The Future of Employee Representation

This article examines the future of employee interest representation in Britain against the broader European background. An attempt is made to define the character of interest representation in terms of the concepts of autonomy, legitimacy and efficacy. The core section of the article discusses recent and current developments with a focus on five themes: the level, structure, process, agenda and outcome of representation. A brief conclusion considers alternative scenarios and policy issues for employee representation. Underlying the whole discussion is the question: What future for (British) trade unions? No more than an imprecise and ambiguous answer can be suggested.     

Employee Representation and Consultative Voice in Multinational Companies Operating in Britain

Multinational companies (MNCs) from different countries of origin are widely held to have distinct preferences regarding the presence of employee representative structures and the form that employee 'voice' over management decisions takes. Such preferences are said to derive from the national models that prevail in the different countries of origin in which MNCs are based. Findings from a large-scale survey of the UK operations of MNCs indicate that country-of-origin influences on patterns of employee representation and emphasis on direct or indirect channels of employee 'voice' are attenuated by other factors, notably sector and method of growth. They also reveal significant recent innovation in representation and voice arrangements by this key group of employers.     

European Works Councils and the Crisis: Change and Resistance in Cross‐Border Employee Representation at Honda and Toyota

The article analyses the effects of the financial and economic crisis on the structures and activities of the European Works Councils (EWCs) at Honda and Toyota, which until 2007–8 were categorized as non‐efficient representation bodies. A theoretical concept is introduced to measure activation and to analyse the factors explaining change/stability. In the empirical part, the EWCs are analysed using data from expert interviews. Both EWCs have undergone different activation ‘paths’, which partly lead to a restructuring of the bodies and the implementation of new co‐ordination processes. Yet the basic logic was retained because of cultural and power related aspects.     

Employee Perceptions of Job Influence and Organizational Participation Employee Perceptions

An analysis using British matched employer-employee data finds that workers in establishments operating employee participation schemes feel that they have greater influence over their jobs. Schemes involving broader forms of participation, such as representative participation and briefing groups, are shown to be more strongly associated with greater influence than those of a more focused type, such as quality circles and work teams. There is little evidence of a strong positive interaction between these types of schemes.     

An International Study of Trade Union Involvement in Community Organizing: Same Model,Different Outcomes

This article reports on a two‐year study of union/community organizing in the UK, USA and Australia. It takes a particular model of organizing — that of the Industrial Areas Foundation — and analyses trade union engagement in coalition‐building activity in each of the three countries. Findings show mixed approaches to working with community groups from ad hoc instrumentalism to deep coalition‐building. While these variations may, in part, be explained by different industrial relations contexts, it appears that the ‘fit’ between ideology and culture of unions and their coalition partners, as well as the practices and strategies that reinforce this fit, have much greater effect on the attitude and behaviour of unions towards non‐workplace‐based organizing. The article contributes to debates about the conditions under which unions succeed (or not) in sustaining strong coalition‐building beyond their traditional constituencies.     

Corporate Characteristics and Union Organizing

This study examines the effect of several corporate characteristics on union organizing success, using NLRB representation election data matched to the Industrial Comp stat. The results show that, within a corporation's primary (two-digit) industry, union success is influenced positively by firm size, capital intensity, the ratio of labor costs to total cost, and by either very low or very high profits. Outside a corporation's primary industry, unions are most successful organizing large, unprofitable firms.     

Organizing competitor analysis systems

Based on a detailed study of the competitor analysis (CA) systems in three large companies, this paper examines the assessments of the formal CA system by its members and its major users, the uses to which CA is put, and the organizational systems by which the function attempts to improve its contribution and strengthen its role.     

Trends in Union Organizing Issues and Tactics

A survey of union organizers (N = 97) was conducted to determine the extent to which new organizing issues and tactics are being used to help offset declining union membership. Results indicate that grievance procedures, job security, improved benefits, and higher pay are the most commonly stressed issues in organizing campaigns. The two tactics used most often are small groups and literature distribution. Organizers working in industries with a larger percentage of female workers differ significantly from other organizers in the use of certain tactics and issues. Overall, however, there does not seem to be much change in either organizing tactics or issues.     

The Determinants of Employee Productivity and Earnings

This paper uses data on employee wages and characteristics drawn from a nationwide sample of firms to re-examine the determinants of employee productivity and earnings. The results show that previous experience and tenure in the current job have significant, positive effects on wages and productivity. Hours of training are positively related to productivity and wage growth but generally not to levels of either. Lastly, gender effects are evident. Productivity growth and current productivity levels are slightly higher for females while their wages are significantly lower.     

