Management Responses to Non-union Dispute Resolution Outcomes: A Political Analysis

Abstract

During the last two decades or so, considerable research has been conducted on non-union employment dispute resolution processes and outcomes. Earlier, the vast bulk of dispute resolution research focused on unionized settings and on the formal grievance procedures that were included in virtually all collective bargaining agreements. In that literature much attention was paid to grievance filing, processing, and settlement, with grievance arbitration singled out for particular attention. With the subsequent decline in unionism, the rapid rise of the non-union firm, and the adoption by such firms of one or another type of employment dispute resolution procedure, research attention became increasingly drawn to this non-union landscape. While much of this research has also singled out arbitration for particular attention, a substantial portion of this research has focused on post–dispute resolution outcomes. Such research essentially attempts to answer the question, “What happens to the disputing parties after their disputes are settled?”