Nonunion Employee Representation: History, Contemporary Practice and Policy
... Being a non-union operation generates both advantages and disadvantages (for more details, see Kaufman and Taras, 2000). Whether a non-union operation is more efficient and shows lower resistance to organizational change is a difficult question to answer due to a lack of empirical studies. ...
... As a corollary, a relevant argument concerns the effects of non-union employment representation (NER). One of the fundamental reasons why employers prefer NER to a union is that it enhances positive employee-management interactions and reduces the negative outcomes from unions (Kaufman and Taras, 2000;Rogers and Streeck, 1995). In a similar vein, Bryson (2004), utilizing the 1998 British Workplace Employee Relations Survey data, found that perceptions of managerial responsiveness are better among employees with NER than they are among employees with a union voice. ...
... Therefore, with NER, it is more likely for an employer to conduct these types of unfair labour practices since there are no legal constraints. Some critics argue that additional shortcomings of NER include its lack of independent financial resources, negligible access to outside legal counsel and an absence of well-trained negotiators (Kaufman and Taras, 2000). Empirical studies have also found NER to be less effective than unions at supporting its members (such as through grievance handling, protecting employees from discrimination, securing fairness in staffing matters and protecting employees from sexual harassment) (for example, . ...
Analysing two electronics companies (unionized LG Electronics and non-union Samsung SDI) in Korea, the present paper investigates the impact of union status on workplace innovations and the effects of workplace innovations on organizational performance. Both case firms are considered highly innovative, model companies in terms of their sophisticated human resource management (HRM) and cooperative employment relations (ER). We first provide a conceptual framework and generate three propositions. The framework is composed of three main components: input, organizational system and output. The major findings include: (1) the adoption of high performance work organizations (HPWO) is highly dependent upon top management and union/employee representatives; (2) the two case firms adopted two different production modes (a team production mode in LG Electronics and a lean production mode in Samsung SDI); and (3) alignment among organizational design and work processes, ER systems and HRM systems would lead to high organizational performance. We also discuss the transferability of HPWO to other cultural settings in a universalism-contingency context.
... There is now an extensive body of literature on the evolution of industrial democracy institutions in Germany and other European countries (Kaufman and Taras, 2016;Kuntz, 2018;McGaughey, 2016;Müller-Jentsch, 2008). The existing research by US labour historians has given us a partial understanding of why workplace democracy institutions did not become part of the American system of capitalism. ...
... The onset of the Great Depression had a mixed impact on industrial democracy institutions. Some firms eliminated their employee representation systems as a cost-saving measure, but others such as Kodak maintained these systems until 1935, when the Wagner Act banned works councils in non-unionized workplaces (Cohen, 1990;Jacoby, 1997;Kaufman and Taras, 2016). Some firms adopted a variant of industrial democracy during the Depression to cope with the crisis. ...
One distinctive feature of the American variant of capitalism is the near absence of any of the industrial democracy institutions found in many European firms. This article examines ideology as a factor behind the absence of industrial democracy institutions in the United States. It focuses on the early 1930s, when the ideology of managerialism was being formulated by Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means, the authors of a book that had a well-documented influence on American business culture. As the article shows, many American firms in the 1910s and 1920s experimented with worker representation systems that contemporaries called industrial democracy. Berle and Means were aware of these moves to democratize the American workplace, but they rejected all forms of industrial democracy. The article advances an explanation for their rejection and thereby contributes to our understanding why the United States did not take the path towards democracy within companies.
... Since the 1980s, employee voice in larger firms in the UK has definitely weakened as union influences have been constrained and there is little evidence to indicate that any credible alternatives have emerged (Towers, 1997). Such conclusions can be drawn from the complex and sophisticated body of literature which has emerged which focuses particularly upon issues of representation, trade union activities, non-union alternatives and the growing trend towards HRM type polices of consultation and direct communication (Flood et al., 1996;Terry, 1999;Kaufman and Taras, 2000;Millward and Forth, 2000;Dundon, 2002). It is presumed, moreover, that such findings apply across the labour force with the key focus upon the representation strategies themselves. ...
