What Businesses Attract Unions? Unionization over the Life Cycle of U.S. Establishments

What types of businesses attract unions? The study develops a theory of union learning and organizing to provide an answer to this question. A union monitors the productivity of establishments in an industry and uses this information to decide which ones to organize. An establishment becomes unionized if the union wins a certification election, the outcome of which can be influenced by costly actions taken by the two parties. The model offers predictions on the nature of union selection, which are examined empirically. Data on union certification elections, matched with data on establishment characteristics, are used to explore where union activity is concentrated.

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The Role of Union Strategies in NLRB Certification Elections

ILR Review ◽

10.1177/001979399705000201 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 195-212 ◽

Cited By ~ 70

Author(s):

Kate Bronfenbrenner

Keyword(s):

Bargaining Unit ◽

Election Campaigns ◽

Union Democracy ◽

Certification Election ◽

Certification Elections

Analyzing 1986–87 data from 261 NLRB certification election campaigns, the author finds that union tactic variables explain more of the variance in election outcomes than any other group of variables, including employer tactics, bargaining unit demographics, organizer background, election background, employer characteristics, and election environment. The results suggest that unions can significantly improve the probability of winning an election by using a rank-and-file intensive organizing strategy. This strategy includes a reliance on person-to-person contact; an emphasis on union democracy and representative participation; the building of support for the first contract during the organizing drive; the use of escalating pressure tactics; and an emphasis on dignity, justice, and fairness rather than on bread-and-butter issues.

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The Effect of Union Characteristics on the Outcome of NLRB Certification Elections

ILR Review ◽

10.1177/001979398704000205 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 225-240 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Cheryl L. Maranto ◽

Jack Fiorito

Keyword(s):

Labor Relations ◽

White Collar ◽

Blue Collar ◽

National Union ◽

Strike Activity ◽

National Labor Relations Board ◽

White Collar Workers ◽

Certification Election ◽

Certification Elections

This paper examines the determinants of National Labor Relations Board certification election outcomes in individual election units between 1972 and 1980. Particular emphasis is given to the role of national union characteristics in determining union success or failure. The authors find that union success in organizing both blue- and white-collar workers is influenced positively by union size and internal democracy and negatively by strike activity and the centralization of its decision making. Benefits provided directly to members by unions significantly increase, and higher dues significantly reduce, white-collar organizing success, whereas the same factors have no significant effect on blue-collar organizing.

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Ultrastructural analysis of “Sensory” surface nerve endings and “putative” neurotransmitter sites in Schistosoma mansoni Miracidia

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100156791 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. 962-963

Author(s):

Betty Ruth Jones ◽

Steve Chi-Tang Pan

Keyword(s):

Nervous System ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Schistosoma Mansoni ◽

Snail Host ◽

Complex Life Cycle ◽

Rational Approach ◽

Effective Control ◽

The Social ◽

Social And Economic Development ◽

Basic Biology

INTRODUCTION: Schistosomiasis has been described as “one of the most devastating diseases of mankind, second only to malaria in its deleterious effects on the social and economic development of populations in many warm areas of the world.” The disease is worldwide and is probably spreading faster and becoming more intense than the overall research efforts designed to provide the basis for countering it. Moreover, there are indications that the development of water resources and the demands for increasing cultivation and food in developing countries may prevent adequate control of the disease and thus the number of infections are increasing.Our knowledge of the basic biology of the parasites causing the disease is far from adequate. Such knowledge is essential if we are to develop a rational approach to the effective control of human schistosomiasis. The miracidium is the first infective stage in the complex life cycle of schistosomes. The future of the entire life cycle depends on the capacity and ability of this organism to locate and enter a suitable snail host for further development, Little is known about the nervous system of the miracidium of Schistosoma mansoni and of other trematodes. Studies indicate that miracidia contain a well developed and complex nervous system that may aid the larvae in locating and entering a susceptible snail host (Wilson, 1970; Brooker, 1972; Chernin, 1974; Pan, 1980; Mehlhorn, 1988; and Jones, 1987-1988).

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A freeze-fracture-etched study of the physarum polycephalum plasma membrane during early formation of the macroplasmodial stage

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100147570 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 346-347

Author(s):

Randolph W. Taylor ◽

Henrie Treadwell

Keyword(s):

Plasma Membrane ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Growth Phase ◽

Filter Paper ◽

Physarum Polycephalum ◽

Freeze Fracture ◽

Petri Dish ◽

Wire Screen ◽

Wide Mouth ◽

Sterile Filter

The plasma membrane of the Slime Mold, Physarum polycephalum, process unique morphological distinctions at different stages of the life cycle. Investigations of the plasma membrane of P. polycephalum, particularly, the arrangements of the intramembranous particles has provided useful information concerning possible changes occurring in higher organisms. In this report Freeze-fracture-etched techniques were used to investigate 3 hours post-fusion of the macroplasmodia stage of the P. polycephalum plasma membrane.Microplasmodia of Physarum polycephalum (M3C), axenically maintained, were collected in mid-expotential growth phase by centrifugation. Aliquots of microplasmodia were spread in 3 cm circles with a wide mouth pipette onto sterile filter paper which was supported on a wire screen contained in a petri dish. The cells were starved for 2 hrs at 24°C. After starvation, the cells were feed semidefined medium supplemented with hemin and incubated at 24°C. Three hours after incubation, samples were collected randomly from the petri plates, placed in plancettes and frozen with a propane-nitrogen jet freezer.

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