The Issue of Military Unionism: Genesis, Current Status and Resolution.

摘要

This paper initially examines European military unions and for a number of reasons concludes that there are few parallels and little general applicability to the United States and the potential unionization of its armed forces. The paper then traces the development of private sector collective bargaining. This in combination with the perception of military benefit erosion, loss of institutional trust and the introduction of the occupational model into the armed forces is shown to have generated the conditions under which US military unionization could become an issue. Description of the circumstantial confluence of common American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and military service member interests in a civilian comparability pay raise, and subsequent change of the AFGE constitution to accept military membership generated the requirement to document the current status of the unionization issue. After a detailed description of the recent actions taken by those organizations, agencies, and governmental departments involved (to April 15, 1977), AFGE organizational problems, unionization aims, and the potential impacts of unionization are discussed.