... Whilst the points outlined above can explain some of this difference, the evidence indicates that workers in smaller business units do not feel the need for trade union involvement. Commentators (Dundon et al., 1999;Kaufman and Taras, 2000;Dundon, 2002) have argued that this may reflect greater job diversity, satisfaction with the outcomes of the wage-effort bargain and an atmosphere of supposed harmony within smaller business units. Employment relationships based on empowerment, smaller working units, open door policies and high trust are seen to compensate for lower than average wages within the sector. ...
... Workers seem to be more interested in increasing their "voice" within the context of the employment relationship. Kaufman and Taras (2000) find that the long-term success of formal non-union systems such as joint industrial plans and employee-management committees is predicated on two practices: management must meet or exceed union-negotiated compensation packages in comparable industries; and management must devote considerable effort to the proper running of the plans, entailing major expense and commitment. When they work well, they offer opportunities for improved communication flow up and down the hierarchy. ...
... When they work well, they offer opportunities for improved communication flow up and down the hierarchy. Although workers do not overtly engage in hard bargaining, they do develop more subtle tactics for achieving their objectives (Taras 2000). The non-union plans are particularly good at allowing workers to fine-tune otherwise blunt managerial initiatives to better suit the situations of workers. ...
There are many alternative types of collective representation among workers in addition to unions and some of these might be useful platforms on which to build labour policy initiatives. Between 42 and 48 percent of Canadian workers have some form of collective representation (including the 32 percent who are unionized). Concrete examples are offered of the interplay among different labour market intermediaries (unions, non-union employee-management committees, professional and staff associations, and government agencies). These actors have developed innovative employment policies and practices that match the needs of the Canadian workforce. Future labour policy initiatives must incorporate new actors and new models in order to be relevant.
... With respect to modern growth theory, see Aghion et al. (1998) and Dasgupta (2010). 2 Addison (2009) provides a comprehensive survey on unions and codetermination in general. See Kaufman and Taras (2016) for a summary on non-union representation. 3 These organizational measures are usually defined in the employee involvement (EI) literature as high performance work practices (Cappelli and Neumark 2001). 2 contributes to the literature twofold. ...
This paper studies the effect of employee representation bodies provided by management on product and process innovations. In contrast to statutory forms of co-determination such as works councils, participative practices initiated by management are not equipped with any legally granted rights at all. Such alternative forms of employee representation are far less frequently and thoroughly analyzed than works councils. We compare the effects of these co-determination institutions established voluntarily with those initiated on a legal basis on different kinds of innovation measures. We differentiate between process and product (incremental and radical) innovations. To tackle endogeneity, the estimations are based on recursive bivariate and multivariate probit models. Results show that employee representation provided voluntarily by management supports incremental as well as radical product and process innovations. The effect is much more pronounced when endogeneity is taken into account. Works councils, however, only exhibit a positive effect on incremental innovations. Moreover, the results point to a substitutive relationship between both types of employee representation.
... Given the fragmentation of traditional patterns of single-channel union representation, scholars continue to assess NER (Cullinane et al., 2014;Gollan et al., 2014;Kaufman and Taras, 2016;Willman et al., 2006;Dundon and Gollan, 2007;Gomez et al., 2010). Two general strands of NER literature are evident: the first discusses NER as simply a union avoidance tactic, and the second considers the possibilities of employers displaying various or multiple motives and rationales for adopting NER, including as part of sophisticated mutual gains work patterns. ...
... As traditional, collective actors have declined in significance in many countries so the field has begun to research 'new actors in industrial relations' (Heery and Frege, 2006). With regard to employees there has been a growth of interest in non-union representatives, including work councilors elected or appointed under statutory provisions and representatives operating under voluntary arrangements established by employers (Frege, 2002;Kaufman and Taras, 2000). There has also been a growth of interest in identity-groups and social movement organizations that campaign on behalf of particular categories of employee, for example, women, lesbian, gay and bisexuals, migrants, the disabled or older workers (Fine, 2006;Piore and Safford, 2006). ...
... This prominence, however, is generally linked to the goal of workplace democratization rather than to the achievement of company performance objectives (or, as the authors put it, ''organizational prosperity''). Nevertheless, generations of industrial relations scholars have also emphasized that industrial democracy manifested through worker participation can channel conflicts of interest between employees and employers, thereby stimulating desired employee attitudes and behavior and consequently enhancing organizational performance (e.g., Gollan, 2010;Kaufman and Taras, 2000). Further, several studies have shown positive effects of both direct participation and indirect participation (e.g., Addison, Siebert, Wagner, & Wei, 2000) on organizational performance. ...
