ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses US union organizing.1 After describing the legal and institutional environment, a conceptual model for individual unionization decisions is presented. Next, the organizing process is summarized. Following this, various data are examined, with particular emphasis on organizing since the 1980s. This period encompasses important developments in the US labor movement, including a change in top AFL-CIO leadership with the new Sweeney administration campaigning for greater organizing effort. Data for US national unions indicate a diversity of effort and results. Recent change toward a commitment to organizing is as yet more in words than deeds, although the direction of change is consistent with rhetoric. Reasons for the slow pace of change are considered, and prospects for future change and learning about union organizing are reviewed.
