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The incomplete leap: on the transition from union registration to the first collective agreement

The incomplete leap: on the transition from union registration to the first collective agreement
The incomplete leap: on the transition from union registration to the first collective agreement

In decentralized systems where unionization and bargaining occur at the establishment level, what explains the (speedy) transition from union registration to the first collective agreement? While prior evidence in some developed countries (i.e., the United States) estimates this transition to be approximately a year, on average, little to no evidence exists in other contexts where unions play a less central role, as is the case in many developing countries. Addressing this gap, we analyze the Philippines where national unionization and collective bargaining coverage rates are relatively low. Using methods from survival analysis on novel register data of all new union registrations from 2016 to 2021, we descriptively demonstrate that: (i) median union membership density is low at 40%; (ii) only 20% of all new union registrations successfully register a contract within the first 5 years; and (iii) unions with higher densities, that are independent, and in the manufacturing sector are associated with elevated transition rates to a collective agreement.

collective bargaining, event history, union density, unionization
0019-8692
189-203
Ramos, Vincent Jerald
9dfe0a55-e987-4481-8690-429d8ac83dc9
Suguitan, Edgar Antonio
15e0b13a-0ca9-4a39-89c1-24d7252e5bfd
Ramos, Vincent Jerald
9dfe0a55-e987-4481-8690-429d8ac83dc9
Suguitan, Edgar Antonio
15e0b13a-0ca9-4a39-89c1-24d7252e5bfd

Ramos, Vincent Jerald and Suguitan, Edgar Antonio (2025) The incomplete leap: on the transition from union registration to the first collective agreement. Industrial Relations Journal, 56 (3), 189-203. (doi:10.1111/irj.12458).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In decentralized systems where unionization and bargaining occur at the establishment level, what explains the (speedy) transition from union registration to the first collective agreement? While prior evidence in some developed countries (i.e., the United States) estimates this transition to be approximately a year, on average, little to no evidence exists in other contexts where unions play a less central role, as is the case in many developing countries. Addressing this gap, we analyze the Philippines where national unionization and collective bargaining coverage rates are relatively low. Using methods from survival analysis on novel register data of all new union registrations from 2016 to 2021, we descriptively demonstrate that: (i) median union membership density is low at 40%; (ii) only 20% of all new union registrations successfully register a contract within the first 5 years; and (iii) unions with higher densities, that are independent, and in the manufacturing sector are associated with elevated transition rates to a collective agreement.

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Accepted/In Press date: 20 November 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 December 2024
Published date: 6 May 2025
Keywords: collective bargaining, event history, union density, unionization

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 509471
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/509471
ISSN: 0019-8692
PURE UUID: 777bfea0-6f39-4886-b0cb-21b90d20bde5
ORCID for Vincent Jerald Ramos: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9709-4183

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 24 Feb 2026 17:35
Last modified: 07 Mar 2026 04:21

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Contributors

Author: Vincent Jerald Ramos ORCID iD
Author: Edgar Antonio Suguitan

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