Recent organizing victories at high-profile, private-sector employers such as Amazon, Starbucks and Trader Joe’s suggest that U.S. workers can form unions in industries previously considered unorganizable.

Despite the wins, unions often don’t reach legally binding collective bargaining agreements with employers that give workers more say about pay, benefits and protections.

In fact, new ILR research finds that the odds of winning a first contract within 18 months of employees voting to form a union decrease by about 71% when an employer impedes contract negotiations by committing unfair labor practices.

Published February 25 in the Industrial Relations Journal, “Breaking the deadlock: How union and employer tactics affect first contract achievement,” was co-authored by ILR Ph.D. students Johnnie Kallas and Dongwoo Park, and University of Windsor Assistant Professor Rachel Aleks.   

Read the full story on the ILR website.
Julie Greco is a Senior Communications Specialist in the ILR School.