Patterns of Union Decline and Growth: An Organizational Ecology Perspective

Drawing from the concepts and literature of organizational ecology and institutionalism, this article examines the major factors that appear to account for relative stability in public sector labor union membership, and attempts to divine union prospects in the first 2 decades of the 2000s. Although individual labor organizations are discussed, the primary unit of analysis is union density in the public sector. Following a brief explication of its relevant concepts and literature, organizational ecology is applied to labor unions' experience and prospects in the US, and institutional factors are incorporated. Organizational ecology provides an interesting and useful lens for interpreting the strength, viability, and future of labor unions in the public sector. The primary conclusion is that while dynamics of organizational selection exert substantial influences on the sustainability of labor organizations, unions' adaptations to changes in their organizational environment are possible and sometimes successful, depending on the institutional environment, the organization's political capital, and the strategic choices made.