Wage Rule Formation in the Aerospace Industry

Abstract

This study of wage bargaining in the aerospace industry focuses particularly on lump sum bonuses, one-time cash disbursements that generally accompany lower increases in the base wage than were formerly standard. Although such bonuses, which appeared in aerospace companies before they appeared in other large manufacturing industries, were viewed as a union concession, they persisted into the 1989 bargaining round despite a sharp upturn in the fortunes of the most prominent aerospace company. The author regards that fact, as well as the weakening of both inter- and intra-industry pattern bargaining, as support for the view that a significant shift in union wage determination occurred in the 1980s. He argues, however, based on interviews with managers, union officials, and workers, that consensus has not yet been achieved on the meaning of this shift.

Models of Union Wage Determination: What Have We Learned Since Dunlop and Ross?

“…Empirical research on wage interdependence has sought to find a linkage between the union-negotiated wage in one situation and the wage negotiated in another. An exemplar of such interdependence is the American automobile industry, where research finds a strong link (except in the 1980s during "crisis" bargaining) in both negotiated outcomes and contract language among different firms in the industry, across different contract settlements over time in the industry, and among firms represented by the union in allied industries (Erickson 1992(Erickson , 1996(Erickson , 2001Budd 1997).…”

Labour costs in the aerospace industry: LMDI decomposition of aerospace manufacturing payrolls

“…Unsurprisingly, there has been a longer and deeper research interest in labour (rather than in the capital aspect) of the aerospace and/or airline industry (cf. Peoples, 1990;Erickson, 1992;Alamdari and Morrell, 1997;Hirsch andMacpherson, 2000 andMelo Filho, Salgado, andSato, 2014). Nevertheless, the payrolls (as an aggregate variable) hardly draw similar attention as wages and productivity do -even though they can provide a deeper insight into the structural changes in the industry.…”

Recent developments in U.S. collective bargaining and employment practices

“…This diversity has replaced the strong pattern bargaining that informally had served to centralize bargaining structures to the multiemployer level 4 . In the aerospace and agricultural implements industries, for example, pattern bargaining weakened and significant inter-company variation in contractual terms emerged in the 1980s and 1990s (Erickson (1992 and1996).…”