Labor - Management Relations 363
1969; Sherer, 1994; Tambor, 1973, 1988a, 1988b). For human service
professionals, unionization has been viewed as a vehicle for defending profes-
sional autonomy and improving working conditions. Unions have sought
to expand the scope of bargaining to include such issues as agency - level
policymaking, agency missions, standards of service, concerns about job
satisfaction, as well as malpractice and professional liability insurance, legal
representation of workers, sabbatical leaves, minimum required training,
workload issues, advanced training sessions, in - service training, confer-
ences, degree programs, licensing examination assistance, and remunera-
tion for enhanced education (Tambor, 1988b).
Human service workers are not the only employees of the nonprofi t
sector who have joined unions. The International Brotherhood of the
Teamsters represents nonprofi t bargaining units that include hospitals,
nursing homes, and health care facilities, as well as Masonic homes,
retirement communities, Goodwill Industries, and the Association for
Advancement of the Blind and Retarded. Bargaining unit employees run
the gamut: social workers, teachers, secretaries, housekeepers, nurses, dieti-
tians, cooking staff, dishwashers, groundskeepers, maintenance activity aids,
stock clerks, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, X - ray techni-
cians, accountants, receptionists, cashiers, mechanics, painters, electricians,
youth care workers, vehicle drivers, and dispatchers. The Communications
Workers of America also represents a large number of workers employed
by such nonprofi t agencies as museums, housing authorities, social service and
health care agencies, libraries, and foundation organizations. AFSCME
represents employees who work in the areas of health, social welfare,
child care, home care, mental health, and community and educational
services, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) represents
thousands of employees working in health care, long - term care, and public
services.
Nonprofi t Agency Employees (American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees [AFSCME], 1988), a publication that promotes
unionization, addresses the similarities between public and private nonprofi t
employees: both look for recognition, dignity and respect, and decent
wages and improved benefi ts. Private nonprofi t employees work in highly
stressful occupations for salaries that may not be commensurate with the
responsibilities and complexities of their jobs. Employees of nonprofi ts
share many of the same desires as their public sector counterparts: bet-
ter pay and benefi ts, contract language protection, career mobility, and
safer work environments. Yet the vast majority of these workers have
no union representation. AFSCME has taken the position that to win