Public sector unions and the privatization of municipal services

The transfer of government services to the private sector, or privatization as it is generally called, has received considerable attention in recent years. However, few attempts have been made to investigate the issue from a labor relations perspective. This dissertation attempts to alleviate this oversight by examining (1) the role of public sector unions in municipal decisions to contract out sanitation collection, and (2) the impact of sanitation contracting on sanitation workers' wages. Results indicate that the impact of public sanitation unions on sanitation contracting decisions depends upon their relations with city management. Sanitation contracting is less likely to occur if there is a public sanitation union present in the municipality which has cooperative relations with city management and more likely to occur if there is a public sanitation union present which has confrontational relations with city management. Further, results indicate that the higher the probability of a municipality considering contracting out, the less effective the sanitation union is at increasing sanitation workers' wages.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Labor and Employment Relations

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Chandler, Timothy David

Contributors dc:contributor

• Feuille, P.

• Economics
• Political Science
• Industrial and Labor Relations
• Labor
• Public Administration
• Sociology

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 1991 Chandler, Timothy David

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

AAI9136565
(UMI)AAI9136565

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/19042