... For example, if the employer, in the non-union plant, reduces wages and conditions (voluntarily or involuntarily) to a lower level than the unionized plants, this might create the condition for union activity. The durability of the non-union side of the double-breasting arrangement, and prospect of unionization, might then be dependent on management approaches that match or exceed those of the union-based counterpart within the same firm (Gollan, 2007;Kaufman, 2013;Kaufman and Taras, 2000). The practice of double-breasting also poses challenges for unions as it not only diverts work to the non-union sector, but it also, if whipsawing is involved, places considerable pressure on unions to grant concessions so that the unionized plant will remain competitive. ...
This article explores employee voice within the specific institutional arrangement of double-breasting. Double-breasting is when multi-plant organisations recognise trade unions in some company sites, with non-union arrangements at other company plants, or where a unionised firm acquires a new site that it then operates on a non-union basis. We examine three research questions in four separate case study organisations that operate employee voice double-breasting arrangements across 16 workplace locations on the island of Ireland. These questions consider employer motives for double-breasting, the practices that characterise double-breasting employee voice, and the micro-political implications of double-breasting. The article contributes to knowledge on the emergence and impact of double-breasting and employee voice systems. We subsequently advance two theoretical propositions: the first theorising employer motives for double-breasting, and the second explaining the extent to which the practice of double-breasting is durable over time
... In recent decades, the topic of employee involvement and participation has been informative regarding the line manager in workplaces. Kaufman and Taras (2000) state that it is the middle and lower levels of line managers that have the least to gain and/or the most to lose from employee involvement practices. Some line managers can be convinced that employee involvement practices are worthy of developing, others will never abandon command and control methods and have to be replaced. ...
Despite significant changes in industrial relations (IR) legislation in recent decades, research has failed to place the line manager at the centre of analysis on IR performance. There is much published about their HR role, but both HRM and IR relate directly to managing people in the workplace. This means that line managers’ IR role is also important to understand. This paper asks does the line manager play a role in modern industrial relations and how organisations can support line managers in their IR role. While aspects of IR have been transformed in Australia to a very legalistic process, data from three Australian cases indicate that the training and skills of line managers has a strong impact on their performance in workplace-level IR matters. Furthermore, their level within the corporate hierarchy determines the type of IR activities in which they are involved.
... There are many well-known examples of such paternalistic firms including retail giants such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer in the UK and Sears Roebuck in the US ( Bradley and Taylor, 1992;Jacoby, 1997: 95-142;Renwick, 1997;Turnbull and Wass, 1997). These firms themselves are a subgroup of a wider body of non-union firms which pursue 'union substitution' strategies based on matching union terms and conditions as distinct from the 'union suppression' strategy of trying to prevent employees from voicing grievances or acting in pursuit of them ( Flood and Toner, 1996;Kaufman and Taras, 2000). A related conceptualization of the 'union substitutionist' strategy divides firms according to the scale and coherence of their HRM practices ( Guest and Hoque, 1994). ...
Analysts and policy advocates have argued that a meaningful labour-management partnership can be established in the absence of trade unions. In this paper we have examined employee outcomes of partnership in a medium-sized non-union retail firm, regarded as one of the ‘best practice’ cases of non-union partnership by the Involvement and Participation Association (IPA) of the UK. We have also compared the employee outcomes from our case study firm with those from a representative sample of retail sector workers from unionized and non-union retail firms in the UK. Findings indicate that compared to employees in other retail-sector firms, workers in the ‘best practice’ partnership firm were significantly disadvantaged with respect to their influence over workplace and policy decisions with little evidence of ‘mutual gains’ as claimed by partnership advocates.
