Jianxuan Lei

Jianxuan Lei

Email: lei00035@umn.edu

Contested solidarity: Trade union memebrship and immigration attitudes in Europe

Abstract: Do trade union members have more positive or negative attitudes towards immigration compared to non-members? This paper answers the question by analyzing ten rounds of the European Social Survey data. Focusing on a sample of over 70,000 native-born workers across 15 countries, I present three key observations. First, a significant gender difference exists in the relationship between union membership and immigration attitudes. On average, male union members exhibit more negative attitudes toward immigration than non-members within the same country, while female members generally express more positive views. Second, the 2015 European migrant crisis marks a turning point in union members’ immigration attitudes. Following its onset, male union members began to hold more negative views than non-members, and female union members stopped showing more positive attitudes. Third, institutional contexts matter. Union members in strong industrial relations systems tend to express more negative views on immigration than non-members. I further demonstrate that these patterns are at least partly explained by individuals’ gendered motives for joining unions and the tension between egalitarianism and inclusiveness as union objectives. Finally, I contend that immigration has broader implications for social equality, which extend beyond the internal solidarity of organized labor, using support for redistribution as an example.

Lei, Jianxuan. "Contested solidarity: Trade union memebrship and immigration attitudes in Europe." Status: Preparing for submission.

Trade union membership and women’s right to work: From gender antagonism to inclusive solidarity?

Abstract: The notion that women do not have the equal right to work as men underlies gender antagonism in early trade unionism. While unions have been increasingly promoting gender equality in the workplace, it remains unclear whether individual members’ attitudes towards women’s work have changed over time. In this study, I provide the first large-scale, comparative, and quantitative analysis of this question, focusing on more than 25,000 workers across 16 Western European countries from 1990 to 2020. The results suggest a complex picture. Specifically, in the early 1990s, union members did not differ significantly from non-members in their attitudes towards women’s right to work. Since the late 1990s, union members exhibited more egalitarian gender attitudes than non-members. However, by 2020, the union-nonunion gap in gender attitudes appeared to have vanished. Further analysis indicates that a breadwinner ideology, in which manhood is defined in relation to wage labor, is the primary driver for less egalitarian gender attitudes among union members. In addition, the dramatic uprisings of the populist right have possibly contributed to the vanished union-nonunion attitude gap by gendering contemporary European politics.

Lei, Jianxuan. "Trade union membership and women’s right to work: From gender antagonism to inclusive solidarity?" Status: Revision requested at the ILR Review.

The importance of legal strength for trade unions: Theory and evidence from China

Abstract: This paper studies how legal strength—the effectiveness of a legal system in governing the use of laws—influences trade unions in China. By focusing on the institutional environment in which laws are practiced, I theorize that a strong legal system can empower trade unions through direct legal mobilization and legal consciousness. Empirical analysis with data collected from multiple sources supports this prediction. I find that unionization is more prevalent in strong legal systems than in weak ones. Moreover, Chinese unions improve labor outcomes to a greater extent when one or more dimensions of the legal systems are strong.

Lei, Jianxuan. "The importance of legal strength for trade unions: Theory and evidence from China." Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society (2023).