Organizational Ecology of Labor Unions Project of Public-release Data Set: American National Labor Unions, 1836-1985

<p>This dataset records the life histories of American national labor unions over the period 1836-1985. The dataset contains information on starting and ending times, types of starting and ending events, and detailed information about organizing strategy, affiliation, and industrial location at time of inception. There are data for about 621 unions. In recording data on individual unions, the survey relied heavily on published histories of unions, of the union movement, and of industries. When it was feasible, union periodicals and proceedings were used. The events recorded include mergers, secession, transformation, absorption, and equal-status mergers. Unions were categorized according to their relative occupation range. Also recorded are the inclusion of skilled and nonskilled workers, affiliations, industry codes associated with the unions, and size of initial membership.</p>