
Published online:
22 June 2023
Published in print:
10 August 2023
Online ISBN:
9780197539880
Print ISBN:
9780197539859
Contents
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The State and Macro Context The State and Macro Context
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U.S. Labor Legislation and the Courts U.S. Labor Legislation and the Courts
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Pro-Employer Legislation, Court Decisions, and Case Law Pro-Employer Legislation, Court Decisions, and Case Law
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Strike Restrictions Strike Restrictions
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Political Context Political Context
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The Economy The Economy
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Labor Force Shifts Labor Force Shifts
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Replacement Costs Replacement Costs
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The Green Light for Replacing Striking Workers The Green Light for Replacing Striking Workers
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Employers Ramp Up the Use of Replacement Workers Employers Ramp Up the Use of Replacement Workers
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Traditional Replacement Costs Traditional Replacement Costs
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Skill Closure Through Apprenticeship Programs Skill Closure Through Apprenticeship Programs
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Reducing Workers’ Leverage Through Deskilling Reducing Workers’ Leverage Through Deskilling
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Timing Continues To Be a Source of Workers’ Power Timing Continues To Be a Source of Workers’ Power
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Spatial Issues: The Declining Importance of Isolation Spatial Issues: The Declining Importance of Isolation
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“New” Replacement Cost Factors “New” Replacement Cost Factors
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Capital Flight and Worker Displacement Capital Flight and Worker Displacement
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Licensing and Credentialing Licensing and Credentialing
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Financialization and Mega-Corporations Financialization and Mega-Corporations
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Fissured Workplaces, Contingent Work, and Subcontracting Fissured Workplaces, Contingent Work, and Subcontracting
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Union and Employer Strategies: Making and Breaking Unions Union and Employer Strategies: Making and Breaking Unions
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Employers’ Associations Aim to Dis-organize Unions Employers’ Associations Aim to Dis-organize Unions
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Employers’ Use of Union Avoidance Firms Employers’ Use of Union Avoidance Firms
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The Union Response—Revitalization in the 1990s The Union Response—Revitalization in the 1990s
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Expansive Solidarity: Social Movement Unionism, Worker Centers, and (Re)newed Strategies Expansive Solidarity: Social Movement Unionism, Worker Centers, and (Re)newed Strategies
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Reclassifying Workers to Obtain NLRB Coverage Reclassifying Workers to Obtain NLRB Coverage
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NLRB Elections and ULPs NLRB Elections and ULPs
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Union Elections Union Elections
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Unfair Labor Practices Unfair Labor Practices
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Strikes Strikes
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Race and Gender Race and Gender
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Analysis of Union Density Analysis of Union Density
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Features of High Union Density Industries Features of High Union Density Industries
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Features of Medium Union Density Industries Features of Medium Union Density Industries
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Features of Low Union Density Industries Features of Low Union Density Industries
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Conclusion Conclusion
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Chapter
4 Union Density in the Dis-Regulated Period (1980–2015)
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Pages
155–209
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Published:June 2023
Cite
Stepan-Norris, Judith, 'Union Density in the Dis-Regulated Period (1980–2015)', Union Booms and Busts: The Ongoing Fight Over the U.S. Labor Movement (New York , 2023; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 June 2023), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197539859.003.0004, accessed 8 May 2025.
Abstract
This chapter analyzes union dynamics during the dis-regulated period, 1980–2015. The chapter begins with an overview of the broader political, legal, and economic context of the period, including changes to how work was organized. This period was marked by a decline in union density for many (but not all) industries. Strike and union election activity also dropped precipitously during this period. A host of new union and employer strategies emerged or intensified during the period. The chapter analyzes how the broader contexts and strategies actors used contributed to different levels of union density by industry within the dis-regulated period.
Keywords:
unions, union density, union decline, manufacturing, employer offensive, public sector unions, AFL-CIO, Change to Win, labor laws, strikes
Subject
Political Sociology
Collection:
Oxford Scholarship Online
Union Booms and Busts. Judith Stepan-Norris and Jasmine Kerrissey, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2023. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197539859.003.0004
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