An Inter-establishment Study of Union Recognition and Membership in Great Britain

Paul Gregg and Robin Naylor ()

The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, 1993, vol. 61, issue 4, 367-85

Abstract: In the absence of compulsion, union membership density in U.K. private sector establishments is extremely varied. Around one quarter of establishments without recognized unions have union densities above 10 percent while under half of the establishments with recognized unions had density above 90 percent. Yet the progressive decline in the closed shop since 1984 means that understanding why people join trade unions without compulsion is an increasingly relevant question, demanding analysis at a disaggregate level. This paper explores the 1984 WIRS dataset and concludes that workplace characteristics, including workforce composition and management attitudes, are the major influences once recognition is controlled for. Yet the variation in density across workplaces with unions implies there is much unions can do to increase density even in an environment which is hostile toward the achievement of recognition. Copyright 1993 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester

Date: 1993
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:manch2:v:61:y:1993:i:4:p:367-85

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