The role of management and trade union leadership on dual commitment: The mediating effect of the workplace relations climate

This article examines the effect of transformational and laisser‐faire leadership on the part of local union leaders and immediate supervisors on the dual commitment of unionised workers. Building on the social information processing perspective, it is suggested that these leadership styles are linked to commitment through the workplace relations climate (WRC). Based on a sample of 834 unionised workers, our results suggest that WRC represents an important mechanism explaining the effect of the immediate supervisor's leadership in unionised settings. Results also show that transformational leadership on the part of union representatives is positively linked to union and organisational commitment. This article contributes to the WRC and dual commitment literatures by going beyond structural and institutional explanations and considering relational and actor‐related variables, such as leadership styles.     

Non‐union employee representation: exploring the riddle of managerial strategy

Utilising case‐study research in two organisations this article considers the strategy underpinning managerially imposed systems of non‐union employee representation. Drawing on Dundon and Gollan's ‘sensitising framework’, an interplay of external factors and internal dynamics is seen to prompt objectives that are both defensive (union avoidance) and proactive in nature (e.g. the legitimisation of change). The article suggests that such goals represent ‘rival logics of action’, the tensions unleashed being ultimately reflected in the ineffective functioning of the institutions under review.     

Between consultation and collective bargaining? The changing role of non‐union employee representatives: a case study from the finance sector

This article reviews the roles and activities of non‐union employee representatives (NERs) acting as forum officers in a large Internet finance company. Currently there is little academic coverage concerning NERs in this sector, including their contributions to employment relations, their motivations and orientations towards representative role and activities, or relations with management and fellow employees. An important precondition to answering one of the main questions asked of NERs is whether such representation constitutes the foundation of some nascent trade unionism, or whether by acting as forum representatives, they are positioning themselves to support management agendas and outlook? The range of data from this article's longitudinal case study, indicating time usage including individual and collective representation, suggests that NERs allegiances and roles remain ambiguous, existing as they do in the intersection between consultation and collective bargaining. An important factor may be their capacity for independent action and independence from senior management.     

Negotiating ‘solidarity’ and internationalism: the response of Polish trade unions to migration

In the context of massive outward migration after Poland's accession to the EU in 2004, this article explores the possibilities for cross‐border collaboration by Polish trade unions. The findings are based on interviews with the two main trade union/trade union federations, Solidarity and Ogolnopolskie Porozumnie Zwi?zków Zawodowych: All‐Poland Alliance of Trade Unions, at national, regional and sectoral levels. Examining the issues and challenges faced by Polish trade unions in terms of loss of membership and social capital, the article also evaluates the significance of Poland's status as a country of some inward migration. It is argued that cross‐border trade union collaboration has become an even more urgent project as the economic crisis intensifies competition in the labour market and increases the potential for xenophobia.     

The impact of employee involvement on organisational commitment and ‘them and us’ attitudes

This article presents a measure of ‘them and us' as a basis for evaluating an employee involvement programme in British Rail. The results of a longitudinal study with control groups and various forms of post-training intervention show no change in organisational commitment but some evidence of a shift towards a more local pattern of identity which excludes union representatives from ‘us'.     

The union recognition dispute at McDonald's Moscow food‐processing factory

This article reports on the union recognition dispute that took place at the McDonald's food‐processing plant in Moscow. It examines this dispute in the context of McDonald's employment practices worldwide, the interventions made by international and local unions, and Russian government bodies. Despite these interventions it became impossible to either organise the workforce or establish a collective agreement. The case illustrates the difficulties facing both local unions and global union federations when confronted by intransigent multinational companies, especially in low‐skilled sectors in transitional economies.     

Are non‐union workers different to their union colleagues? Evidence from the public services

This article analyses workers’ attitudes to trade unions by comparing the survey responses of Unison members with public sector workers who have left or never joined a union. It examines whether differences between these groups can help to explain union‐joining behaviour and membership patterns. The findings demonstrate that there are few differences in attitudes between Unison members, ex‐unionists and never‐members on the issue of ‘union effectiveness’. However, ex‐unionists were more reluctant to re‐join unions than never‐members. The evidence concludes that if public service unions are to recruit new members, they need to adopt differentiated strategies and representatives have to target ex‐unionists and never‐members in the workplace.     

