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Thomas Kochan. Kimball, William(William T.) Sloan School of Management. Sloan School of Management 2021-01-06T17:39:05Z 2021-01-06T17:39:05Z 2020 2020 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129087 1227097164 Thesis: S.M in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, September, 2020 Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 57-64). Union density declined as the U.S. economy shifted away from production and membership rates stagnated or declined in the growing service or knowledge sector occupations. Recent collective actions among these occupations including union organizing, protests, and petitions suggest a potential infection point for unions and the labor movement. Yet, there are reasons to doubt whether existing labor forms and labor law can accommodate the interests of workers in these occupations with little experience in unions and collective bargaining. I use data from two nationally representative surveys to explore how preferences about voice and labor representation vary between occupation groups. I supplement this with a survey of professional and technical employees to gauge general and specific attitudes towards unions. My results show that some features of the U.S. labor union are widely desired, like collective bargaining, but alternative forms of labor organization that expand selective benefits, (cooperative) input to management, and make membership more flexible can substantially increase interest among the growing occupations in different ways. I discuss the implications for labor law reform and labor organizations' strategies. by William Kimball. S.M. in Management Research S.MinManagementResearch Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management 68 pages eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 Sloan School of Management. Taking an occupational lens to worker voice and preference for labor representation Thesis application/pdf 2021-01-06T17:39:04Z Publication unknown unknown <Publication xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/1.1/" id="664b6bef-5e81-4b6d-8ee9-7086d02a47f2"> <Type xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/vocab/COAR_Publication_Types">http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843</Type> <Language>eng</Language> <Title>Taking an occupational lens to worker voice and preference for labor representation</Title> <PublishedIn> <Publication> </Publication> </PublishedIn> <PublicationDate>2020</PublicationDate> <Authors> <Author> <DisplayName>Kimball, William(William T.)</DisplayName> <Affiliation> <OrgUnit> </OrgUnit> </Affiliation> </Author> </Authors> <Editors> </Editors> <Publishers> <Publisher> <DisplayName>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</DisplayName> <OrgUnit /> </Publisher> </Publishers> <License>http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582</License> <Keyword>Sloan School of Management.</Keyword> <Abstract>Union density declined as the U.S. economy shifted away from production and membership rates stagnated or declined in the growing service or knowledge sector occupations. Recent collective actions among these occupations including union organizing, protests, and petitions suggest a potential infection point for unions and the labor movement. Yet, there are reasons to doubt whether existing labor forms and labor law can accommodate the interests of workers in these occupations with little experience in unions and collective bargaining. I use data from two nationally representative surveys to explore how preferences about voice and labor representation vary between occupation groups. I supplement this with a survey of professional and technical employees to gauge general and specific attitudes towards unions. My results show that some features of the U.S. labor union are widely desired, like collective bargaining, but alternative forms of labor organization that expand selective benefits, (cooperative) input to management, and make membership more flexible can substantially increase interest among the growing occupations in different ways. I discuss the implications for labor law reform and labor organizations&apos; strategies.</Abstract> <Access xmlns="http://purl.org/coar/access_right" > </Access> </Publication>