Labour Market Incentive Structures and Employee Performance

Abstract : This paper uses data from the International Social Science Programme Work Orientations Module to investigate whether there is empirical support for Soskice's (1990, 1991) hypothesis that there is a difference in labour market incentive structures between northern European 'flexibly co-ordinated' systems and the 'uncoordinated' or 'deregulated' systems of the UK and the USA, which generates improved employee co-operation and performance in the former. Labour markets in 'uncoordinated' systems are found to generate the better employee work performance. Little support is found for the existence of a 'flexibly co-ordinated' type of labour market incentive structure. Instead, labour market incentive structures are found to be heterogeneous.     

Accounting for Greenfield Union Organizing Outcomes

This paper presents a framework for evaluating and accounting for the outcomes of ‘greenfield’ union organizing campaigns. It argues that previous studies have tended to focus too much on the establishment of collective bargaining and negotiation of first contract as a campaign outcome. Instead, the effectiveness and representativeness of new union structures are emphasized, and the sustainability of those structures is emphasized as the most important outcome. A key finding from the empirical data is that campaigns that build both workplace activism and are co‐ordinated by officers create more sustainable outcomes than campaigns that focus on one or the other. The evidence shows how and why these outcomes emerge, and the paper concludes with a consideration of the theoretical and practical implications.     

New Measures of Union Organizing Effectiveness

This study compares union organizing activity and success in the United States and Canada. Based largely on certification data for the period 1976–1985, he results indicate there was a substantial decline in union organizing effectiveness in the United States and the Canadian unions were more active and successful in recruiting new members than their American counterparts. The evidence suggests that labor policy in Canada is more supportive of union organizing and the achievement of first collective agreements.     

职工运动会带给我们的启示

2002年3月,华北电力集团公司第一届职工运动会隆重举行。运动会历时44天,其规模之大、内容之丰富、参赛运动员之多、赛区分布之广,在华北电力系统是空前的,其意义也远远超过了体育竞赛的范畴,成为鼓舞广大职工“推动奥运电力行动计划,争创国际一流区域电网”的精神动力。一、运动会的主要特点1.高起点：本次运动会突破企业运动会的传统模式,令人耳目一新。一是成功建立了运动会标识系统,实现了运动会宣传手段的创新。二是发挥集团公司的整体优势,精心策划了入场式、大型团体操和颁奖晚会,实现了运动会主题表现形式的创新。三是实…     

Information Technology, US Union Organizing and Union Effectiveness

This paper examines the effects of information technology (IT) on organizing and union effectiveness in US national unions. Original survey data and data from government and independent sources are combined to model outcomes including membership growth, success in representation elections, and union leaders' assessments of effectiveness as a product of environmental and organizational characteristics. The results suggest that the practical impact of IT use on organizing outcomes can be quite important. Evidence regarding the impact of IT on overall effectiveness (i.e. organizational or union effectiveness) is more mixed.     

Employee Voice in Union and Non-union Australian Workplaces

The fall in unionism and the rise in the non-union workplace over the past two decades raises the question as to whether workers now have a reduced capacity to initiate issues and articulate grievances. For some commentators independent unions are the only source of genuine voice. Others have argued that the adoption of the HRM paradigm within an enterprise will provide workers with adequate voice mechanisms. This paper addresses the issue by comparing employee voice in non-union and unionized Australian workplaces.     

Union Representation Elelctions and Firm Profitability

Union representation elections are associated with significant declines in firm profitability. In addition to the significant mean effect of union elections on the equity value of firms, there exists substantial variation in the magnitude of equity losses across individual election events. Cross-sectional variation in shareholder equity losses can be explained by the labor intensity of the firm, the size of the union wage premium and fraction of workers organized in "the firm's industry,." the presence or absencse of right-to-work lows in the state where the election is held, the member of workers covered in the representaion election, and the number of previous union representation election in the firm. The empirical results indiacte the equity losses are the greatest in industries where union wage gain are the highest and unionization rates are the largest, and in the most labor-intensive firms, independent of the size of the bargaining unit involved in the election. The latter result indicates the presence of union spillover effects.     

New venture departments: Organizing for innovation

A popular approach to managing new business development in a large corporate environment—the New Venture Department— is considered in this article. The author reports on a study of NVDs in 18 companies—discussing why they were, established, ways that they differed and how they evolved over time.     

浅谈首席员工制

推行首席员工制是调动员工学习知识,钻研技术,提高能力有效途径,从而使企业在市场竞争中立于不败之地。