Raid Elections: Another Problems for Unions?

• Author: Edwin Arnold,Clyde Scott,Charles Odewahn
• DOI: 10.1177/009102609202100410
• Date: 01 December 1992
• Published date: 01 December 1992
• Subject Matter: Article

Raid Elections:

Another

Problems

for

Unions?

One of the problems confronting the American labor movement is the

raid

election. In a

raid

election an outside, or challenger, union attempts to increase its membership at the expense

of

an incumbent union. This

article

examines the extent and outcomes of

raid

elections as

well

as

the legal environment of such elections. In addition, the results of a survey of employers

involved in

raid

elections are presented.

The

problems confronting the American labor movement have been

widely

discussed and the subject of much research in recent years. These

problems include the increasing number of decertification elections, the

decreasing percentage of the labor force represented by unions, and the

growing number of

contracts

rejected by the members. These, and others,

have been

viewed

as either problems or symptoms of problems facing the

labor

movement and as possible threats to the institution of collective

bargaining.

One potential problem that has not been the subject

of

much

research

is the raid election (a multi-union election

involving

an incumbent). Raid

elections pose two problems from the union perspective.

First,

by defini-

tion a raid election

involves

inter-union rivalry in which an outside or

challenger union is attempting to increase its membership at the expense

of

an incumbent union. No new union members are added to the rolls as

a

result of the election.

Of

course,

if

the challenger

wins

the election, it gains

new members. At the same time, however, the incumbent has lost an equal

number

of members. If the incumbent

wins

the election, the challenger

gains no new members. Thus, the net effect of a raid election won by either

the incumbent or the challenger is a zero membership gain for the union

movement. Additionally, the unions involved have expended funds and

effort fighting each other that might have been used organizing the unor-

ganized.

The

second problem with raid elections from the union perspective

is that neither the incumbent nor the challenger is assured of

winning

the

election. The election could result in the incumbent

being

decertified and

no new bargaining agent

being

certified. Thus, the raid election can have

the same outcome as a decertification election and could result in a net

decrease

in the overall number of union members.

From

the perspective of bargaining unit members, however, raid

elections serve a useful purpose. They allow members who may be dissat-

isfied

with their union the opportunity to discontinue their relationship

with that union

while

continuing to enjoy the benefits of union

repre-

By

Clyde Scott

Edwin Arnold

Charles

Odewahn

Clyde Scott is an Associate

Pro-

fessor of Management in the

Manderson

Graduate School of

Business and Director of the

Masters

in Human Resources

Management

program

at the

University of Alabama. He re-

ceived his Ph.D. in Industrial Re-

lations from the University of

Minnesota.

Public

Personnel

Management

Vol.

21 No. 4 (Winter 1992)

555