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Unions Need to Think Small to Get Big
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Feb. 11, 2019 | OPINION | Organized labor can reverse its decline by focusing on smaller workplaces – and using digital tools to organize. New research shows that most workers are unionized in smaller workplaces. Of the nearly 700,000 private-sector employees who joined a union in the past decade, almost two-thirds were unionized in shops with fewer than 250 workers. Labor groups are more likely to win elections for union representation in small workplaces. In a study released this week by the Century Foundation, we analyzed microdata on every union election in the country from April 2007 to December 2018, more than 22,000 in total. We found that bargaining units of 24 or fewer employees were nearly 12 percent more likely to win a union than larger groups. Units with nine workers or under, for example, won 70 percent of their elections, compared with a win rate of 57 percent for units of 100 and 249 employees. What’s more, the fewer employees in a workplace, the more likely they were to win elections by wider margins, underscoring that workers at smaller units are more consistent and cohesive in their support of unions. … The Atlantic
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