Three Essays on Labor Policy

Abstract

Union Certification Success under Voting versus Card-Check Procedures: Evidence from British Columbia, 1978–1998The first chapter of the dissertation examines the impact of mandatory election laws on certification success using data on private sector certification attempts from British Columbia over the 1978 to 1998 period. The paper exploits a unique natural experiment. Prior to 1984, British Columbia had the traditional Canadian card-check system, in which the union can be certified without an election if it signs up a sufficient proportion of the proposed bargaining unit.1 In 1984, a mandatory election system was introduced in which a secret-ballot vote was required if the minimum threshold was signed up. The election system was repealed in 1993 and replaced with the original card-check procedure. Moreover, by exploiting the timing of various legislative changes that occurred over the sample period, the effect of mandatory voting can be isolated from other legislative changes.2 The paper then examines the role of management opposition across the two different union recognition procedures.3