STRIKE PRONENESS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SYSTEMS AT THE ORGANIZATION LEVEL: A DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS [1]

Strike proneness is analyzed through the industrial relations system conceptualization. The actors, rules and ideology components of 60 industrial relations systems, of which 15 exhibited a low propensity to strike and 45 a high propensity to strike, are compared via a discriminant analysis procedure. Strike-vulnerable establishments as compared with harmonious units tend to include more strikers and have a more complicated structure of labour representation. In highly strike-prone organizations, negotiations are usually handled by representatives equipped with limited authority. These organizations tend to be less prepared rulewise for a strike situation, and their ideology is less critical of promoting union leaders to managerial positions and less favourable of opening recruitment to out-of-plant competition. The comparison of the technological, economic and power constraints of the two strike propensity groups indicates that the conflictual units, as compared with organizations with a low strike propensity, tend to be larger units and service organizations; they are mostly budget controlled and publically owned. A comprehensive industrial relations system analysis indicates that the internal components of the industrial relations system take priority in discriminating between the two strike groups. Theoretical and substantive conclusions conclude the analysis.