ABSTRACT
I. Introduction This chapter explores the organizational landscape of public employee unions, including the factors that are correlated with unionization. The key term is diversity. For virtually every generalization about public employee unions there are noteworthy exceptions. Public sector unions vary along many dimensions and across levels of government and the nonprofit sector. They are different in terms of affiliation. Some are federated with national organizations such as the AFL-CIO. Others are local independent organizations with no national affiliation. Some unions representing government workers also organize and bargain for workers in the private and nonprofit sectors (e.g., Service Employees International Union [SEIU]). Others (e.g., the Fraternal Order of Police) essentially restrict their boundaries to public employees. There are unions with membership rolls numbering more than one million, and there are unions whose ranks are counted in double digits. The occupations of union members are also highly diverse. Clerical personnel, firefighters, nurses, social workers, welders, physicians, architects, and university professors all work under union banners. Wherever workers experience high levels of job dissatisfaction, unionization is a possibility.
