THE IMPACT OF UNIONIZATION ON NEGOTIATED WAGES IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN KENYA^*

Why Do Workers Join Trade Unions?

“…Most studies done on trade unions in developing countries, Kenya included, are based on cross-sectional data (see, e.g., Rupayan, 2008;Guataqui et al, 2011;Anyango et al, 2013;House & Rempel, 1976;Manda, 1997;Manda et al, 2005;Schultz & Mwabu, 1998). Due to data limitations, some of the studies focus on certain groups of factors affecting union membership.…”

“…For instance, Guataqui et al, 2011) focuses on structural determinants of trade union membership in Colombia; while the study by Rupayan (2008) looks at political factors on union membership in addition to individual and firm level factors. In Kenya, some authors (e.g., House & Rempel, 1976) show that, for certain categories of workers, trade union membership is negatively associated with earnings, or has no effect on earnings. The study by House and Rempel (1976) does not, however, offer an explanation as to why workers join trade unions if union membership is not associated with an increase in earnings.…”

“…In Kenya, some authors (e.g., House & Rempel, 1976) show that, for certain categories of workers, trade union membership is negatively associated with earnings, or has no effect on earnings. The study by House and Rempel (1976) does not, however, offer an explanation as to why workers join trade unions if union membership is not associated with an increase in earnings. Manda et al's (2005) study on Kenya shows that the negative relationship between union membership and earnings could be due to flaws in the methodology used to analyse union membership.…”

A Note on the Impact of Unionization on Negotiated Wages in the Manufacturing Sector in Kenya

“…The data may be individual, in which case U1 will be dichotomous, or aggregative, in which case U1 and X1 will refer to mean values for each j. The data to estimate equation (1) are available for Kenya (see Johnson (1971)). The method of estimation described above is nothing to do with 'trade union power' being proxied by unionization.…”

Influence of Trade Union Affiliation on Organizational Performance of Selected Kenya Tea Development Authority Managed Tea Factories, Kenya

“…They also discovered that most Kenyan elite tea workers avoided trade unions. Hafford and Koops (2009) conducted a study on the impact of unionization on negotiated wages in Kenya, paying special attention to the legal framework for collective bargaining agreement negotiations. This study found that unionization had no discernible effect on wage differentials between firms.…”