... Yet, an increasing number of IR scholars focused attention on the fact that worker participation, and mainly nonunion representation on the firm level, also has a fundamental economic value. These researchers emphasize that from a managerial point of view employee involvement can be seen as a business tool: worker participation as a means to reduce transaction costs associated with the employee-organization relations and, consequently, improving productivity (e.g., Colling, 2003;Frenkel, Korczynski, Donaghue, & Shire, 1995;Freeman & Lazaer, 1995;Gollan, 2006Gollan, , 2010Kaufman & Taras, 2000;Kaufman & Levine, 2000;Ramsay, 1991;Rogers & Streeck, 1995;Taras & Kaufman, 1999). Moreover, it can be argued sustainable successful worker participation on the firm level has to meet employers and employees interests: in this view enhanced organizational productivity and performance are aligned with an improvement of the ''social good'' for workers in terms of higher wages, improved working conditions, and increased job security. ...
Last decades scholars in the field of human resource management (HRM) have intensely examined the contribution of HRM to organizational performance. Despite their efforts, at least one major research shortcoming can be identified. In general, they have devoted far too little attention to an aspect of HRM potentially beneficial for organizational performance: worker participation, and especially its indirect or representative forms. In contrast, for academics embedded in the industrial relations tradition, worker participation is a prominent theme, even though less emphasized in its relationship with company objectives. One might defend traditional scholars' reservations by arguing that participations main goal concerns workplace democratization and not organizational prosperity. However, several writers state that industrial democracy involving worker participation can channel conflicts of interest between employees and employers and stimulate desired employee attitudes and behavior, consequently enhancing organizational performance (e.g., Gollan, 2006; Ramsay, 1991; Taras & Kaufman, 1999). And, indeed, several studies have shown positive effects of both direct participation (e.g., European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 1997) and indirect participation (e.g., Addison et al., 2000, 2003; Frick & Möller, 2003) on organizational performance.
Nevertheless, to date, the absence of an integrated model explaining the connection between worker participation and organizational performance leads to the following question that still is in need of an answer: how do direct and indirect forms of participation – separate as well as in combination – affect organizational performance? This chapter aims to contribute to the filling of the aforementioned knowledge gaps. In so doing, we focus on direct and indirect, nonunion participation on the firm level, using a Western European and especially Dutch frame of reference.
... Some researchers have also argued that nonunion representatives undermine trade unions and their appeal to workers by performing some of the same functions, albeit to a lower, and presumably less acceptable, standard (Gollan, 2002;Ramsay, 1977). No doubt, nonunion representatives are often, though not always (Bryson, 2004;Kaufman & Taras, 2000), a poor substitute to full-service, national or international trade unions, but they do provide workers a voice that is usually valued and provides some influence (Dundon, Wilkinson, Marchington, & Ackers, 2005;Haynes, 2005;Haynes et al., 2005a). Nonunion representation is generally superior to management unilateralism which, in many cases, is the alternative to nonunion representation in countries like Britain, New Zealand, and the US. ...
The debate over union security arrangements is often presented as involving irreconcilable goals and values. Supporters of union security typically stress their importance to the union’s organizational strength and workers’ welfare. Right-to-work supporters, who favor banning such arrangements, typically emphasize employee freedom and choice. Our approach involves a unique comparison of both perspectives, which shows that neither perspective is completely compatible with safeguarding freedom. We therefore advocate reconciliation based on compulsory worker representation, which preserves the best freedom-enhancing properties of each perspective.
How managers collaborate across firm boundaries to legitimate novel institutional arrangements in the eyes of the public is a topic that has attracted the interest of a wide range of researchers. This article, which is informed by this literature, explores the rise and fall of the employee representation movement in the United States. The period 1913–1935 saw intense interest on the part of American managers in the creation of non-union employee representation plans (ERPs) such as works councils and shop committees. The article uses archival and other primary sources to argue that the employee representation movement of the pre-1935 era was an attempt to legitimate big business in the eyes of a wide range of stakeholders, not just workers.
Existing research emphasises employer choice in determining the form and content of non‐union employee representation (NER) structures. This article puts forward an alternative but complementary thesis: we conceptualise NERs as an ‘offer’ that employees can choose to either accept or reject, with several shades of settlement in between. This article argues that employee choice matters insofar as it determines the likely impact and sustainability of the NER offering. Contributing an original typology of employee choices and the associated prospects for the NER, we illustrate our argument via six workplace case studies assessing NER trajectory.
