Contemporary Dynamics of Unions, Organizing, Bargaining and Labor Relations

Dear Colleagues,

Union activity has entered a new phase in recent years. Organizing drives have expanded across higher education, logistics and transportation, agriculture, healthcare, public employment, platform-based sectors, and other service industries. At the same time, unions are navigating shifting legal frameworks, uneven administrative enforcement, employer resistance, digitalized workplaces, fissured employment relations, and changing political environments at both the state and federal levels. These developments raise important questions about how organizing unfolds today, how first contracts are secured, and how collective bargaining is shaped by institutional and technological context.

This Special Issue seeks contributions that examine the contemporary union movement and its implications across sectors and industries. We are particularly interested in work that analyzes the mechanics of organizing and bargaining: certification and recognition processes, first-contract negotiations, the role of labor boards and administrative agencies, employer strategies, financial and organizational capacity, and the internal governance structures that sustain unions over time. Sector-specific analyses are welcome, including studies of unions in higher education, agriculture, trucking and transportation, public employment, digital platform work, and other industries where organizing efforts have intensified.

We also encourage submissions that explore broader structural transformations reshaping labor relations. These include the effects of digitalization and algorithmic management, changes in employment classification and subcontracting arrangements, intersectional inequalities in unionization and representation, and emerging forms of worker mobilization and coalition-building across labor, community, and social movement organizations. How do state-level labor policies shape organizing trajectories? How do bureaucratic decisions affect bargaining timelines? How do technological and institutional shifts alter union capacity? What happens to workers and workplaces when unions form, expand, adapt, or decline?

The issue welcomes empirical, theoretical, historical, and interdisciplinary work. Quantitative analyses, qualitative and ethnographic studies, comparative state or sector research, and policy-oriented contributions are all encouraged. Our goal is to assemble a collection of research that speaks directly to the realities of organizing and labor relations today and advances understanding of the institutional, political, and economic forces shaping unions across the contemporary economy.

Dr. Eunice Han
Prof. Dr. Peter Philips
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• union organizing
• first-contract negotiations
• state labor law implementation
• administrative agency discretion
• union financial capacity
• public-sector collective bargaining
• farmworker unionization
• higher education unionization
• labor-environment coalitions
• worker well-being