Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1960, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Political Science

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1946, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Sociology

This dissertation consists of three studies of worker power and economic inequality. The studies extend inequality research by assessing the impacts of worker bargaining power on two less commonly examined outcomes: household wealth and employer-provided fringe benefits. I conceptualize and measure several types of worker power, spanning marketplace and associational forms, measured at the individual, local-regional, and institutional scales. The studies broaden theories of how worker bargaining power influences the wage and income distributions to the case of wealth and fringe benefits. In the first chapter, I examine the relationship between labor union coverage and household wealth accumulation and inequality. Informed by life course theories of cumulative advantage, I develop novel measures of cumulative exposure to unionization across the career. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 Cohort (NLSY-79) and fixed-effects regression, I find that cumulative career union coverage supports wealth accumulation. This positive association is driven by the influence of union coverage on the accumulation of savings and durable assets. Unconditional quantile regression models reveal that career union coverage is more strongly associated with increases in wealth for low- and middle- than high-wealth individuals. Results suggest worker power is associated with a more equal distribution of wealth and that deunionization contributed to rising wealth inequality among this cohort. The second chapter advances research on the determinants of job quality by considering the effects of worker power on fringe benefit offers. Using uniquely comprehensive data on benefits in the NLSY-79, I leverage changes in union coverage status due to involuntary job displacements (layoffs and business closures) to estimate the effects of unionization on the number of fringe benefits made available to workers by their employers. I find that transitioning to a union job i (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Rachel E. Dwyer (Advisor); Stephanie Moulton (Committee Member); Vincent J. Roscigno (Committee Member); Michael Vuolo (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

This thesis examines migrant workers' perceptions of their workplace, labor, and labor organizing/organizations. Ample literature details the discrimination and oppression migrant workers face in the workplace, provides overview of various forms of labor organizing, including labor unions and community-unionism, and explains the effects they have on worker wellbeing. This research sought to fill the large gap in the literature considering migrant workers' own perceptions on these topics, as well as avenues of possible action to address migrant worker discrimination. Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with migrant workers over video calls, and interviews were analyzed utilizing Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings indicated that migrant workers reported some form of exploitation at their workplace, though specific manifestations vary across participants. Participants also had widely varying perceptions of labor unions, and were generally unfamiliar with worker centers and community unionism. Ways forward indicated by the participants indicate working on policy to address discrimination as well as having more information available to migrant workers in regards to labor organizing/organizations and their labor rights.

Committee: Anjali Dutt Ph.D. (Committee Member); Carlie Trott Ph.D. (Committee Member); Stacie Furst-Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1960, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Economics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Sociology

This dissertation examines relationships between politics and labor unions. Unions are important because they can reduce income inequality and are the primary advocates for policies that benefit workers and the poor. But union membership has experienced a severe decline. The substantial literature on union decline has primarily focused on how broad economic shifts, increased employer resistance, and shortcomings in union organizing strategies weaken organized labor. But the state controls union organizing. Surprisingly few scholars examine the politics of labor's decline. I extend the union decline literature by emphasizing how political arrangements matter for labor outcomes in three separate but related analyses. The first study focuses on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This federal agency is the primary overseer of labor disputes in the United States. The NLRB is managed by presidential appointees that have vast discretion to interpret labor law. I content code the Board's annual list of most significant ULP cases between 1970 and 2002. I use clustered logistic regression to examine whether political partisanship influences NLRB decisions. The findings support political partisanship theory. The second study analyzes labor unions' ability to build membership with workplace recognition elections. Workplaces are organized through recognition elections. But unions cannot grow if such elections are rare. Halting elections before they occur is thus a key strategy for union avoidance. I use a macro time series analysis that spans 1962 to 2002. My key findings show that when Republican presidents are in office unions are significantly less able to hold recognition elections. But the most interesting finding suggests that political factors matter most during the Republican administrations of Ronald Regan and subsequent Republican presidents. The final study draws upon theories of political partisanship and racial threat to analyze the frequency of union repres (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David Jacobs (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1946, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1969, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1968, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1968, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Business Administration, The Ohio State University, 1970, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1964, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

PHD, Kent State University, 2024, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Political Science