This article examines the role of employee representatives, who support HRM in positioning itself and the organization as “socially responsible”. Based on a constructivist understanding of organizational communication, employee representatives are examined as previously unrecognized entities that are responsible—and also essential—for guaranteeing a good working life, which also originates through communication. The article provides an overview of existing studies on employee representatives and their positions in companies and tries to bridge the gaps among organizational communication, CSR communication, and management theory by redesigning the role of employee representatives—who have received limited academic attention to date—as communicators. The insights from an international comparative study confirm that employee representatives perceive themselves not only as a “grief box” or “control body” of management, but also as a responsible agent and “medium” for the realization of social and communicative sustainability. This not only opens up new research perspectives, but also highlights the need to conceptually deal and theoretically discuss employee representatives and their roles in internal communication processes from the perspectives of organizational communication, HRM, CSR, and sustainability.
This article introduces the special issue on New Theories in Employment Relations. The authors summarize the history of employment relations theory and reflect on the implications of recent disruptive changes in the economy and society for new theory development. Three sets of changes are identified: the growing complexity of actors in the employment relationship, an increased emphasis on identity as a basis for organizing and extending labor protections, and the growing importance of norms and legitimacy as both a constraint on employer action and a mobilizing tool. The articles in this special issue advance new frameworks to analyze these changes and their implications for the future of employment relations.
Anglophone countries address the question of workplace‐level union bargaining rights via the mechanism of statutory recognition. Existing literature has evaluated such regimes as underpinned by several weaknesses. In contrast, Ireland presents an unusual case whereby the question of bargaining rights is resolved via collective dispute resolution procedures combining voluntary and statutory provisions. However, employer challenges and civil court rulings resulted in the weakening of these procedures from a trade union perspective. We assess the latest attempts to reform the Irish provisions via the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015, evaluating the implications for unions and their capacity to represent members' on pay and working conditions in comparison to Anglophone statutory recognition regimes.
As the forms of work and employment relationships continue to change and develop, important questions arise not only about what we mean by good-quality work, but also what are the dimensions shaping work and employment relationships. There is an argument that the balance of power has been shifting towards employers and away from workers, posing important questions around the forces driving change and what channels employees have to influence their working lives
The report reviews academic and grey research evidence to establish an authoritative account of the shifting power dynamics within the employment relationship (ER); that is, the capacity for employees to leverage influence about the terms of their employment relationship. Our prime focus is on the channels, structures, systems and processes shaping employee influence. The key drivers are identified around seven dimensions and the review considers the implications for employee influence.
https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/work/job-quality-value-creation/power-employee-influence
This study examined the relationship between employee participation and union membership. The researchers are of the opinion that employee participation will have a negative effect on union membership and therefore do not favour employee participation programs. In providing insight into the relationship between employee participation and union membership, attention was paid to the following: union membership percentage within the organisation; the relationship between biographical information and employees joining a union; as well as the relationship between themes of employee participation and employees joining a union. The six themes of employee participation used in this paper were identified in a previous study by the authors, who studied the opinions and perceptions of employees and managers’ opinions of these themes, which were originally identified through its literature research. The study adopted a quantitative research design using a self-developed group administration questionnaire. The results found that 87.1 percent of the respondents did not belong to a union. In terms of statistical significance, it was decided to set the value at a 95 percent confidence interval (p< 0.05). There was a significant relationship between race and employees joining a union with a p-value of 0.068. There was also a statistically significant relationship between themes of employee participation and employees joining a union with co-management (.016) and self-management (.004). The results also found that from the 87.1 percent participants who did not belong to a union, it was indicated that they do not belong to a union because it does not interest them.
Interactions between line managers and subordinate employees are fundamental to the employment relationship and, therefore, to industrial relations as a field of both study and practice. Human resource management literature has focused on the responsibilities line managers have as implementers of employment policy and practice, for example in dealing with grievance and disciplinary matters, communication and involvement, the application of discrimination policies, and the management of pay. Thus, it is surprising that this body of managers has been neglected in recent industrial relations research. This article fits the theme of the special issue by providing an overview of ‘where we are’ and sets out a research agenda of ‘Where to next?’, for the study of line managers in industrial relations research.
The current context for labor–management partnerships in the USA is unfriendly in almost all ways. Union density, at 11.1 % overall and 6.6 % in the private sector, is at a modern low (US BLS 2015). With few exceptions, there is no significant encouragement of partnerships from either the federal or the state governments. There is no organization or forum that regularly brings together leaders of the labor and business communities for social dialogue about economic or other policies. And many of the “best examples” of partnerships in the last couple of decades have not been sustained. There are still “islands” of success, but they function in spite of the system rather than because of it.
