PUBLIC POLICY, BARGAINING STRUCTURE, AND FREE-RIDING IN THE FEDERAL SECTOR

MARICK F. MASTERS AND ROBERT S. ATKIN

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DOI: 10.2190/6WQ1-UC9M-8WB1-FA4F

Abstract

Sixty-two percent of the general schedule and wage grade employees in the federal government belong to exclusively recognized bargaining units. However, fewer than half of these employees belong to unions. Although the high rate of free riding (i.e., the proportion of represented employees who do not pay dues) is commonly attributed to the open-shop requirement in Title VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, this issue has not been explored. This article compares free-riding rates across four public-policy sectors: Title VII, the Postal Reorganization Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and the Railway Labor Act. Ironically, it finds that the rates are highest and lowest, respectively, under Title VII and the Postal Reorganization Act, both of which have open-shop requirements. Bargaining structure appears as a nonpolicy factor that is associated with free riding, at least across bargaining units represented by different unions. The article compares the bargaining structures among the three largest nonpostal federal-employee unions, and finds an apparent association between centralization and homogeneity in bargaining structure and free-riding rates.

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