When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 there was a lot of speculation about how that happened. One of the story lines that became prominent was one that described “rural resentment” that had been building over recent decades. The problem with that narrative was that all rural areas were collapsed as if they were uniformly moving strongly in a Republican direction. Acharya, Blackwell, and Sen (2023), on the other hand, have argued in their discussion of “historical persistence” that areas are more likely to remain the same, and that change is less likely to occur. Nevertheless, they suggest that areas that change and areas that stay the same both need to be studied in order to better understand what causes persistence as opposed to change. With that in mind, this case study focuses on four rural Ohio counties that changed from Democrat to Republican and four rural Wisconsin counties that have remained more consistently Democrat. Local public officials and community leaders were interviewed to discern the reasons as to why each type of county remained Democrat or moved into the Republican column. The four rural Wisconsin counties included two farming counties and two industrial counties. The same was true for the four rural Ohio counties. Institutions have played a large role in these eight counties in explaining whether a county stayed Democrat or moved into the Republican column. The Democratic counties in Wisconsin each have had vibrant cooperatives. Moreover, in the Wisconsin counties, unlike in the two heavily Catholic Ohio farming counties (where the abortion issue became paramount by the 1980s), the Lutheran church was more dominant, and abortion was less of an issue. The two industrial counties in Ohio remained Democrat as long as the unions were a major force; once the factories and mines closed, however, by the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Democratic vote began to dissipate. Not only that, but the emergence of fracking by 2014 in the two Ohio ind (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Michael Ensley (Committee Chair); Robert Speel (Committee Member); Anthony Molina (Committee Member); Daniel Hawes (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2024, Business Administration

This qualitative study provides a comprehensive exploration of the far-reaching implications of the Supreme Court's Janus v. AFSCME decision on both unionized public sector employees in leadership positions and labor relations managers. The Janus decision, which prohibited public sector unions from collecting mandatory fees from non-consenting employees, has altered the landscape of labor relations. The research investigates the experiences of unionized public sector employees in leadership roles and labor relations managers before and after the Janus decision. Moyang (2023) authored that Self Determination Theory (SDT) has three psychological needs. They are autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The study's incorporation of SDT adds a psychological element to the understanding of union involvement. Additionally, the study explores organizational relationships and the influence of interactions and networks on collaboration and support. Miller (2023) authored that qualitative research is utilized to identify patterns or themes within datasets utilizing thematic analysis. Thematic analysis was employed to identify key themes and patterns within the collected data, ensuring a nuanced understanding of the diverse viewpoints of union employees in leadership positions and labor relations managers. By incorporating the perspectives of both these groups, the research contributes valuable insights to the existing literature on the consequences of the Janus decision. This analysis provides an academic viewpoint on the connection between work relations and unions. By clearly defining the paths of labor relations managers and union leaders, the research establishes theoretical frameworks for navigating today's labor relations.

Committee: Crissie Jameson (Committee Chair); Jeffrey Ferezan (Committee Member); Niccole Hyatt (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Labor Relations; Management; Public Administration; Public Policy

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1948, Economics

Committee: Lloyd A. Helms (Advisor) Subjects: Economics; History; Sociology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1943, History

Committee: John Schwarz (Advisor) Subjects: History

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

Unions have existed in the United States since it was founded in 1776. Unions, often referred to as labor unions, have existed in a variety of ways and scales of membership. Despite, or perhaps because of, unions' well-documented capacity to improve the wages, benefits, and working conditions of their members, they have been consistently and systematically resisted by the holders of capital since the very beginning. Largely as a result of this ongoing conflict, unions in recent years in the United States have been marred by historically low union density and a declining unionization rate. Despite evidence that an increasing number of people would join a union if offered and an even larger number of Americans who generally support the labor movement, the situation has not improved overall. This paper provides further context for the decline in unionization, the issues surrounding them today, their benefits and shortcomings, as well as alternative forms of organizing being practiced to address the absence of unions. This context ultimately serves as the justification for my design, which is a digital platform that functions as a centralized hub for information on organized labor and as a platform to discuss organized labor. It would serve the purpose of addressing the lack of resources available to workers today and provide a space for people to engage in discussion on related topics. The first iteration of this is a website, but it would ultimately become part of a greater ecosystem of products, software, tools, and resources, as features are added on. The educational portion of the website would display information to learn about unions, alternative forms of organized labor and collective action, shortcomings of the modern unionization system, as well as a broad overview of the labor movement and its role in modern society. An online forum or discussion board would provide a centralized channel where people can go to discuss the information on the homepage o (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stirling Shelton M.F.A. (Committee Member); Craig Vogel M.I.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Design