Labor unions, by definition, are an organized association of workers formed to protect and further their rights and interests.
Perspectives on unions vary throughout the United States, and the union climate of a potential location factors into the site selection decision for some companies. Currently, more than half of states within the US have enacted right-to-work laws that provide employees the choice of whether or not to join a labor union. The presence of right-to-work laws is often used by companies as an initial barometer of the potential for a unionized workforce. However, right-to-work is just one gauge, and assessing union climate entails looking deeper at a variety of union data sets.
Right-to-Work States
While there is a significant amount of union information publicly available from the National Labor Relations Board and the US Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards, there are limitations that make it difficult to use the raw data in a meaningful way. To overcome these limitations, Quest dedicates extensive efforts to collect the raw data, clean and validate the information, and assign spatial locations. We maintain this comprehensive and ready-to-use database of labor union presence and activity to assist you in making informed location decisions.
Our proprietary ten-year rolling data set of US union offices and elections provides you with up-to-date union statistics and trend data.
Union offices data conveys the presence of union organizations. Understanding the number of offices and member size of each organization in a location provides insight into the prevalence of labor unionization in a community and region. Awareness of what types of industries unionize in a location provides invaluable knowledge regarding whether a specific field of work is likely to be impacted by unionization.
Union elections data conveys the extent of organizing activity. By understanding the number of union elections that have occurred in a location under consideration and the quantitative value of elections won and lost, the likelihood of future unionization attempts can be more accurately assessed. Looking at multiple years of union election data is essential for a thorough evaluation of election trends.
In order to evaluate labor management relations, Quest offers you a customized union report including maps that visually portray the data for each location. We apply our expertise with an analytical assessment of the results to assist you on how to apply the findings. Our unique approach provides you with a thorough understanding of a location’s union presence and activity through a product that you can’t get elsewhere.
Whether you are seeking to better understand the labor environment in an existing location or a potential new location, we can help. Quest pairs our proprietary union database with our mapping capabilities to provide informative data visualizations that reflect union dynamics. Available as a stand-alone offering or as part of our comprehensive Site Selection Process, our union report ensures that you are equipped with the latest data in a usable format to make informed, defendable decisions.
