Unionization

Bureaucratization

Members are more likely to unionize when they collectively have problems with their workplace, however this leaves out workers who do not have much of a high standing in the environment.^[7]

Different workers may have different goals, which may include either promotions or a higher pay. Unions attracted disadvantaged workers to enable collective bargaining power between them with employers to negotiate better wages, benefits, and employment terms.^[8]

There have been some studies suggesting workers join unions due to social pressures, however there have also been studies that suggest the opposite. As such, the likelihood of social pressures effecting workers joining a union likely varies from environment to environment.^[9]

Craft unionism

In craft unionism, workers are organized by their job or profession. Unions that belong to this group tend to focus on improving the conditions of a particular industry,^[15] for example when the Writers Guild of America struck on behalf of its writers.

Industrial unionism

In industrial unionism, workers are organized together regardless of their job or profession, where a higher membership count gives a union more influence across many different industries.

Solidarity unionism

In solidarity unionism, workers who wish to directly attempt to take action without any form of mediation are organized together.

Servicing model

The service model is where union organizers use legal and other types of resources that are not affiliated with the employer or workforce.^[17]

Organizing model

The organizing model is a model developed in the United States that re thinks union organizers as being teachers and mentors that encourage and instruct union members in carrying out their own activism. This is in contrast to the Service Model of Organizing, where the union is charged with settling disputes and solving problems. The goal with the organizing model is to encourage union members to be more active and engaged in their union.^[17]

In relation to gender

According to a study conducted in 1992, conventional unionization organization strategies were most applicable towards men working in the manufacturing sector, forcing those who were not affiliated with such to initiate contact with a union. Women were more likely than men to desire a form of unionization, however they were recorded as less likely to join a union.^[18]

In relation to productivity

Early industrial relations researchers believed unionization might safeguard employment by fighting technological and mechanical advances. Recent researchers developed dynamic union-firm bargaining approaches. Monopoly unions can boost salaries and appropriate quasi-rents from employers' capital, but others predict that firms would decrease capital investment to prevent appropriation, lowering productivity.^[19]

Unionization has been demonstrated to be associated with greater employee retention, even when unionized employees experience greater amounts of dissatisfaction in the workplace.^[11] This is associated with the fact that employees experiencing dissatisfaction will be able to voice their concerns more effectively through the use of the union.

Canada

The rate of members represented by unions in Canada has fallen significantly in the past four decades, dropping from 37.6% in 1981 to slightly less than 29% by 2014.^[21] The union movement in Canada has become increasingly concentrated in the public sector. Most workers in Canada have the right to unionize their workplace, but certain categories of workers are ineligible to unionize, such as independent contractors.^[22]

India

The Indian National Trade Union Congress was formed in 1947 after Indian independence in the same year, and is the oldest trade union federation in India.^[23] Unions are known to have political connections, and are sometimes used to project political influence on both workers and political parties.^[24]

Russia and the Soviet Union

Soviet trade unions, administered by the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, date back to the Russian Revolution of 1905, fifteen years before the establishment of the Soviet Union. Their relationships with industrial management, the Communist Party, and the Soviet government were complex due to a requirement in labour.^[25]

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR) is Russia's largest post-Soviet national trade union center, with 28-31.5 million members and is widely recognized as the successor to the Soviet era system.^[26]

United States

The earliest recorded workers' strike through a newly-formed solidarity union was recorded in 1768 when New York journeymen tailors protested against a wage reduction. Local craft unions formed and demanded shorter workdays and job-conscious orientation. Trade unionism emerged in the 19th century, primarily involving skilled workers.^{[citation needed]}

Although the annual rate of unionization in the United States is increasing, it has one of the lowest unionization rates in the developed world. The effects of unionization are not heavily researched, drastically reducing the known effects of unionization and therefore reducing the number of workers who know about unionization.^[27]