Unionization, Compensation, and Voice Effects on Quits and Retention.

The article explores the relationships among unionization, compensation practices, and employee attachment among trucking companies in the United States. There is strong evidence that turnover is lower in heavily unionized industries and among unionized workers than in nonunionized settings. Many researchers argue that this is largely due to union monopoly bargaining power that increases wages. Turnover is an expensive organizational outcome, and companies expend considerable time and resources in attempts to reduce turnover, particularly dysfunctional turnover. Ostensibly, one benefit of unionization is a reduction in the quit rate. The union monopoly bargaining power, in the form of increased wages, does not account exclusively for lower quit rates among unionized firms and that voice mechanisms are also critical in this context. It includes measures of both wages and benefits, as well as voice mechanisms. It examines the impact of wages, benefits, and voice on both aspects of employee attachment like quit rates and tenure.