IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v155y2019i4d10.1007_s10551-017-3539-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Normative Argument for Independent Voice and Labor Unions

Author

Listed:
  • Cedric E. Dawkins

    (Dalhousie University)

Abstract

The paper argues that an ethical firm has cause to realize and to respect, in good faith, the decision of workers regarding labor unions, and proceeds along the following lines. First, the employer is due appropriate deference the bounds of which should be determined in conjunction with employees, as they are the most closely affected party. Second, employee preferences for defining the employment relation and appropriate deference are best reflected through autonomous voice. Third, autonomous voice is assured by the right to free association and generally achieved through labor unions. Fourth, because employment is so important to a dignified existence, an economically just system of employment requires respect for workers’ choice regarding labor unions. And fifth, there are concerns and contradictions that arise from labor union operations, but they do not justify impeding a morally valid prerogative.

Suggested Citation

  • Cedric E. Dawkins, 2019. "A Normative Argument for Independent Voice and Labor Unions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 1153-1165, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:155:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-017-3539-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-017-3539-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-017-3539-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-017-3539-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Schmitt & Ben Zipperer, 2007. "Dropping the Ax: Illegal Firings During Union Election Campaigns," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2007-01, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
    2. David Marsden, 2006. "Individual Employee Voice: Renegotiation and Performance Management in Public Services," CEP Discussion Papers dp0752, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Dawkins, Cedric E., 2012. "Labored Relations: Corporate Citizenship, Labor Unions, and Freedom of Association," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(3), pages 473-500, July.
    4. Paul Fenn & Simon Ashby, 2004. "Workplace Risk, Establishment Size and Union Density," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(3), pages 461-480, September.
    5. Michelle Greenwood, 2007. "Stakeholder Engagement: Beyond the Myth of Corporate Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 315-327, September.
    6. John Godard & John T. Delaney, 2000. "Reflections on the “High Performance†Paradigm's Implications for Industrial Relations as a Field," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(3), pages 482-502, April.
    7. Oh, Seung-Yun & Park, Yongjin & Bowles, Samuel, 2012. "Veblen effects, political representation, and the reduction in working time over the 20th century," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 218-242.
    8. Brenkert, George G., 1995. "“The Environment, The Moralist, The Corporation and its Culture”," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(4), pages 675-697, October.
    9. Felix FitzRoy & Kornelius Kraft, 2005. "Co‐determination, Efficiency and Productivity," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 233-247, June.
    10. Brenkert, George G., 1992. "Freedom, Participation and Corporations: The Issue of Corporate (Economic) Democracy," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 251-269, July.
    11. John Schmitt & Ben Zipperer, 2009. "Dropping the Ax: Illegal Firings During Union Election Campaigns, 1951-2007," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2009-12, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
    12. John T. Addison & Claus Schnabel (ed.), 2003. "International Handbook of Trade Unions," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2705.
    13. Daniel Nelson, 1989. "Managers and Nonunion Workers in the Rubber Industry: Union Avoidance Strategies in the 1930s," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 43(1), pages 41-52, October.
    14. Laroche, P., 2000. "What do Unions do to Productivity? A Meta-Analysis," Papers 2000-5, Groupe de recherche en économie financière et en gestion des entreprises, Universite Nancy 2.
    15. Andrew A. Luchak, 2003. "What Kind of Voice Do Loyal Employees Use?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(1), pages 115-134, March.
    16. Richard B. Freeman & Joni Hersch & Lawrence Mishel, 2004. "Emerging Labor Market Institutions for the Twenty-First Century," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free04-1, June.
    17. Alan Muller & Roman Kräussl, 2011. "The Value of Corporate Philanthropy During Times of Crisis: The Sensegiving Effect of Employee Involvement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(2), pages 203-220, October.
    18. Thomas C. Buchmueller & John DiNardo & Robert Valletta, 2004. "A Submerging Labor Market Institution?Unions and the Nonwage Aspects of Work," NBER Chapters, in: Emerging Labor Market Institutions for the Twenty-First Century, pages 231-263, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. John DiNardo & David S. Lee, 2004. "Economic Impacts of New Unionization on Private Sector Employers: 1984–2001," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(4), pages 1383-1441.
    20. Alex Bryson & Lorenzo Cappellari & Claudio Lucifora, 2004. "Does Union Membership Really Reduce Job Satisfaction?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(3), pages 439-459, September.
    21. David S. Lee & Alexandre Mas, 2012. "Long-Run Impacts of Unions on Firms: New Evidence from Financial Markets, 1961--1999," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(1), pages 333-378.
    22. Patrick Flavin & Alexander Pacek & Benjamin Radcliff, 2010. "Labor Unions and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from New Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 98(3), pages 435-449, September.
    23. Chris MacDonald & Melissa Whellams, 2007. "Corporate Decisions about Labelling Genetically Modified Foods," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(2), pages 181-189, October.
    24. Barry T. Hirsch, 2004. "What Do Unions Do for Economic Performance?," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 25(3), pages 415-456, July.
