This paper seeks to address a number of questions concerning the impact of workplace accommodation, coiflict and power on employees' attitudes and be haviour towards unions. Union 'co-operation' with management is not necessarily a recipe for union decay. Industrial action may promote union recruitment, but by and large this depends on whether the outcome of the dispute is favourable to the employees concerned. Importantly, industrial action does not preclude generally co-operative perceptiorls of union policies; employees' interest in seeing 'co operative' union behauiottr is not a search for compliance with management's agenda. Overall, there is little to suggest that increased micro-level collaboration between managers and unions explains the decline in Australian union density in recent years, although union problems in responding to 'direct relations' strate gies in weakly organized workplaces are partly behind that decline. There is, moreover, still a considerable distance to go before it could be said that there is widespread evidence of high and increasing levels of co-operatioiz and 'closelless' between management and employees.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Angle, H.L. and Perry, J.T. (1986) 'Dual Commitment and Labour-Management Relationship Climates', Academy of Management Journal , 29(1), March, 31-50.
2.
Bachrach, P. and Baratz, M.S. (1970) Power and Poverty: Theory and Practice , Oxford University Press, New York .
3.
Bachrach, Peter and Baratz, Morton S . (1963) 'Decisions and Nondecisions: an Analytical Framework', American Political Science Review,57(3), September, 632-42.
4.
Bachrach, Peter and Baratz, Morton S . (1962) 'The Two Faces of Power' , American Political Science Review, 56(4), December, 947-52.
5.
Bain, G.S. and Price, R. (1983) 'Union Growth: Dimensions, Determinants and Destiny' , in G. S. Bain (ed.) Industrial Relations in Britain , Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 3-34.
6.
Barling, J., Fullagar, C. and Kelloway, E.K. (1992) The Union and Its Members: A Psychological Approach , Oxford University Press, New York.
7.
Beaumont, P. and Harris, R. (1993) 'Opposition to Unions in the Non-union Sector in Britain', mimeo, Department of Social and Economic Research, University of Glasgow.
8.
Beaumont, P. ( 1986) 'Industrial Relations Policies in High Technology Firms', New Technology. Work and Employment , 1(2).
9.
Bramble, T. (1993) 'Union Management Co-operation in the Australian Vehicle Industry, 1983-1992: Results and Prospects', in N. Haworth, M. Hill and N. Wailes (eds) Divergent Paths? Industrial Relations in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific Region, Proceedings of the 7th Congress, Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand, Auckland, February, 59-78.
10.
Brysk, A. (1995) '"Hearts and Minds": Bringing Symbolic Politics Back In', Polity, 27(4), Summer, 559-86.
11.
Callus, R., Morehead, A., Cully, M., and Buchanan, J. ( 1991 ) Industrial Relations at Work, Department of Industrial Relations, AGPS, Canberra.
12.
Clegg, H. (1976) Trade Unionism Under Collective BargainingBasil Blackwell, Oxford.
13.
Conlon, E.J. and Gallagher, D.G. (1986) 'Commitment to Employer and Union: The Effect of Membership Status', Academy of Management Journal , 29, 255-9.
14.
Cronin, J.E. (1979) Industrial Conflict in Modern Britain , Croom Helm, London.
15.
Cully, M. and Fraser, R. (1993) The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS): The State Dimension, Industrial Relations Research Monograph no. 4, Department of Industrial Relations , Canberra, September.
16.
Dahl, Robert (1961) Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City, Yale University Press, New Haven.
17.
Dean L.R. (1954) 'Union Activity and Dual Loyalty', Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 7(4), July, 526-36.
18.
Department of Industrial Relations (1995) Enterprise Bargaining in Australia: 1994 Annual Report , AGPS, Canberra.
19.
Erwin, P.J., Iverson, R.D., and Buttigieg, D.M. (1994) 'Individualism versus Collectivism: Who Supports the Employee Relations Act of Victoria', paper presented to 8th conference of Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand, Sydney, February.
20.
Estrin, S. and Wilson, N. (1986) 'The Micro-economic Effects of Profit Sharing', Discussion Paper no. 247, Centre for Labour Economics, London School of Economics.
21.
Farber, H.S. (1990) 'The Decline of Unionisation in the United States: What Can Be Learned from Recent Experience?', Journal of Labor Economics, 8(1), Part 2, January, s75-s105.
22.
Fiorito, J., Gallagher, D.G. and Fukami, C.V. (1988) 'Satisfaction with Union Representation', Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 41(2), January, 294-307.
23.
FitzRoy, F.R. and Kraft, K. (1987) 'Co-operation, Productivity and Profit Sharing' , Quarterly Journal of Economics, 102(1), February, 23-36.
