Survey across five Southern states explores Black workers' union views

Black workers in the Southeast face numerous challenges, including little advance notice of their work schedules, concerns about workplace safety and racial discrimination, but they also believe unions could alleviate some of these issues, according to a working paper co-authored by Kate Bronfenbrenner, Ph.D. '93, director of Labor Education Research at the ILR School.

The exploratory research study, through which Bronfenbrenner and three other principal investigators facilitated a team of researchers, including scholars from five historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), conducted an in-depth study of organizing by Black workers across five sites in the South.

"The key findings are important because they reinforced what we expect," Bronfenbrenner said. "We expect working conditions to be worse in the south. But there's a myth that those workers are not interested in unionization, and what was found was that the level of interest in unionization, and the support for unionization, was extremely high."

The working paper, "Advancing Black Workers in the South: An HBCU Research Initiative," was co-authored by Algernon Austin of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) and Bronfenbrenner. Austin and Bronfenbrenner worked as co-principal investigators on the project along with Erin Johansson and Jason Tomlinson from the Jobs with Justice Education Fund. They analyzed survey data collected by Joseph Jones (Clark Atlanta University), Berneece S. Herbert and Talya D. Thomas (Jackson State University), Allison Tomlinson (University of North Texas, Dallas), Wakita Barksdale (Clinton College) and Lawren M. Long and Jacorius Liner (Tougaloo College).

The research team collected surveys from 131 workers and interviewed dozens of community members. The survey results revealed workplace struggles: More than half of workers (51%) receive little advance notice of their work schedules, about 25% expressed concerns about workplace safety and almost 20% said they experienced racial discrimination at their jobs. A substantial share (32%) of surveyed workers reported concerns about or difficulties paying rent or affording food.

Additionally, their views on unions were mostly positive. Roughly 75% saw unions as giving workers a voice at work, 67% believe unions help to reduce racial discrimination and 60% believed unions improve the economic conditions of low-paid workers.

Finally, nearly 75% of unorganized workers expect that their pay (77%) and job security (72%) would improve with unionization, 70% believe their benefits would increase, 67% think safety at work would improve and roughly the same share (65%) think they would have a greater voice in how things are done at work.

The paper recaps a research initiative that interviewed workers in five Southeastern states—Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina. According to the paper, these states are part of a region that is home to the Southern economic development model, which emphasizes corporate subsidies and tax breaks alongside weaker safety net programs and anti-worker policies. Further, Black workers are overrepresented in this region, so studies like this one are crucial to understanding the reality of Black workers.

The paper also shared insights from workers who had participated in organizing campaigns.

The researchers found that just one-third of employers remained neutral during organizing campaigns; the majority carried out one or more aggressive anti-union tactics, including mandatory "captive audience" meetings, surveillance, interrogation or discipline for union activity.

Nonetheless, half the workers said these tactics made them more likely to support the union campaign, while just 17% said it made them a lot less likely to support the union.

"Black workers in the South face challenges similar to those of other workers, but more severe because of the Southern economic development model and because of anti-Black racism," Austin said.

The paper includes policy recommendations from the HBCUs based on the research, including strengthening workers' organizing rights at all levels of government, passing fair scheduling legislation, raising the minimum wage, strengthening anti-discrimination laws and enacting comprehensive paid leave policies.

The report also discusses the difficulties that HBCUs face in conducting such research. HBCUs are underfunded compared to predominantly white institutions, and many lack adequate research resources as a result.

More information:
Study: Advancing Black Workers in the South: An HBCU Research Initiative

Provided by Cornell University