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Schooled by Strikes? The Effects of Large-Scale Labor Unrest on Mass Attitudes toward the Labor Movement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2020

Alexander Hertel-Fernandez Open the ORCID record for Alexander Hertel-Fernandez [Opens in a new window] ,
Suresh Naidu  and
Adam Reich
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Abstract

Strikes are a central tool of organized labor, yet existing research has focused on the economic consequences of strikes, rather than their political effects. We examine how labor actions by teachers, a well-organized group of public sector workers, affect mass attitudes about the strikes and interest in the labor movement more generally. Our context involves large-scale teacher strikes and walkouts in six states in 2018. Using an original survey in the affected states, we study the causal effect of strike exposure among parents whose children’s ages place them in or out of school. Firsthand strike exposure increased parents’ support for the teachers and for the labor movement, as well as parents’ interest in labor action (though not necessarily through traditional unions). Our results highlight the importance of strikes as a political strategy for unions: not only can they build stronger public support for the striking workers but they can also inspire greater interest in further labor action among other workers.

Type
Special Section: Working Class Blues or Reds?
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 73 - 91
Copyright
© American Political Science Association 2020

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Footnotes

The authors thank Patrick Youngblood for terrific research support and feedback. The AFL-CIO and the Polling Consortium offered valuable data and support. The authors also acknowledge the generous financial support of Columbia University’s Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. Lastly, Eric Blanc, Laura Bucci, Jake Grumbach, Aaron Kaufman, Shom Mazumder, Ethan Porter, Ariel White, and the Perspectives editors and reviewers all offered helpful feedback, as did participants in workshops at George Washington University, MIT, Princeton University, the Russell Sage Foundation, Stanford University, the University of Minnesota, and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

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