Creating a multilayered representational ‘package’ for subcontracted workers: the case of cleaners at Ben‐Gurion University

Research into the organising of subcontracted workers tends to focus on how such campaigns contribute to union revitalisation, the shortcomings of non‐union organisations in comparison with classic unionism and opposition rather than complementarity between strategies. Analysing the organising of subcontracted cleaners at a university, this article shifts this focus, evaluating the campaign in terms of how it assisted the workers, regardless of whether it contributed to union renewal, and in terms of complementarity between new and traditional industrial relations actors. Drawing on the power resources approach, it asserts that collaboration across different ‘paths to representation’ can create a multilayered representational ‘package’ in which different organisations with different power resources take on different aspects of what was once a (single) union's role, covering each other's shortcomings in a kind of de facto representational ‘division of labour’.     

Representation at Suncorp – what do the employees want?

It is apparent from existing research that little is known about the effectiveness of non‐union employee representation (NER) voice arrangements in Australian firms. This article examines both the non‐union Suncorp‐Metway Employee Council (SMEC) and union voice arrangements at an Australian financial services firm, Suncorp, and assesses their effectiveness in representing the needs of employees. This study is unique because it is one of the few examples of dual representation channels at a single firm. Overall the findings suggest that the effectiveness of union and NER arrangements is dependent on the union and NER voice channels being perceived by the workforce as both representative and able to act effectively or independently. However, while trade unions may provide greater voice than non‐union arrangements, the strength of voice is dependent on the legitimacy and effectiveness of trade unions in representing employees' interests at the workplace. The findings also suggest that the marginalisation strategy used by the union in excluding SMEC from its industrial campaigns, coupled with employees' perception of a lack of effective union voice, could impact negatively on the influence that unions may have on management decision‐making. This could also be perceived by employees as an inappropriate response by the union to management substitution strategies. As a consequence, any changes to industrial relations policy or trade union strategies regarding NER should be considered in the light of these findings.     

A strike of ‘unorganised’ workers in a Chinese car factory: the Nanhai Honda events of 2010

This strike in a Chinese factory of the Japanese multinational Honda in 2010 received worldwide coverage. A young workforce sustained an on–off strike, with varying numbers of workers involved, for 19 days. Academic interest has focused on prospects for collective bargaining and union reform in China. This article, using interviews with former strikers, and newspaper sources, analyses the strike process. The workplace union, as a constituent of the All‐China Federation of Trade Unions and subject to the Chinese Party–state, was hostile; so the workers were in effect ‘unorganised’. Examples of non‐union strikes in the interwar car industry of the USA and UK show the similarity of situation with the Honda workers. Hiller's classic text, The Strike, provides a surprisingly suitable framework for understanding strikes of unorganised workers. The strikers' vocabulary ‘framed’ their demands initially as injustice, but incorporated anti‐Japanese sentiment and, then, dignity, in response to events.     

Speaking up: employee voice and attitudes to unions in a non‐union US multinational firm

We examine employees' experiences of exercising voice in a large non‐union US multinational plant. We find that a majority of those who took action to address a problem reported an unsatisfactory outcome and that experiencing problems at work and taking action are associated with more positive employee attitudes to unions.     

When trade unions turn to litigation: ‘getting all the ducks in a row’

Driven by their members' demands and the need to adopt more combative legal strategies in order to oppose the deterioration of working and employment conditions, British trade unions have developed in‐house legal expertise and supported many individual and multiple claims. This article investigates the variation in unions' legal practices and examines their organisational responses to law and the role of compliance professionals in the regulation of employment litigation. It provides a nuanced account of the influence of legal rationality on the framing of union strategies and shows that, under certain conditions, trade unions are able to build multi‐pronged tactics by using litigation as a complement to other forms of action.     

Enhancing transnational labour solidarity: the unfulfilled promise of the Internet and social media

This article examines the activities of Union Solidarity International (USI), a new UK‐based organisation in the international union arena. USI seeks to encourage and support international solidarity between trade unions and other worker movements around the world by harnessing the dynamism of the Internet and social media. Drawing on a combination of in‐depth semi‐structured interviews, documentary analysis, Google Analytics and social media data, the findings of this case study suggest that USI is successfully developing an international audience in the United States, the UK and Ireland. However, USI's ability to reach beyond English‐speaking countries and mobilise people to engage in collective action appears limited. The article makes an important contribution to the growing literature on social media in industrial relations through analysing the extent to which digital technologies can contribute to effective transnational labour solidarity.     

