Path Dependency versus Social Unionism in Healthcare: Bringing Employers Back in

A central problem in contemporary employment relations is the fragmentation of work. This process is occurring in health systems as they decentralize services from hospitals to outpatient centers. While some unions have maintained inclusive employment systems, others have not. What explains this var...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWork and occupations Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 406 - 436
Main Authors Batt, Rosemary, Kallas, John, Appelbaum, Eileen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.08.2020
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Decentralization
Dependency
Employment
Health care
Health care industry
Health problems
Health services
Hospitals
Labor relations
Labor unions
Power
Segmentation
Unionization
United States > US
Rochester New York
Buffalo New York
unions
regional variation
employer power
path dependence
labor
healthcare
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Summary:A central problem in contemporary employment relations is the fragmentation of work. This process is occurring in health systems as they decentralize services from hospitals to outpatient centers. While some unions have maintained inclusive employment systems, others have not. What explains this variation? The authors address this question through a matched case comparison of healthcare unions in Rochester and Buffalo, New York. The cities share many similarities, but in Buffalo unions have expanded their power, while in Rochester they have not. The authors show how path dependency from institutional legacies of employer power has shaped union capacity in the current period.
ISSN:0730-8884
1552-8464
DOI:10.1177/0730888420919465