Associate Membership Programs: Innovation and Diversification in National Unions

Abstract

This article examines the establishment of associate membership programs by national private sector unions. We used theories of innovation and diversification to develop hypotheses relating organizational and environmental characteristics to union decisions to establish such programs. Data from a variety of sources, including a telephone survey, were used to develop measures, and the hypotheses were tested with logistic regression analysis procedures. Predictions involving the scope of union strategies, the jurisdiction of construction unions, the organizing of “knowledge workers,” and representation on a key American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) policy committee received the strongest support.