Section Five
In spite of these findings, most employers probably do
not feel that their firms obtain greater productivity as a result
of unionism. Otherwise, they would encourage their workers to
form unions, and this is obviously not the case with most
employers. The effects of poor labor relations are more obvi-
ous. Strikes can provide an indication of the quality and impact
of labor relations practices. While at first appearance strikes
might not appear to be a human resource practice, they can
reflect to some degree the quality of the firm’s labor relations
effort or the overall management of the firm. Obviously,
unionization does not equate with strikes but it does bring their
potential. Furthermore, there is probably more than a grain of
truth to the old expression that firms that have unions usually
deserve them. Indeed, there are abundant examples of firms
that were unionized as a result of their poor treatment of
employees. Thus, there is a question of causality here in that
unionism and subsequent strikes or work stoppages are
sometimes reflective of poor management.
Nonetheless, there are many factors, aside from the
quality of a firm’s labor relations function, that predispose a
firm toward unionism.^44 For example, automobile
manufacturing, railroads, and airlines are overwhelmingly
unionized as are many public sector organizations such as fire
departments and police departments. Even the best-managed
firms or departments in such industries will most likely be