Public-Sector Unions as Equalizing Institutions: Race, Gender, and Earnings
研究发现美国公共部门工会对黑人和女性工人的工资溢价更高，即“交叉性工会溢价”，基于1983-2018年数据，工会使黑人男性和女性平均收入额外增加3%，白人女性额外增加2%。
This research demonstrates that the union wage premium is higher for Black and women workers in the US public sector, what we refer to as “an intersectional union premium.” Union mechanisms reinforce and expand the more equitable practices of the public sector, resulting in this additional boost. Using Current Population Survey data, 1983–2018, this research models intersectional effects on earnings by examining interactions between union membership and race–gender. Relative to White men, union membership boosts average earnings an additional 3% for Black men and Black women, and 2% for White women on top of the direct union premium. Corollary analyses reaffirm these effects in multiple state contexts, including by union density and union coverage. Intersectional union premiums are weaker in states that prohibit collective bargaining. These premiums are present across most types of public work, with the exception of police and fire employees. To conclude, the authors discuss how changing labor policies may impact race and gender equity in the public sector.