The fears of resource standardization and the creation of an adversarial workplace climate: The struggle to organize a faculty union at Illinois State University

Victor G. Devinatz

doi:10.1016/S0742-6186(02)11007-9

Login

Welcome:
Guest

Search for:

Browse:

Product Information:

Resources:

Advances in Industrial & Labor Relations

ISSN: 0742-6186
Series editor(s): David Lewin and Paul Gollan

Subject Area: Human Resource Management

Content: Series Volumes | Current Volume RSS

Options: To add Favourites and Table of Contents Alerts please take a Emerald profile

Document request:
The fears of resource standardization and the creation of an adversarial workplace climate: The struggle to organize a faculty union at Illinois State University

Document Information:
Title:	The fears of resource standardization and the creation of an adversarial workplace climate: The struggle to organize a faculty union at Illinois State University
Author(s):	Victor G. Devinatz
Volume:	11 ISBN: 978-0-76230-853-8 eISBN: 978-1-84950-140-8
Citation:	Victor G. Devinatz (2002), The fears of resource standardization and the creation of an adversarial workplace climate: The struggle to organize a faculty union at Illinois State University, in (ed.) 11 (Advances in Industrial & Labor Relations, Volume 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.145-179
DOI:	10.1016/S0742-6186(02)11007-9 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Article type:	Full length article
Abstract:	In this article, I investigate the effect that the communication of an anti-union message delivered by faculty union opponents and the university administration had on a recent faculty union organizing drive at Illinois State University. Specifically, I argue that the Illinois State University Faculty Association's (ISUFA) certification election loss was due to the union opponents' effective communication of a message that having a faculty union and collective bargaining representation would impose more costs than benefits through the standardization of college and departmental resources across the university and by creating an adversarial climate between the administration and faculty members. Conversely, the union was ineffective in combating these two arguments by convincing faculty of the overriding benefits of unionization. The ISUFA failed to build a sufficient “community of interest” (or solidarity) among the faculty by focusing on a single issue or a set of related issues that extended to university-wide issues as a whole or to external issues that confronted the faculty as a profession. The article concludes with lessons learned from the campaign.