Collective Action and Customer Service in Retail - Incite at Columbia University

This article examines the relationship between workplace collective action at a large retail employer and customers’ perceptions of service.

The authors show that increases in workplace collective action, as measured by signed labor organization membership cards, are associated with lower customer ratings of service, as measured by Yelp reviews.

Drawing on qualitative interviews with 80 workers, the authors discuss several possible explanations for the negative association between worker organizing and customer service, arguing that this correlation poses an underappreciated obstacle for labor organizing in the service sector.