Journal of Industrial

Relations
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Perceptions, Conceptions and Misconceptions of Organized Employment

Boaz Shulruf, Beven Yee, Brett Lineham, Louise Fawthorpe, Roopali Johri and Stephen
Blumenfeld
JIR 2010 52: 236
DOI: 10.1177/00221856093539447
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research note

Journal of Industrial Relations

Industrial Relations Society of Australia

SAGE Publications Ltd,
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC
ISSN 0022-1856, 52(2) 236241
[DOI: 10.1177/00221856093539447]

Perceptions, Conceptions and

Misconceptions of Organized Employment
Boaz Shulruf
Department of Labour and University of Auckland, New Zealand

Beven Yee, Brett Lineham, Louise Fawthorpe and Roopali Johri

Department of Labour, New Zealand

Stephen Blumenfeld
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Abstract: The main objectives of this study were to identify facilitators and
barriers to unionization among employees as well as to identify the effect of
unionization and collective bargaining on employers and employees perceptions
of workplace relations. To address these objectives survey data from just under
4000 employees and employers in over 150 New Zealand organizations was
collected. The findings of this study suggest that union membership is related to
employees perceptions of job security, ideology and job satisfaction. Employees
perceptions of workplace relations were associated with union membership
status. Employers perceptions of the contribution that unions make to their
businesses were associated with the type of interaction employers had with trade
unions. Implications for employees, employers, legislators and policy makers are
discussed.
Keywords: collective agreement; perceptions; unions

Contact address: Boaz Shulruf, Centre for Medical and Health Sciences Education
(CMHSE), Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Private
Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. [email: b.shulruf@auckland.ac.nz]

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Shulruf et al.: Perceptions, Conceptions and Misconceptions of Organized Employment

Union impacts, unionization, and collective bargaining on employment relations and workplace performance have been extensively investigated (Foster
et al., 2005; Harbridge et al., 2003; Hirsch, 1997, 2003; McHugh, 2007;
Waddington and Whitston, 1997). New Zealand (henceforth NZ) legislation
change in 2000, and the subsequent Employment Relations Act 2000 (henceforth
the Act; see http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2000/0024/latest/
DLM58317.html), provided a key opportunity to revisit issues of organized
employment, particularly looking at the contemporary perspective of employers, employees and unions. The key objective of the Act is to build productive
employment relationships through the promotion of mutual trust and confid
ence in all aspects of the employment environment and of the employment
relationship. Furthermore, by introducing this act the government at the time
aimed to promote unionization and collective bargaining (Foster et al., 2005).
Nonetheless, there was no increase in unionization from 1997 to 2007 that also
reflects international trends (Foster et al., 2005). Hence, the major questions
raised by these data are: (1) what factors determine whether or not employees
join trade unions (henceforth: unions); and (2) what role does collective bargaining play in the contemporary NZ labour market, particularly in terms of
employment relations and workplace performance?
The international literature suggests that the key factors determining union
membership are the presence of a union in the workplace and the employees
belief that workers need strong unions to protect work conditions and wages
as well as the belief that unions provide support at work if they had problems
(Jelle, 2002; Waddington and Whitston, 1997). There has been speculation
that the decline in union membership within NZ was initially related to the
1991 enactment of the Employment Contracts Act 1991 (ECA). The ECA ended
compulsory conciliation and arbitration and the guaranteed bargaining role for
unions (Lafferty and May, 2004). Other factors affecting the decline in unionization are tied to three major issues: (1) indifference on the part of the majority
of workers in non-unionized firms; (2) lack of union reach (mainly into small,
private sector workplaces); and (3) free-riding (Bryson, 2006; Haynes et al.,
2006).
The present study aims to identify the factors that determine an employees
decision to join or not to join a union, particularly in relation to the implementation of the Act. This study also aims to address the question of whether
collective bargaining affects employment relations and business performance.
Recent analysis of US and German data suggests that national and collective
bargaining institutions as well as high-involvement management practices were
positively associated with lower staff turnover in both countries (Doellgast,
2008). Research also shows that a positive relationship between team membership and work-related attitudes exists for those who are more active in their
union (McHugh, 2007).
On the other hand, Hirsch (1997) argued that unions do not increase productivity, and that collective bargaining is associated with lower profitability,
decreased investment in physical capital, research and development. Addison
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Journal of Industrial Relations 52(2)

and Belfield (2002) suggested that unions negatively affect business performance and employment conditions. Evidence from NZ suggests that the level
of unionization in a workplace does not affect business performance, however collaborative union relationships between employers and employees does
improve business profitability (Shulruf and Markey, 2008).
The recent change in the NZ legislation emphasizes the need for a fresh
investigation and analysis of this issue in order to provide the most contemporary and relevant evidence. It is hoped that the present study may shed more
light on the NZ contemporary landscape of organized employment and its
effect on employment relations and business performance.

Methods
The data for this study was derived from a survey of employers and employees
located in three major regions in NZ (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch)
and covered private and public sector enterprises within some major industries
(Manufacturing, Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, Financial and Insurance,
Education, and Health and Community Services).
The employee questionnaire asked about union membership and reasons for
joining a union or not, as well as perceived benefit of collective agreements and
employees attitudes towards their employer. The employers questionnaire
asked about business demographics, relationship with unions, and union contributions to business performance and employment relations. Employers were
invited to participate in the survey. If they agreed, a sample of their employees
was invited to participate.

