Unions and Framing Effects

Unionized workers engage for protests and work stoppages, while their grievances vary across cases. We explore whether the character of labor grievances matter. We argue that framing of grievances in relation to dangerous working conditions, abuses in the workplace, or accusations of management being in violation of labor contracts or union autonomy engenders considerable sympathy. By contrast, grievances related to low pay may produce more resentment because of perceptions of inequality and unfairness in pressing for higher pay through a union. We use vignette experiment to study the effects of different framings on support for striking workers, and unions in general.