The essay disentangles the intricate relationship between the actions and stated policies of multinational corporations ostensibly aimed at protecting the rights of workers and labor standards on a global basis. The essay demonstrates the stark differences between practices and stated intentions in the global South and global North.
Although stakeholder theory is concerned with stakeholder engagement, substantive operational barometers of engagement are lacking in the literature. This theoretical paper attempts to strengthen the accountability aspect of normative stakeholder theory with a more robust notion of stakeholder engagement derived from the concept of good faith. Specifically, it draws from the labor relations field to argue that altered power dynamics are essential underpinnings of a viable stakeholder engagement mechanism. After describing the tenets of substantive engagement, the paper draws from the labor relations and commercial law literatures to describe the characteristics of good faith as dialogue, negotiation, transparency, and totality of conduct; explains how they can be adapted and applied to the stakeholder context; and suggests the use of mediation and non-binding arbitration. The paper concludes by addressing anticipated objections and shortcomings and discussing implications for theory and research.
Formal systems of non-union employee representation are receiving increasing attention in the Anglo-American world. Drawing on the New Zealand Worker Representation and Participation Survey 2003, this study finds joint consultation and certain forms of non-union employee voice to be more prevalent and effective in New Zealand workplaces than previous accounts have allowed. New Zealand workers report having greater influence over many areas of workplace decision-making than their US and UK counterparts. The rolling back of unionism under the Employment Contracts Act 1991 seems not to have been accompanied by a decline in management– employee consultation.The findings of high levels of workplace influence and consultation in New Zealand contradict the ‘cycles of control’ thesis and challenge the assumptions of radical labour process theory. While further research is needed, they may suggest that a shift has been occurring in employee relations style.
This paper argues that the secular decline in union voice in the UK cannot be fully explained without understanding the role of employers in choosing and modifying voice regimes. The paper presents a model of employee voice; the model assumes regimes are chosen by firms on the basis of positive net benefits, and that once adopted there are switching costs associated with changing regimes. The paper presents data from WERS, which is then analysed in terms of the model. We find a rise in voice regimes that do not include unions (i.e. the growth of so-called non-union voice) and a clear decline in voice regimes involving unions, particularly union-only voice. Ecological factors (i.e. new entrants and the demise of older workplaces) are primary in explaining the rise in non-union voice, whereas the shift to dual forms of voice (made up of union and non-union regimes side by side) was primarily the result of switches undertaken by union only workplaces as early as the 1950s.
Studies on the impact of high-performance work systems on employees' well-being are emerging but the underlying theory remains weak. This paper attempts to develop theory of the effects on well-being of four dimensions of high-performance work systems: enriched jobs, high involvement management, employee voice, and motivational supports. Hypothesized associations are tested using multilevel models and data from Britain's Workplace Employment Relations Survey of 2004 (WERS2004). Results show that enriched jobs are positively associated with both measures of well-being: job satisfaction and anxiety–contentment. Voice is positively associated with job satisfaction, and motivational supports with neither measure. The results for high involvement management are not as predicted because it increases anxiety and is independent of job satisfaction.
The present union certification system has many faults, the most important of which is its failure to deliver employee representation to all but a small and declining minority of workers. As an alternative, compulsory proportional representation (CPR) would have many advantages, particularly when compared with other reform proposals, most of which are designed to only reinvigorate, modify, or supplement the existing system. Would CPR have any disadvantages? We identify four potential concerns: reduced freedom to contract, increased interunion competition and raiding, depleted union strength, and compromised union independence. However, we argue that some of these problems would be more imagined than real, some less serious than expected, and some would have secondary effects to compensate any shortcomings.
The diverse conceptual perspectives and practical experiences with nonunion employee representation (NER) in the United States and Canada are reviewed. We first propose a 6-dimensional descriptive schema to categorize observed NER practices. Dimensions of diversity include (1) form, (2) function, (3) subjects, (4) representation characteristics, (5) extent of power, and (6) degree of permanence. We then turn to the NER controversy, which is a tangled skein consisting of many different threads of values and prescriptions. To unbundle the controversy, we develop four "faces" of NER - (1) evolutionary voice, (2) unity of interest, (3) union avoidance, and (4) complementary voice - so that future research can more consciously test the validity of competing perspectives with hard data. Generalizing about NER is problematic because of these many dimensions of diversity, and because NER is viewed through different ideological and conceptual lenses. We conclude that NER's future trajectory is uncertain due to conflicting trends but in the short-run is most likely to remain a modest-sized phenomenon.
