Working with Dinosaurs? Union Effectiveness in Delivering for Employees

By Alex Bryson

There are strong links between unions' organisational effectiveness and employee perceptions of whether they are effective in achieving fair pay, promoting equal opportunities, protecting workers, making work interesting and enjoyable, and working with management to increase quality and productivity.

This paper considers the meaning of union effectiveness and identifies features of union structure and behaviour that are correlated with employee perceptions of union effectiveness in delivering improved work and working conditions.

After reviewing some recent evidence on union effectiveness, the paper introduces seven dimensions of organisational effectiveness, namely:

· unions' ability to communicate and share information

· usefulness of unions as a source of information and advice

· unions' openness and accountability to members

· union responsiveness to members' problems and complaints

· how seriously management have to take the union

· union understanding of the employer's business

· the power of the union.

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The paper goes on to assess unions' ability to 'deliver' improvements in work and the working environment in seven areas:

· getting pay increases

· offering protection against unfair treatment

· promotion of equal opportunities

· making work interesting and enjoyable

· working with management for improved performance

· increasing managerial responsiveness to employees

· making the workplace a better place to work.

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Then the incidence of union practices and conditions conducive to union effectiveness is discussed to establish the nature of the organisational challenge facing unions in their efforts to improve their effectiveness. The conclusions focus on the implications for the future of trade unions in Britain.

(Policy Studies Institute Research Discussion Paper 11)