ABSTRACT
We posit that differences in statutory treatment of union security provisions in Canada and the U.S. may significantly contribute to the union density gap between the two countries. Union density in Canada and the U.S. now stands at 30 percent and 13 percent, respectively. In 1999 Canadian public sector density was almost 71 percent, while private sector density was just over 18 percent (Akyeampong, 1999). The comparable American breakdown is about 37 percent in the public sector and 9.5 percent in the private sector (Lipset and Katchanovski, 2001). In other words, the rate of unionism in Canada is approximately double the unionism rate in the U.S. in both the public and private sectors. It was not always so. For most of the 20th century, union growth patterns were remarkably similar, and by 1966 union density in both countries stood at 30 percent. From that point forward, however, unionization patterns diverged and a union density gap between the two countries developed and persisted.
