Replication data and code for “Fault Lines”: union and industry association positions on U.S. federal climate policies, 1997–2024
Description
This dataset records the public positions of six U.S. labor unions and their paired industry associations on major federal climate policies and proposals between 1997 and 2024. It was constructed to test a theory of union-employer divergence in climate politics, examining whether and why unions systematically support climate policies their employers do not. The dataset includes 147 observations covering 38 distinct policies and proposals (26 core policies plus 12 iterations). Each observation represents a union–industry association–policy pairing and records actor positions (Support, Opposed, Neutral, or No Data), the stated motivations for union support, and key policy design features including labor standards, transition assistance provisions, and support for domestic manufacturing. Unions included are the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), United Steelworkers (USW), United Auto Workers (UAW), Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), and Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), spanning fossil fuel extraction, manufacturing, automaking, utilities, and building and construction trades. Each union is paired with the industry association most representative of their members' employers. The dataset is accompanied by a README describing all variables and coding rules, and by replication code (Python/Jupyter) for analyses reported in the article.
Files
Steps to reproduce
All analyses reported in the article can be reproduced by running Replication_Code_Fault_Lines.ipynb with Union_and_Employer_Positions.csv in the same directory. The notebook requires Python 3 with pandas and statsmodels installed.
Institutions
- University of California, BerkeleyCalifornia, Berkeley