Collective bargaining and private sector professionals

Monthly Labor Review, Sept, 1989 by Sar A. Levitan, Frank Gallo

Collective bargaining and private sector professionals

Researchers review the history and current status of unionism and assess the prospects for collective bargaining among private sector professionals

The fact that unionization rates are now higher among professionals than nonprofessionals--26.8 percent versus 17.8 percent in 1988(1)--has led to predictions that professionals are ripe targets for unionization. However, the increase in collective bargaining by professionals is almost entirely caused by the rise in government organization. More than 1 of 3 professionals is employed by the government and 4 of 5 professionals represented in collective bargaining work in the public sector. But the influence of government unionization among professionals is waning because public sector unionization rates have declined in recent years, and the government work force is growing much more slowly than employment in private industry.

Only 1 in 10 private sector professionals bargains collectively, a proportion which has remained basically unchanged in more than two decades and is unlikely to change significantly in the foreseeable future. Associations representing physicians, lawyers, engineers, scientists, and other professionals historically have perceived little conflict of interest between management and labor, often because their members are in both camps. Hence, major private sector professional associations have shown little interest in collective bargaining.

Private sector professional associations include in their memberships individuals in the top income brackets, with little need for collective bargaining. Also, job security is taken for granted by most professionals as their unemployment rates in the 1980's have been only a third as high as those of the overall work force. Although professional associations are often concerned with educational and licensing standards, ethical codes, and advancing the state of knowledge in their professions, these activities also serve the interests of their members. For example, restricting access to a profession reduces the supply of eligible personnel, benefiting those who obtain the coveted credentials.

Overview

The labor relations policies of a professional association depend partly upon the extent that the organization has gained control over the profession. Physicians' and attorneys' associations have been extremely successful in furthering their members' interests by controlling admittance to the profession and through recommended fee schedules. Although the American Nurses' Association is the only major private sector association which bargains collectively, it has been unable to raise educational requirements for nurses. Other private sector professional associations have concentrated on the subject matter of the profession rather than the interests of the professionals. The distinction between these types of professional associations is rooted in the history of the respective professions. Physicians and lawyers are members of professions with longstanding power to regulate professional practices, even those affecting members employed in bureaucracies such as hospitals, the court system, and large government agencies. In contrast, the engineering and scientific professions were largely created by the large industrial and government bureaucracies which employed them.

Major private sector professional occupations and their median weekly earnings in 1987 are shown in the following tabulation:

                         Number     Median
                           (in       weekly
                       thousands)  earnings
  Total professionals    14,426      $518
Engineers               1,731         720
Registered nurses       1,588         482

Math and computer

  scientists              685         624
Natural scientists        388         615
Lawyers                   672       2,173(*)
Physicians                514       2,298(**)

(*) Partners, 1986 (**) Nonfederal physicians, 1986 From 1983 to 1987, employment for engineers, natural scientists, and attorneys grew at a slightly slower pace than did overall national employment, and the number of physicians may have reached a temporary plateau. (Data prior to 1983 are not comparable because the government agencies that collect the statistics revised their occupational classifications.) In contrast, the number of math and computer scientists rose by 48 percent over these 4 years (compared with 11.5-percent growth in the total work force).

Power without picket lines

Associations representing physicians and attorneys are not thought of as labor organizations, but they are more influential in determining the compensation and working conditions of their members than are most unions. These associations employ rigorous educational requirements and entrance examinations in order to regulate the supply of professionals. They also control access to the medical and legal systems, although their power in this area has been narrowed somewhat in the last two decades. Physicians control admissions of patients to hospitals, and insurance reimbursement is usually contingent upon physician care. Although citizens may act as their own attorneys, laws and court regulations place them at a distinct disadvantage if they do so. Lawyers. Of the 672,000 lawyers employed in 1987, slightly more than half were members of the American Bar Association, founded in 1878. In 30 States, practicing lawyers are required by law to belong to the association. Although the association has been remarkably successful in maintaining the status and earning power of attorneys, several Supreme Court decisions have weakened its control over the profession by striking down "recommended" fee schedules and bans on advertising.(2) The median salaried attorney who works full time, year round earns about $50,000 annually. Law firm partners, who account for about three-fourths of the attorneys in private practice, had a median income of $113,000 in 1986, while associates received $46,000.(3)