The incidence and effectiveness of different forms of employee voice were compared across three measures: perceived managerial responsiveness to employee needs, job control and influence over job rewards. Multiple regression analyses revealed that voice was perceived as most effective when an amalgam of different forms was present. The effective coexistence of different forms of voice challenges the notion that non-union voice acts as a substitute for union representation.
Industrial relations research has traditionally viewed trade unions as the primary mechanism for employee voice. With the decline in unionism in many advanced industrial economies over the past two decades, new direct non-union voice mechanisms have been introduced by employers. This focus on the mechanisms for employee voice, however, fails to take account of employees' perceptions of voice. We suggested that employee perceptions of voice vary between the different levels of an organisation and proposed that trade union membership will be more likely to enhance individual employee perceptions of voice at the wider organisational level. Contrary to our expectations, our analysis of 2,949 employees of a public sector scientific research organisation found that union membership had a significant negative impact on employee voice at the organisational level. The article concluded by offering possible explanations for this unexpected finding and the implications for theory, management and future research.
The diverse conceptual perspectives and practical experiences with non-union employee representation (NER) in the USA and Canada are reviewed. We first propose a six-dimensional descriptive schema to categorise observed NER practices. Dimensions of diversity include (i) form; (ii) function; (iii) subjects; (iv) representational modes; (v) extent of power; (vi) degree of permanence. We then turn to the NER controversy, which is a tangled skein consisting of many different threads of values and prescriptions. To unbundle the controversy, we develop four ‘faces’ of NER—(i) evolutionary voice; (ii) unity of interest; (iii) union avoidance; and (iv) complementary voice—so that future research can more consciously test the validity of competing perspectives with hard data. Generalising about NER is problematic because of these many dimensions of diversity, and because NER is viewed through different ideological and conceptual lenses. We conclude that NER’s future trajectory is uncertain due to conflicting trends but in the short run is most likely to remain a modest-sized phenomenon.
This article argues that the industrial relations (IR) field has had two distinct paradigms - an original paradigm centred on the employment relationship, and a modern paradigm centred on unions and labour-management relations. In practice, IR scholars in the decades after the Second World War frequently adopted the former as a broad principle but followed the latter in research and teaching. The narrower labour-management paradigm has created a significant survival challenge for the IR field, given the marked long-term decline in union density in most countries. I join with others in arguing that to survive and prosper in the years ahead, the field needs to return to an updated version of the original 'employment relationship' paradigm. To promote this end, I describe the major features of the original paradigm, including its core positive and normative principle. I also outline how this core principle provides the foundation for an integrative IR theory of the employment relationship, which the field greatly needs to move ahead. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2008.
This article combines a game-theoretic framework and a comparative analysis to study the impact of the Great Depression on private welfare capitalism. Recharacterizing welfare capitalism as an implicit-contract equilibrium, the article documents parallel institutional developments in the United States and Japan in the 1920s and the process of bifurcation thereafter. In the United States, the breach of contract by major employers induced by the depression led to the rise of explicit contracts and legal enforcement institutions. By contrast, the less severe depression in Japan allowed the maintenance of implicit contracts and the formation of complementary labor laws.This article is partly based on my doctoral dissertation. I am deeply indebted to my thesis advisors, Avner Greif, Gavin Wright, Masahiko Aoki, and John Pencavel. I am grateful to Lee Alston, Carliss Baldwin, Samuel Bowles, Adam Brandenburger, Loren Brandt, Amit Bubna, Louis Cain, David Fairris, Joe Ferrie, Price Fishback, Robert Gibbons, Claudia Goldin, Rakesh Kurana, Robert Margo, Jim Minifie, Joel Mokyr, Laura Owen, Ben Polak, Daniel Raff, Paul Rhode, William Tsutsui, Warren Whatley, and two anonymous referees for their valuable comments.
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