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- Title
A Note on the Limitations of Union Membership Data.
- Authors
Chaison, Gary N.
- Abstract
DATA ON UNION MEMBERSHIP in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Western Europe are usually supplied directly by unions to government agencies, either in voluntary response to questionnaires or in compliance with laws (Bain and Price, 1980; Dunlop and Galenson, 1978). In the U.S., shortcomings in the accuracy, comparability, and historical continuity of membership data have long been noted. Wolman (1924, 1936) outlined discrepancies in the definitions of "dues paying members," the standard measure of membership, and more recently Troy (1965) and Bain and Price (1980) have elaborated upon Wolman's observations. Warnings about the imprecise nature of membership data exist in studies of union growth (e.g., Chaison, 1981; Fiorito and Greer, 1982) and in the development of alternative measures of unionism (Freeman and Medoff, 1979). Some scholars claim that, despite inherent limitations, membership estimates derived from union financial records are more accurate than union self-reports on size (Ferguson and Stober, 1966; Cullison, 1968; Stober and Ferguson, 1968). This has led to a continuing debate over the relative values of the membership series compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (from a questionnaire sent to unions asking for average annual dues-paying membership) and the National Bureau of Economic Research's series (derived primarily from union financial records) (Bain and Price, 1980). In this note, we use the results of a survey on membership data sent to national and international unions and employee associations to assess the present difficulties in the definition of "dues-paying members." We also explore limitations suggested but not measured in earlier works, such as the extent of overlapping union membership and the annual variation in membership. The results confirm the need for continued caution in the use of union membership data, whether derived from self-reports or from financial records.
- Subjects
LABOR union members; UNION dues; LABOR unions; STATISTICS on the working class; FINANCING of labor unions; LABOR movement
- Publication
Industrial Relations, 1984, Vol 23, Issue 1
- ISSN
0019-8676
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1468-232X.1984.tb00880.x