Comparison of labor agreements

Current labor agreements of 250 craft unions are obtained representing six different building trades. The inclusion of the wording of selected provisions are examined. Although some provisions occur with consistent frequency in practically all labor agreements, clear trends are observed for some provisions in that the historically stronger crafts are more successful in negotiating for more favorable provisions for their unions. For some provisions a wide disparity is noted between the agreements made in union shop states when compared to those of right-to-work states. Comparisons with past studies indicate that the inclusion of certain provisions has not remained constant in recent years.