Results
The survey included 156 enterprises and 3930 employees, 2083 (53 percent)
of which were organized. Women comprised 57.1 percent of the sample and
average age was 43.3 years. Ethnic distribution was similar to national composition and the mean weekly working hours was 39.2.
The most common reason for joining a union was the belief that the union
would provide support in work conflicts (35.4 percent), followed by ideological
support in unions (21.3 percent), and a desire for job security (20.9 percent).
The primary reason for not joining a union was high satisfaction with their
job (34.739 percent). Little knowledge of union presence at the workplace,
the belief that own employment was not covered by collective agreement and
dissatisfaction with union performance at the workplace were more frequent
reasons for not joining unions among employees who had never been union
members before (p < .05).
Non-unionized employees expressed greater loyalty to their employers and
believed they had better employment relations with their employers than unionized employees (3.96 vs 3.52 p < .0001 and 5.24 vs 4.85 p < .001 respectively on
scale 16). Loyalty to an employer decreased as a unionized employees income
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Shulruf et al.: Perceptions, Conceptions and Misconceptions of Organized Employment

or educational attainment increased but remained unchanged amongst nonunionized employees. Among the employees who held managerial positions,
more non-unionized employees earned a higher income than their unionized
counterparts.
Employers perceptions about unions were defined by one common factor
unions are good for businesses (Table 1). This belief was positively associated with the percentage of unionized employees in the business (r = .050,
p < .001). Furthermore, employers who directly negotiated with unions had
stronger belief that unions are good for the business than their counterparts
who did directly negotiate with unions (2.76 vs 2.20 respectively, p = .002; on
scale 16).

Discussion
The results, which are in line with the literature, suggest that the key factors
determining whether or not employees become union members are the presence of unions in the workplace and the employees belief that workers need
strong unions to protect work conditions and wages (Bryson, 2006; Charlwood
and Haynes, 2008; Gill, 2005; Haynes et al., 2006; Jelle, 2002; Waddington
and Whitston, 1997). These findings suggest that regardless of the protections
provided by the Act, some still seek further support by joining unions.
Previous NZ literature suggests that the presence of unions at workplaces
is associated with motivation to join unions (Charlwood and Haynes, 2008;
Table 1 Employers perceptions about trade unions
Factor
1

Q112 HR costs are reduced where employees are in unions

.855

.308

Q115 Businesses retain staff where employees organized

.817 .096

Q113 Cost of EDR is reduced where employees are in unions

.789

Q116 Employees motivation increased when they are organized

.788 .299

Q114 Cost of negot coll agreem lower than cost of ind agreem

.626

.135

Q121 Its easier to resolve grievances when unions are involved

.597

.026

.267

Q119 Employers prefer bargaining directly with employees

.535 .042

Q118 Productivity is increased where employees are organized

.201

.328

.202

.308

Q117 Union representatives care about success of business

Q120 More employees pursue grievances where union present

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.018 .080

Journal of Industrial Relations 52(2)

Foster et al., 2005; Haynes et al., 2006). This study emphasized the importance
of job satisfaction, demonstrating that where employees are satisfied, the need
for organized employment declines.
Overall, employers perceptions positively correlated with level of union
presence at the workplace and these positive attitudes increased when employers directly negotiated with unions. This finding is particularly important given
the inconclusive literature (Addison and Belfield, 2002; Bryson, 2005; Bryson et
al., 2005; Doellgast, 2008; Foster et al., 2005; McHugh, 2007). Thus, improving communication and collaboration with employers may enable unions to
increase their presence at workplaces to benefit all (Gall, 2004; Shulruf and
Markey, 2008). When employers kept their employees satisfied the need for
unions and collective bargaining declined. Consequently, promoting fair
employment legislation may weaken unions because the need for such institutions will decline. Conversely, feeling insecure within the workplace may push
more employees to join the union for gaining support. Since the number of
unionized employees has remained unchanged since the Act came into effect,
it is suggested that the current legislation, alongside employers practices and
unions behaviour, have reached a relatively balanced interaction. Thus, any
behavioural or legislative change may unbalance that relationship and should
be cautiously considered.
Non-unionized employees felt that they had better working relations with
and are more loyal to their employers than unionized employees. Loyalty to
employers declined as income increased among unionized but not among
non-unionized employees. It also appeared that among managers, more nonunionized employees earned higher income than their unionized counterparts.
It is possible that perception of unfairness led to a decrease in loyalty among
the unionized managers.
In conclusion, it is suggested that the balanced nature of employment relations may work well for employers, employees and unions. Ensuring that
employees are happy, whether by implementing collaborative workplace practices internally and voluntarily by employers or by external enforcement via
legislation, may make unions as they currently operate less relevant. However,
if that change in employment relations eventuates, unions will need to change
their traditional paradigm and take the lead as facilitators for collaboration
between employers, employees and legislative institutions. This could start
a new era of employment relations where a winwin approach shifts from
common rhetoric to common practice.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of the New Zealand Department of
Labour (DoL) who funded the research and provided the information that this article is
based on. However, the authors stress that any opinions or findings made from this data
are their own, and do not necessarily represent government policy or the opinion of the
Department of Labour.

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Shulruf et al.: Perceptions, Conceptions and Misconceptions of Organized Employment

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