Labor Organizing in the South, 1975-1979: The Case of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Soulítcasicrn Í '.cograplicr VoI. 24. No. 1. Muy 1HN4. pp. 1-13 LABOR ORGANIZING IN THE SOUTH, 1975-1979: THE CASE OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS Sari Bennett Geography has been for labor scholars a variable oí last resort in their attempts to explain union organizational success. (I) Having exhausted the explanatory power of other determinants, they tend to argue that regional effects may account for some of the remaining variation in the model. (2) Ceographers, on the other hand, tend to work in the opposite direction, first delineating the spatial variations of behavior , in this case of labor, so as to disclose effects of proximity, spatial interdependence, and regional distinctiveness. These contrasting ways of approaching a problem, however, are not antagonistic, and by joining them we may more fully appreciate the complexity of human spatial behavior. It is reasonable to assume that union organizing will reflect socio-spatial processes. Union organizers in an area may take advantage of tactics and strategies used in neighboring cities or communities; organizing may impact regional economic linkages thus adding leverage to unions; local and state government effects may differentiate organizing success rates. Accordingly, it is appropriate to examine the spatial patterns of union organizing activity. Heretofore, geographers have neglected the study of organized labor in the United States. (3) That omission is curious in light of the millions of workers belonging to trade unions or associations with collective bargaining rights. It is doubly curious in a time of economic distress when labor relations are a central issue for the economics of recovery. This case study of union organizing in the South aims at provoking geographic curiosity about the spatial dynamics of organized labor. The spatial variation of labor organizing at state and local scales for the southern region is presented. Three regions of intense union activity are identified and comparisons are made with respect to organizing success and city size among regions to show how regional effects on city-size variations are responsible for varying levels of organizing activity and membership gains. Dr. Bennett is Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Maryland Baltimore County in Catonsville, MD 21228. Southeastern Geographer LITERATURE. A large literature has arisen concerning union organizing efforts. As one might expect, union gains have been attributed to a variety of factors. One generalization emphasizes the type of industry organized and suggests that unions do better when they organize within traditional industries. (4) A second generalization has to do with unit size of the prospective local. (5) Union organizing tends to be more successful among intermediate-sized units rather than among very small or large units. A third generalization, and the most interesting from a spatial point of view, suggests that city size is directly linked to union efforts. This must be qualified, however, by the proviso that rapidly growing labor markets of whatever size are particularly difficult to organize . (6) DATA AND STUDY AREA. Unions grow by augmenting membership in existing locals and by organizing new collective bargaining units in previously unorganized segments ofthe labor force. (7) The first of these has created problems for organized labor during the past decade. For a variety of reasons, including rank-and-file dissatisfaction and aggressive management efforts at union decertification and the economic deterioration of older industries, union growth has slowed considerably. This erosion of union strength, however, has been counterbalanced by the organization of the unorganized. New workers entering the union fold have more than offset the losses experienced in older locals. The South, then, with less than 16 percent of its non-agricultural labor force belonging to unions has become a prime target for organizing campaigns . (8) The task of recruiting new members in the South, however, has not been easy. For decades labor unions have tried to organize workers in the region without much success. By far the most active union in this attempt has been the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs , Warehousemen and Helpers (IBT). (9) In each year of the past decade, for example, the IBT conducted four times more representation elections in the South than the next most active union, the United Steelworkers. The scale and geographic coverage of the IBTs recruitment activity...