24.
Foulkes, F. (1980) Personnel Policies in Large Non-union Companies , Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
25.
Freeman, R.B. and Medoff, J.L. (1984) What Do Unions Do?, Basic Books, New York.
26.
Fukami, C.W. and Larson, E.W. (1984) 'Commitment to Company and Union: Parallel Modets' , Journal of Applied Psychology, 69(3), 367-71.
27.
Gallagher, D.G. (1984) 'The Relationship Between Organizational and Union Commitment Among Federal Government Employees', Academy of Management Proceedings, 319-23.
28.
Gallagher, D.G. and Clark, P.F. (1989) 'Research on Union Commitment: Implications for Labor', Labor Studies Journal, 14(3), Spring, 52-71.
29.
Gallie, D. (1989) 'Trade Union Allegiance and Decline in British Urban Labour Markets', Working Paper 9, Social Change and Economic Life Initiative , Economic and Social Research Council, Oxford.
30.
Gordon, Michael E. and Ladd, Robert T. (1990), 'Dual Aallegiance: Renewal, Reconsideration and Recantation', Personnel Psychology , 43, 37-69.
31.
Griffin, G. (1983) 'White Collar Unionism 1969 to 1981: Some Determinants of Growth', Journal of Industrial Relations , 25(1), March, 26-37.
32.
Guest, D.E. and Dewe, P. (1991) 'Company or Trade Union: Which Wins Workers' Allegiance? A Study of Commitment in the UK Electronics Industry', British Journal of Industrial Relations, 29(1), March, 75-96.
33.
Guest, D.E. and Dewe, .P. (1988) 'Why Do Workers Belong to Trade Unions? A Social Psychological Study in the UK Electronics Industry', British Journal of Industrial Relations, 26(2), July, 178-94.
34.
Guest, D.E. (1989) 'Human Resource Management: Its Implications for Industrial Relations and Trade Unions', in J. Storey (ed.) New Perspectives on Human Resource Management, Routledge, London, 41-55.
35.
Hammarström, O. (1992) 'Local and Global: Trade Unions in the Future' , Trade Unionism in the Future, Ninth World Congress of Intemational Industrial Relations Association, Proceedings volume 2, 30 August-3 September, 116-24.
36.
Heritage, J. (1983) 'Feminisation and Unionisation: A Case Study from Banking', in E. Gamarnikow, D. Morgan, J. Purvis and D. Taylorson (eds) Gender, Class and Work, British Sociological Association/Gower, Aldershot, 131-48.
37.
Hill, J. (1982) From Subservience to Strike: Industrial Relations in the Banking Industry, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia.
38.
Iverson, I.D. and Kuruvilla, S.C. (1992) 'Does Dual Commitment Underline Company and Union Commitment? An Application of Second Order Confirmatory Analysis', Working Paper 67Centre for Industrial Relations and Labour Studies, University of Melbourne.
39.
Jarley, P., Kuruvilla, S.C. and Casteel, D. (1990) 'Member-Union Relations and Union Satisfaction' , Industrial Relations, 29(1), Winter, 128-34.
40.
Kelly, J. (1990) 'British Trade Unionism 1979-89: Change, Continuity and Contradictions', Work, Employment and Society , special issue, 29-60.
41.
Kelly, J. and Heery, E. (1989) 'Full-time Officials and Trade Union Recruitment' , British Journal of Indusrrial Relations , 27(2), July, 196-213.
42.
Kochan, T.A. and Capelli, P. (1984) 'The Transformation of Industrial Relations and Personnel Function', in P. Osterman (ed.) Internal Labor Markets, MIT Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, 133-62.
43.
Korpi, Walter (1983) The Democratic Class Struggle, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.
44.
Korpi, Walter and Shalev, Michael (1979) 'Strikes, Industrial Relations and Class Conflict in Capitalist Societies', British Journal of Sociology, 30(2), June, 164-87.
45.
Kruse, D. (1984) Employee Ownership and Employee Attitudes: Two Case Studies, Norwood Editions, Pennsylvania.
46.
Lukes, S. (1974) Power: A Radical View, Macmillan, London.
Magenau, J.M., Martin, J.E. and Peterson, M.M. (1988) 'Dual and Unilateral Commitment Among Stewards and Rank-and-file Union Members', Academy of Management Journal, 31, 359-76.
49.
Marsh, T. and McAllister, D. (1981) 'ESOPs Tables: A Survey of Companies with Employee Stock Ownership Plans', Journal of Corporation Law , 6, Spring, 551-623.
50.
