The Nexus between union membership and workplace climate

ABSTRACT

This paper summarises findings from a study of the relationship between union membership and workplace climate. A survey of 1380 workers in three different Australian manufacturing firms found union membership to be negatively associated with workplace climate in one company, positively associated with workplace climate in another and to have no significant relationship to workplace climate in the third. These results, when linked to the findings from observational research and focus group discussions, indicated that when a business was only partially unionised, internal harmony and good workplace conditions were reasons for the existence of a positive relationship between workplace climate and union membership. However, when union-management relationships were fractious, the workplace climate was driven by that relationship with deleterious results for workplace harmony. The findings highlight the pivotal requirement for management to provide positive work environments and, when unions are involved, to work with them to achieve this outcome.

KEYWORDS:

• Workplace climate
• union membership
• work environment
• Australian manufacturing industry
• industrial relations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Adela McMurray

Professor  Adela McMurray, PhD, Director of the College of Business Doctoral Training Centre at RMIT Melbourne, has extensive experience researching in public and private sectors and has published over 190 refereed publications. Her research is widely recognised and she is the recipient of four Australian Research Council grants, two CRC grants, one Australia/China grant and various other grants totalling over $3 million. Adela has twice Chaired the USA Academy of Management’s International Theme Committee, is associate editor of the Journal of Management History, and is a member of numerous Editorial Advisory Boards. Adela’s research expertise addresses: Workplace Innovation, Organisational Culture Development and Change, and Business Model Innovation. She has won numerous excellence awards for international leadership roles, teaching, research and supervision.

Don Scott

Don Scott, BSc, MBA, PhD, is an Emeritus Professor at Southern Cross University. His articles have been published in journals such as Applied Economics, European Journal of Marketing, Human Resource Development Quarterly,  International Migration Review, Journal of Business Research,  Managerial and Decision Economics  and Women in Management Review.