct communication between workers and management. A New Portrait Of U.s. Unionism -- U.s. Industrial Relations: The Figures And The Settings -- The Union Wage Effect -- Fringe Determination Under Trade Unionism -- Labor's Elite: The Effect Of Unionism On Wage Inequality -- The Exit-voice Tradeoff -- Adjustment To Business Cycles -- Respect Your Elders: The Role Of Seniority -- Are They Satisfied? -- What Unionism Does To Nonorganized Labor -- Unionism: Good Or Bad For Productivity? -- But Unionism Lowers Profits -- Union Political Power: Myth Or Reality? -- Blemishes On The Two Faces -- The Slow Strangulation Of Private-sector Unions -- Conclusion And Implications. Richard B. Freeman & James L. Medoff. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Although it is now over three decades old, it would be hard to overstate the importance of this book to scholarship regarding the role of labor unions in the U.S. Utilizing sophisticated analytical techniques, the authors rigorously asses the costs and benefits of labor unions. They conclude that they have a net positive social benefit. All academic research on the role of labor unions since the publication of this book has had to take its methods and conclusions seriously. It is an essential starting point for serious research on labor unions in the U.S. Argues that unions play a beneficial role in improving the workplace, increasing productivity, reducing economic inequality, and stabilizing the work force