The Economic Impact of Right-to-Work Legislation on Construction Unions

Author

Stephen E. McEwan, Fontbonne College

Year of Award

1991

Degree

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

College

College of Business & Professional Studies

Degree Program

Business

Department

Business Administration

Keywords

contractors, wage, organized labor

Abstract

This paper studies the economic impact of rightto- work legislation on construction unions. Right-towork legislation was initially proposed in the 1940's and has been the focus of numerous debates in the construction labor relations field. Although this issue has been inactive for several years, the impact of the previous successful campaigns is still calculated and debated.

I would like to propose by my thesis that the right-to-work legislation in itself had no measurable economic impact on the construction unions. The loss in market share of union contractors can be attributed to a combination of the legislation, the regional preferences for or against organized labor, the oversupply of union labor and the loss of the productivity advantage once enjoyed by union labor. These conditions caused the unionized labor movement in the construction sector to lose economic power and membership. Today only 20% of the construction workers are receiving the union wage scale.

Comments

This thesis was selected for its superior quality, and was suggested as a good example for MBA students to follow.

Document Type

Restricted Thesis

Recommended Citation

McEwan, Stephen E., "The Economic Impact of Right-to-Work Legislation on Construction Unions" (1991). All Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects. 420.
https://griffinshare.fontbonne.edu/all-etds/420