In Britain, where there are no representation elections and management's recognition of unions is entirely voluntary, a substantial decline in union density since 1979 has been in part attributed to increased instances of union de-recognition by management. This study examines the relationship between union density and union de-recognition at the individual establishment level through an analysis of the panel data set contained in the 1990 national Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. The results indicate that between 1984 and 1990, union recognition was lost in less than 10% of establishments in the sample; changes in union status were closely related to changes in union density; and changes in union density, in turn, resulted from extrinsic and organizational changes, such as increased competition and changes in company size.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BainGeorge S.1970. The Growth of White-Collar Unionism. London: Oxford University Press.
2.
BainGeorge S., and PriceRobert. 1983. “Union Growth: Dimensions, Determinants, and Destiny.” In BainGeorge S., ed., Industrial Relations in Britain. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
3.
BeaumontPhillip B.1987. “Industrial Restructuring and Union Density: The Experience in One Large Corporation.”Employee Relations, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 14–16.
4.
BeaumontPhillip B.1992. Public Sector Industrial Relations. London: Routledge.
5.
BeaumontPhillip B., and HarrisRichard. 1989. “The North—South Divide in Britain: The Case of Trade Union Recognition.”Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 51, No. 3 (September), pp. 413–28.
6.
BeaumontPhillip B., and HarrisRichard. 1990. “Union Recruitment and Organizing Attempts in Britain in the 1980s.”Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter), pp. 274–86.
7.
BeaumontPhillip B., and HarrisRichard. 1992. “Double-Breasted Recognition Arrangements in Britain.”International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 3, No. 2 (September), pp. 267–83.
8.
BoothAlison. 1989. “What Do Unions Do Now?” Mimeographed paper, Department of Economics, Brunel University.
9.
CarruthAndrew, and DisneyRichard. 1988. “Where Have Two Million Trade Union Members Gone?”Economica, Vol. 55, No. 1 (March), pp. 1–19.
10.
ClaydownTim. 1989. “Union Derecognition in Britain in the 1980s.”British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 27, No. 2 (July), pp. 214–25.
11.
DanielWilliam, and MillwardNeil. 1983. Workplace Industrial Relations in Britain. London: Heinemann.
12.
DisneyRichardGoslingAmanda, and MacHinStephen. 1995. “British Unions in Decline: Determinants of the Fall in Union Recognition.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 48, No. 3 (April), pp. 403–19.
13.
ElsheikhFarouk, and BainGeorge S.. 1980. “Unions in Britain: An Inter-Establishment Analysis Based on Survey Data.”British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 18, No. 2 (July), pp. 169–78.
14.
FreemanRichard. 1989. “The Changing Status of Unionism Around the World: Some Emerging Patterns.” In HuangWei-Chiao, ed., Organized Labor at the Crossroads. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, pp. 111–38.
15.
FreemanR., and PelletierJ.. 1990. “The Impact of Industrial Relations Legislation on British Union Density.”British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 28, No. 2 (July), pp. 141–64.
16.
GallGregor. 1993. “The Employers' Offensive in the Provincial Newspaper Industry.”British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 31, No. 4 (December), pp. 615–24.
17.
GreggPaul, and YatesAndrew. 1991. “Changes in Wage-Setting Arrangements and Trade Union Presence in the 1980s.”British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 29, No. 3 (September), pp. 361–76.
18.
GreggPaulMacHinStephen, and MetcalfDavid. 1993. “Signals and Cycles? Productivity Growth and Changes in Union Status in British Companies 1984–89.”Economic Journal, Vol. 103, No. 3 (September), pp. 894–907.
19.
KochanThomas A.KatzHarry C., and McKersieRobert B.. 1986. The Transformation of American Industrial Relations. New York: Basic Books.
20.
MaddalaG. S.1977. Econometrics. New York: McGraw-Hill, International Student Edition.
21.
MasonBob, and BainPeter. 1993. “The Determinants of Trade Union Membership in Britain: A Survey of the Literature.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 46, No. 2 (January), pp. 332–51.
22.
MetcalfDavid. 1993. “Transformation of British Industrial Relations? Institutions, Conduct, and Outcomes, 1980–1990.” Discussion Paper No. 151, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics.
23.
MillwardNeilStevensMarkSmartDavid, and HawesWilliam. 1992. Workplace Industrial Relations in Transition. Aldershot: Dartmouth.
24.
PurcellJohn. 1991. “The Rediscovery of Management Prerogative: The Management of Labour Relations in the 1980s.”Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 7, No. 1 (March), pp. 33–43.
25.
SmithPaul, and MortonGary. 1990. “A Change of Heart: Union Exclusion in the Provincial Newspaper Sector.”Work, Employment and Society, Vol. 4, No. 3 (September), pp. 105–24.
26.
SmithPaul, and MortonGary. 1993. “Union Exclusion and the Decollectivization of Industrial Relations in Contemporary Britain.”British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 31, No. 1 (March), pp. 97–114.
27.
TowersBrian. 1989. “Running the Gauntlet: British Trade Unions Under Thatcher, 1979–88.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 42, No. 2 (January), pp. 163–88.
