Card Check Recognition: New House Rules for Union Organizing?

Abstract

A significant policy debate has been occurring regarding union organizing methods in the United States. This debate focuses on the appropriateness of granting union recognition based on majority support as demonstrated by union authorization card signatures, also known as card checking. Despite their importance, little has been written in the academic literature about the experiences of unions and employers with the use of the card check organizing process. This Article seeks to fill this gap. We collected data on every organizing event the AFL-CIO publicly reported between 1998 and 2005. The list of events includes government-conducted elections, card checks, and other events. While the data are not exhaustive of all union organizing events, the data provide a more comprehensive view of the recent experience with card checks than other currently available sources. The data also allow us to evaluate some of the justifications that have been advanced in support of the proposed changes to existing law, as well as to explore the possible consequences of those changes.

Keywords: Union, check card organizing, AFL-CIO

JEL Classification: J50, K31