The influence of trade union Disability Champions on employer disability policy and practice

Disability Champions are a new type of lay workplace trade union activist, whose role is to encourage employers to audit and improve disability policies and offer independent advice and guidance on disability issues to employees. Drawing on a survey of the population of Disability Champions, this article assesses Disability Champion influence on employer disability policy and practice. While the majority of Disability Champions report having had a positive impact, they report greater influence on employer willingness to conduct disability audits and to amend and improve employer equal opportunities practices with regard to disability than employer willingness to make reasonable adjustments. The analysis also identifies several factors that are likely to be important in improving Disability Champion effectiveness. Overall, the results suggest Disability Champions have the potential to enhance the ability of unions to represent disabled people and help manage disability issues within the workplace. The article makes a theoretical contribution to Disability Champion roles by further developing the ‘Activity‐Support‐Characteristic’ framework for the antecedents of new union representatives' effectiveness.     

Partnership and the development of trust in British workplaces

This article examines the alleged links between ‘partnership’ forms of managing workplace relationships in Britain and the development of intra‐organisational ‘trust’. The potential for mutually complementary linkages between the two are clear, in theory at least. Partnership should produce, nurture and enhance levels of interpersonal trust inside organisations, while trust legitimates and helps reinforce an organisation's ‘partnership’. Qualitative evidence drawn from the self‐reports of key participants in three unionised partnership organisations provides some support for the claimed linkages. But it also highlights weaknesses, discrepancies and pitfalls inherent in the process of pursuing trust through partnership. These offer insights into the process for managers, trade union officials, employee representatives and policy‐makers, as well as suggesting avenues for future research using trust as a theoretical framework.     

The role of trade unions in supporting victims of domestic violence in the workplace

This article explores the effects that domestic violence has on victims in their workplace and how trade unions respond. Focussing on the experiences of union representatives, the research highlights the support offered to victims, the barriers representatives face and the under‐acknowledged personal impact that these cases can have upon representatives.     

Does labor–management partnership deprive union members of activism toward their unions? Evidence from union members in Korea

This study aims to analyze whether partnership ideology really deprives union members of the willingness and passion to act for their union, resulting in union decline, and whether militant unionism, which includes adversarial ideology against employers is more effective for igniting members' activism for their unions rather than labor–management partnership. The survey data were obtained from union members working in Mechanical and Metal Manufacturers Complex, Changwon, Republic of Korea. Judging from the overall results of the data analysis, Kelly's (1996) claim that moderate unionism based on partnership ideology would undermine members' activism for their unions was not supported; on the contrary, partnership ideology had positive effects on both members' activism for their unions and decision-making practices. The difference between partnership and militancy is that militancy had an intensive effect on the narrow focus of union activities, but the impact of partnership achieved a better balance between participation in union activities and in management decision making.     

The influences on women joining and participating in unions

This article brings gender to the centre of concepts used to explore union joining and participation, demonstrating that a gender‐sensitive analysis adds to our understanding. Using qualitative data from a study of women in two large male‐dominated UK trade unions, the article explores four key influences on women's union joining and participation—family, union, work and feminism. While prior beliefs and values played a role in promoting joining and participation, gendered experiences of unions and the workplace had a more profound influence. Feminism affected the nature of participation in that self‐identified feminists were more critical of the masculine character of trade unionism.     

The Effects of Union and Nonunion Forms of Employee Representation on High‐Performance Work Systems: New Evidence from French Microdata

This article investigates the effects of union and nonunion employee representation (ER) on the use of high‐performance work systems (HPWSs) in the French context. We use microdata from a nationally representative survey (REPONSE 2010–11) and estimate models dealing with the potential endogeneity of ER. After controlling for endogeneity and for a range of workplace characteristics, regression analyses suggest that neither union nor nonunion representatives are inherently against the use of HPWSs. Moreover, these forms of ER cannot be regarded as substitutes for one another. Results vary, depending on what type of bundle of practices is considered. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Co-operation and conflict in industrial relations: what are the implications for employees and trade unions?

This article explores the effects on employees of co-operation and conflict the workplace, outlining six workplace types. A survey of union representatives UK steel industry reveals evidence of co-operative industrial relations linked to superior terms and conditions, employee involvement and health and safety outcomes. However, it fails to find evidence that co-operative industrial relations are associated a broader HRM package of workplace restructuring, high performance work teams security provisions. Nor is any association revealed between co-operation and a greater role for trade unions. These findings suggest workplace co-operation in this industry remains part of a traditional gainsharing package and an 'alliance of insiders' than an HRM partnership or union incorporation. This raises broader questions the ability of co-operation to deliver important aspects of organizational competitive advantage.