Millward, N. (1990) 'The State of the Unions', in R. Jowell, S. Witherspoon and L. Brook with B. Taylor (eds) British Social Attitudes: The Seventh Report, Gower, Aldershot , 27-50.
51.
Mitchell, D.J.B. and Broderick, R. (1988) 'Flexible Pay Systems in the American Context: History, Policy, Research and Implications', Working Paper, Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California, Los Angeles.
52.
Pearson, P. (1985) Twilight Robbery: Trade Unions and Low Paid Workers , Pluto, London.
53.
Peetz, D. (1995a) Union Membership, Labour, Management and the Accord', PhD thesis, School of Industrial Relations and Organisational Behaviour, University of New South Wales, Sydney.
54.
Peetz, D. (1995b) 'Deunionisation', paper presented to Ninth conference of Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealan, Melbourne, February.
55.
Peetz, D. (1996a) Why Join? Why leave? Unions, Employees and Aspects of Union Membership in Australia., paper presented to Tenth conference of Association of Industrial Relations Academics in Australia and New Zealand, Perth, February.
56.
Peetz, D. (1996b) Workplace Cooperation, Conflict, Influence and Union Membership', paper presented to conference 'W(h)ither Trade Unions? ', National Key Centre for Industrial Relations, Monash University, Melbourne, July.
57.
Price, R. and Bain, G.S. (1989) 'The Comparative Analysis of Union Growth', in Recent Trends in Industrial Relations Studies and Theory, 8th World Congress , International Industrial Relations Association, Brussels, 99-110.
58.
Purcell, T.V. (1954) 'Dual Allegiance to Company and Union: Packinghouse Workers', Personnel Psychology, 7, 48-58.
59.
Reynaud, J.D. (1983) 'An International View', in R. Hyman and R. Price (eds) The New Working Class? White Collar Workers and their Organisations, Macmillan, London, 247-54.
60.
Rose, J.B. and Chaison, G.N. (1993) 'Convergence in International Unionism, etc: The Case of Canada and the USA: A Comment', British Journal of Industrial Relations, 31 (2), June, 293-297.
61.
Rose. A. (1952) Union Solidarity, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
62.
Samuelson, P. (1977) 'Thoughts on Profit Sharing', Zeitschrift fur die Gesamte Staatswissenschaft, special issue on profit sharing, reprinted in K. Crowley (ed.) (1986) The Collected Scientific Papers of Paul A Samuelson, vol. 5, MIT Press, Cambridge Massachusetts , 953-62.
63.
Sayles, L. and Strauss, G. (1953) The Local Union, Harper , New York.
64.
Short, M., Preston, A. and Peetz, D. (1993) The Spread and Impact of Workplace Bargaining: Evidence from the Workplace Bargaining Research Project, Department of Industrial Relations, Canberra, August.
65.
Short, M., Romeyn, J. and Callus, R. (1994) Reform and Bargaining at the Workplace and Enterprise: Evidence from Two Surveys, Industrial Relations Research Series no. 12, Workplace Bargaining Research Project, Department of Industrial Relations, Canberra, November.
66.
Strauss, G. (1984) 'Industrial Relations: Time of Change', Industrial Relations. 23(1). Winter, 1-15.
67.
Taplin, 1. hi. (1990) 'The Contradictions of Business Unionism and the Decline of Organised Labour', Economic and Industrial Democracy, 11, 249-78.
68.
Turner, T. (1994) 'Unionisation and Human Resource Management in Irish Companies', Industrial Relations Journal , 25(1), March, 39-51.
69.
Undy, R., Ellis, N., McCarthy, W.E.J. and Halmov, A.M. (1981) Change in Trade Unions: The Development of UK Unions Since the 1960s, Hutchinson, London.
70.
Verma, A. and Kochan, T.A. (1990) 'The Paths to Innovations in Industrial Relations' , Labor Law Journal, 41(8), August, 601-7.
71.
Visser, E.J. (1992) 'Union Organisation: Why Countries Differ?', in Trade Unionism in the Future, Ninth World Congress of International Industrial Relations Association, Proceedings volume 2, 30 August-3 September, 158-76.
72.
Voos, P.B. and Cheng, T. (1989) 'What do Managers Mean by Cooperative Labor Relations? ' Labor Studies Journal, 14(1), Spring, 3-18.
73.
Western. B. (1993a) 'Postwar Unionization in Eighteen Advanced Capitalist Countries', American Soriological Review , 58, April. 266-82.
74.
—( 1993b) 'A Comparative Study of Working Class Disorganisation: Union Decline in 18 Advanced Capitalist Countries', mimeo, Department of Sociology, Princeton University.
