Union Mergers in the United States, 1900-2005
Author: Jasmine Olivia Kerrissey
Publisher:
Published: 2012
Total Pages: 213
ISBN-13: 9781267158192
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis dissertation examines mergers between labor unions in the United States from 1900 to 2005. Since 1900, 225 mergers have occurred between national unions, but little sociological work has examined the patterns underlying these mergers. This dissertation asks two main questions: why do unions merge and how have mergers transformed the labor movement? I connect literatures in labor studies, organizational theory, and social movement theory. I use union mergers as a case to extend existing theories and to help account for the organizational and political structure of unions that exists in the contemporary era. The data I use is archival and I employ two strategies: I collect systemic data on every union that has merged and in-depth data on several illustrative mergers. I use both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze merger rates, characteristics, and processes from 1900 through 2005. Collectively, these mergers contributed to the consolidation of the labor movement. In the contemporary era, there are fewer and larger unions than in the earlier years of the last century. However, there is little evidence that mergers increase the growth rates of unions. Mergers also affect union democracy, as measured by union constitutions. Certain democratic clauses, especially around locals' rights, are eliminated when unions renegotiate their constitutions during mergers. I examine why unions merge through event history analysis. I consider internal, field level, and environmental characteristics and find that a main determinant of union mergers is the relationship between unions and between unions and federations. While shrinking size does encourage some mergers, the contraction of the labor movement is not the main driver of mergers.
