Labor Unionism and Racial Income Inequality: A Time-Series Analysis of the Post-World War II Period

In this paper the effects of labor unionism on the degree of interrace and intrarace income inequality in the post-World War II Period are investigated. Two opposing theoretical positions are outlined: the first views unionism as a means of maintaining the favorable economic status of whites to the detriment of nonwhites, whereas the second position views unionism as a manifestation of the consciousness of the working class in capitalistic society. The former point of view predicts that gains in unionism will lead to heightened between-race inequality but reduced within-race inequality. The latter suggests that such increases will produce declines in both between- and within-race inequality. Using a national aggregate time series for the 1947-74 period, this study found more support for the white-protectionist than for the class-consciousness interpretation.