    25. Susan Schwochau, 1987. "Union Effects on Job Attitudes," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 40(2), pages 209-224, January.
    26. Jeffrey Moriarty, 2010. "Participation in the Workplace: Are Employees Special?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(3), pages 373-384, March.
    27. Zwolinski, Matt, 2007. "Sweatshops, Choice, and Exploitation," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(4), pages 689-727, October.
    28. Toke Aidt & Zafiris Tzannatos, 2002. "Unions and Collective Bargaining : Economic Effects in a Global Environment," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15241.
    29. Steven L. Blader, 2007. "What Leads Organizational Members to Collectivize? Injustice and Identification as Precursors of Union Certification," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 108-126, February.
    30. Tove Helland Hammer & Ariel Avgar, 2005. "The Impact of Unions on Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Turnover," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 26(2), pages 241-266, January.
    31. Joel Rogers & Wolfgang Streeck, 1995. "Works Councils: Consultation, Representation, and Cooperation in Industrial Relations," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number roge95-1, June.
    32. Lee Ohanian & David Lagakos & Simeon Alder, 2012. "The Decline of the U.S. Rust Belt: A Macroeconomic Analysis," 2012 Meeting Papers 793, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Juliane Reinecke & Jimmy Donaghey, 2021. "Political CSR at the Coalface – The Roles and Contradictions of Multinational Corporations in Developing Workplace Dialogue," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 457-486, March.
    2. Richard W. Carney & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Jane W. Lu & He Wang, 2022. "Political corporate social responsibility: The role of deliberative capacity," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(8), pages 1766-1784, October.
    3. Maryam Lotfi & Helen Walker & Juan Rendon-Sanchez, 2021. "Supply Chains’ Failure in Workers’ Rights with Regards to the SDG Compass: A Doughnut Theory Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Tricia D. Olsen & Harry J. Van Buren, 2024. "Agonistic Respect and the Ethics of Employment Relationships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(2), pages 271-284, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John T. Addison, 2016. "Collective bargaining systems and macroeconomic and microeconomic flexibility: the quest for appropriate institutional forms in advanced economies," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-53, December.
    2. Uwe Jirjahn & Jens Mohrenweiser & Uschi Backes‐Gellner, 2011. "Works Councils and Learning: On the Dynamic Dimension of Codetermination," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 427-447, August.
    3. John T. Addison, 2016. "Collective bargaining systems and macroeconomic and microeconomic flexibility: the quest for appropriate institutional forms in advanced economies," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-53, December.
    4. Barry T. Hirsch, 2008. "Sluggish Institutions in a Dynamic World: Can Unions and Industrial Competition Coexist?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 153-176, Winter.
    5. Fernando Rios-Avila, 2017. "Unions and Economic Performance in Developing Countries: Case Studies from Latin America," Revista Ecos de Economía, Universidad EAFIT, vol. 21(44), pages 4-36, June.
    6. Dinlersoz, Emin & Greenwood, Jeremy & Hyatt, Henry R., 2014. "Who Do Unions Target? Unionization over the Life-Cycle of U.S. Businesses," IZA Discussion Papers 8416, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Laroche, Patrice, 2020. "Unions, Collective Bargaining and Firm Performance," GLO Discussion Paper Series 728, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    8. Artz, Benjamin & Heywood, John S., 2020. "Unions, Worker Participation and Worker Well-Being," GLO Discussion Paper Series 705, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Burdin, Gabriel & Pérotin, Virginie, 2019. "Employee representation and flexible working time," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    10. Barry T. Hirsch, 2004. "What Do Unions Do for Economic Performance?," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 25(3), pages 415-456, July.
    11. Lu, Yi & Tao, Zhigang & Wang, Yijiang, 2010. "Union effects on performance and employment relations: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 202-210, March.
    12. Belloc, Filippo & Burdin, Gabriel & Landini, Fabio, 2020. "Corporate Hierarchies under Employee Representation," IZA Discussion Papers 13717, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Richard B. Freeman, 2005. "What Do Unions Do?-- The 2004 M-Brane Stringtwister Edition," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 26(4), pages 641-668, November.
    14. Cardullo, Gabriele & Conti, Maurizio & Sulis, Giovanni, 2015. "Sunk capital, unions and the hold-up problem: Theory and evidence from cross-country sectoral data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 253-274.
    15. repec:ilr:articl:v:65:y:2012:i:2:p:263-285 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Emin Dinlersoz & Jeremy Greenwood & Henry Hyatt, 2017. "What Businesses Attract Unions? Unionization over the Life Cycle of U.S. Establishments," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 70(3), pages 733-766, May.
    17. Simon Jäger & Benjamin Schoefer & Jörg Heining, 2021. "Labor in the Boardroom," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(2), pages 669-725.
    18. Pierre Brochu & Louis-Philippe Morin, 2011. "Union Membership and Perceived Job Insecurity: 30 Years of Evidence from the American General social Survey," Working Papers 1106E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
    19. Katrin Oesingmann, 2016. "Workplace Representation in Europe: Works Councils and Their Economic Effects on Firms," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 13(04), pages 59-64, February.
    20. John T. Addison & Claus Schnabel, 2011. "Worker Directors: A German Product that Did Not Export?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 354-374, April.
    21. Arindrajit Dube & Ethan Kaplan & Owen Thompson, 2016. "Nurse Unions and Patient Outcomes," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 69(4), pages 803-833, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:155:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-017-3539-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.