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While attracting a growing research attention, the wage determination process has largely been studied from an economic perspective. This study, in contrast, adopts a combined, economic and structural approach in an attempt to account for wage gains and concessions. This paper asks, which determinants, other than economic factors, may impact the outcomes of wage settlements? Given their economic and political environments, what are the choices available to parties pursuing the maximization of wage settlements? A logit analysis of 405 agreements filed with Alberta Labour, in 1987, shows that structural variables bear important impacts on the likelihood of wage negotiations to result in wage increases. This, in turn, carries important implications for union and management wage bargaining tactics which are also discussed.

In this study, a typology of shop steward modes of role behavior was developed and tested. Three ideal types of role behavior — passive, cooperative, and radical — were derived based on a theoretical framework consisting of Marxist, pluralist, and structural-functionalist approaches. Two behavioral modes were added to the theoretical typology to provide for the possibilities offailed and erratic stewardhip styles. The five role behaviors were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis resulting in a four-facet behavioral typology. The typology and its measuring tool can be used to generate and guide future research.

The article reviews the book, "Organized Labor At The Crossroads," by Wei-Chiao Huang.

Since the first oil shock of 1973, in the U.S., significant changes have shaken long-standing industrial relations patterns in the union manufacturing sector. This paper concentrates on the challenges posed to manufacturing unions by changing environments and management industrial relations practices.

Several environmental factors have been proposed to account for union decline in the US, some of which apply to Canada as well. An attempt is made to: 1. link a new union paradigm with a new union strategy by suggesting that unions should engage in strategic planning, 2. present union resources as important constructs in predicting a union's likelihood to engage in strategic planning, 3. propose relevant research hypotheses for analyzing the union resource-strategic planning relationship, and 4. ground the research hypotheses by offering an illustrative example focusing on the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Local 7800. Union leaders must begin to act as strategic planners outside the structure of corporate management if they are to move from a new paradigm to a new action orientation. As illustrated by the case of CWA Local 7800, the presence of certain elements seems necessary in order for strategic planning to occur.

The individual decision making of the Energy and Chemical Workers' Union rank and file members in their choice to support or oppose a 3-way merger with the Paperworkers' Union and the Communications and Electrical Workers' Union is examined. Two theories, one economic and one behavioral, are used to explain member voting preferences. Results demonstrate that both instrumental and image considerations need to be taken into account when predicting the outcome of a union merger vote.

Quality improvement (QI) and downsizing have been 2 popular initiatives to enhance firm competitiveness. When used together, the relationship between them is neither simple nor straightforward. Although there have been many separate studies of QI and downsizing, there is a paucity of empirical work on the relationship between them and their organizational implications. A study is presented that seeks to fill this lacuna by shedding light on: 1. how employees respond to these initiatives when combined, 2. their compatibility, and 3. ways to alleviate the negative effects of one initiative on the other.

The paper presents a study of strike activity in Israël through a sectoral approach.

Many industrial relations decisions are made on the basis of perceptions, including, in some cases, which shop steward to approach to handle a union member's grievance. An analysis of shop steward performance and role conflict suggests that steward effectiveness in relating to members and management can be fostered by providing more time for stewards to perform their duties as union representatives. While training can ease the adjustment to stewardship, its main impact on role performance may be greater information dissemination. Most important, greater conflict in the union-management relationship may lead to fewer resolutions at the first step, lower quality steward-management relations, and a lesser ability to disseminate information. Stewards generally reported that they adopted a rather pragmatic approach to resolving grievances with supervisors. Regression analysis suggests that women may adopt a less-aggressive, more problem-solving approach than men.

The content of union planning, as well as union leader perceptions of the effectiveness and extent of implementation of their plans are explored. Data were gathered from a survey of all national and international unions in North America. Results indicate that 24.4% of the respondent unions engage in long-range planning, with education, budgeting, and political action being the most frequently cited topics. In terms of actual implementation of plans, resources are critical, as are the support and involvement of the national union president. Unions who represent a higher percentage of part-time employees, and those in the manufacturing, service, and utilities industries are signficantly more likely to have implemented a higher proportion of their plans.

Alberta, Canada, has shown a decline in unionization levels over the past few years. Part of this decline can be attributed to environmental developments in the 1980s that combined to increase hostility to unions. Philosophically, unions accepted a limited role in Albertan society and tried to rely on collective bargaining to advance their members' interests. In practice, unions attempted to realize their philosophy by following an action orientation emphasizing immediate economic interest (real wage increases and job security) in collective negotiations. Union decline is the result of an inconsistency between unions' adversarial view and their inability to realize the economic objectives that this view promotes. An attempt is made to test whether an inconsistency exists between unions' view of industrial relations and their effectiveness in securing real wage gains.

Planning is fundamental to all organizations, including unions. A study presents a research framework and discusses future directions of academic research into union planning. The researchers' findings indicate that union planning is manifested in various forms. Further, the researchers propose that to capture that phenomenon adequately, researchers must approach it from a "union context," rather than building solely upon a management, economics or business policy framework.