Employer's Anti-Union Stance Can Spur Productivity Gains Among Skeptical Workers, Cornell Study Finds

A recent study conducted by researchers at Cornell University suggests that a company's public stance on labor unions can have a tangible impact on worker productivity. The research, which involved an experimental setup where participants assumed the roles of both workers and managers, found that when a company openly declared its opposition to unions, a segment of its employees responded by increasing their work output. This phenomenon was most evident among workers who harbored skepticism towards unions or who perceived collective bargaining as detrimental to their individual interests.

Xinyu Zhang, an accounting professor at Cornell University and a coauthor of the research paper, elaborated on the findings. She explained that "Workers use the manager’s public stance to infer how managers intend to set pay under individual bargaining." In essence, an employer's vocal opposition to unions provides workers with crucial information that can influence their subsequent actions. Zhang further stated, "Managers’ opposition gives workers information, and that information can change their behavior." Specifically, employees who favored individual bargaining interpreted their employer's anti-union position as an incentive to enhance their productivity, believing this would enable them to negotiate higher wages. This contrasts with workers who supported collective bargaining, whose behavior remained largely unchanged by their employer's stance. For these pro-union workers, the employer's opposition often served to reinforce their existing beliefs that individual bargaining inherently favors management.

The experimental outcomes underscored these differences: workers who advocated for individual bargaining were successful in negotiating wage increases, whereas those who supported collective bargaining experienced minimal changes in their compensation. This research highlights the significant influence an employer's public response to unionization efforts can wield over its workforce, even in the absence of more coercive anti-union tactics.

This study emerges against a backdrop of growing union popularity. In 2025, 16.5 million workers were represented by a union, representing the highest share of the overall workforce in sixteen years. High-profile unionization campaigns at prominent companies such as Starbucks and Amazon have brought labor relations to the forefront of public discourse. The Cornell research offers a nuanced perspective on these dynamics, suggesting that employer communication strategies regarding unions can directly shape employee motivation and economic outcomes, particularly for those workers who are not aligned with collective bargaining principles.