The Growth and Decline of Unions in Canada and the United States:
A Stock-Flow AnalysisSusan Johnson (McMaster University, Wilfrid Laurier University)
July 27, 2000
The behaviour of union density in Canada and the US from 1950 to 1995 is described and the size of union density gap calculated. The components of union density growth: union membership; labour force; and employment in the two countries are compared from 1983 to 1995. A union membership stock-flow accounting identity is used to trace the sources of union membership growth to either 'recognition' or 'economic' factors in each country. The role of economic structural change is corroborated by evidence from shift-share analysis. Simulations are used to explore the impact of mandatory vote recognition prodcedures on the Canada-US union density gap and on Canadian union density from 1978 to 1995.
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