The Role of Unions in Hospital Cost Inflation

Abstract

This study examines the impact of unions on worker compensation and total costs in hospitals, both in specific departments and in the hospital as a whole. An analysis of data for 367 hospitals for the years 1974 and 1977 shows that unions raised the mean compensation of hospital workers by 8.8 percent without producing offsetting increases in worker productivity. Thus, unions do increase hospital costs, although far less than health insurance and other factors do.