TY  - JOUR
AU  - Freeman,Richard B.
AU  - Kleiner,Morris M.
TI  - The Impact Of New Unionization On Wages And Working Conditions:  A Longitudinal Study Of Establishments Under NLRB Elections
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 2563
PY  - 1990
Y2  - May 1990
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w2563
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w2563.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Richard B. Freeman
NBER
1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA  02138
Tel: 617/868-3900
Fax: 617/868-2742
E-Mail: freeman@nber.org

Morris M. Kleiner
University of Minnesota
Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
260 Humphrey Center
301 19th Street South
Minneapolis, MN  55455
Tel: 612/625-2089
Fax: 612/625-6351
E-Mail: kleiner@umn.edu
AB  - This study investigates the impact of union organization on the wages and labor practices of establishments newly organized in the 1980s using a research design in which establishments are 'paired' with their closest nonunion competitor. There are two major findings. First. unionism had only a modest effect on wages in the newly organized plants, which contrasts sharply with the huge union wage impact found in cross-section comparisons of union and nonunion individuals on Current Population Survey and related data tapes. Second, in contrast co its modest impact on wages, new unionization substantially altered several personnel practices. creating grievance systems, greater seniority protection. and job bidding and posting. That newly organized establishments adopt union working conditions but grant only modest increases in wages suggests that 'collective voice' rather than monopoly wage gains is the key to understanding what unionism does in the economy.
ER  -