Whether they're organizing events, buttonholing legislators, or simply trading ideas and information, a growing number of "parent unions" are attempting to stake out a place in policy debates over education in states and districts, amid a crowded field of actors and advocates. As the term implies, some of these organizations see…

Like thousands of other people from around the country and around the world, this author was heartened and inspired by the tenacity, immediacy, and creativity of the pushback by Wisconsin's public-sector unions against Governor Scott Walker's efforts to limit their collective bargaining rights. And like many others who made the trek to Madison to…

Although union membership has been declining overall, the number of women union members continues to increase. Currently, 37 percent of union membership are women. The proportion of women workers who are union members increased from 16.3 percent in 1965 to 19.3 percent in 1975 and fell to 14 percent in 1990; 7.4 million women were represented by…

Five hundred California librarians were surveyed regarding their membership in labor unions and professional associations. Respondents were asked to give their reasons for joining (or not) and the perceived benefits of membership. In general, the librarians were more loyal to their union than to their professional associations and were motivated…

A study used data for the 1987 calendar year from the 1986 and 1987 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to examine the impact of union membership on women's wages and job tenure. The data set included 17,200 sample members, representing about 79 million workers, aged 16-64. The study mapped the distribution of union…

In January 1982, the University of Massachusetts faculty union demanded the termination of nondues-paying faculty members. Dissenters argue that dues (for equivalent sum) conflicts with tenure rights/academic freedom; union leaders see it as a threat to union security. Issues and tensions related to bargaining at the university are discussed. (JN)

The impact of the unionization of college and university faculty is examined, based on a 1979 survey of 240 nonunionized colleges and all other unionized institutions, and on a review of recent literature on collective bargaining. The survey is a followup of a 1974 survey pertaining to collective bargaining and a 1971 survey concerned with general…