To investigate whether unions have helped or hindered the employment prospects of minorities and women, the author analyzes data on 1,273 California manufacturing plants for the period 1974–80. The main finding is that, with the exception of Hispanic females, unions have not been a significant impediment to minority or female blue-collar employment. In the case of black males, the employment share has increased significantly faster in union than in nonunion plants. Despite seniority provisions that might be expected to reduce minority and female employment during recessions such as those in 1974 and 1979, minorities and women as a bloc increased their share of union employment from 1974 to 1980. The author concludes that unions have not generally hindered the employment growth of minorities and women.
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