On the outside looking in? A micro-level analysis of insiders’ and outsiders’ trade union membership

Abstract

Although studies have signaled a gap in trade union representation between workers with secure employment (i.e., 'insiders') and those without (i.e., 'outsiders'), this gap has rarely been empirically analyzed at the micro-level. With recent micro-level data from the Netherlands, this study addresses two questions. First, to what extent do insiders and outsiders, measured through individuals' employment status and self-perceived social risk, differ in their willingness/probability to join trade unions? Second, to what extent can these differences in trade union membership be explained as resulting from perceptions of interest representation and/or workplace social cohesion? The results suggests a clear insider-outsider gap in trade union membership related to employment status, but not to social risk. Furthermore, this gap can be explained by differences in perceptions of representation, but not workplace social cohesion.

Embedded Fixers, Pragmatic Experimenters, Dedicated Activists: Evaluating Third‐Party Labour Market Actors’ Initiatives for Skilled Project‐Based Workers in the Gig Economy

“…We must keep in mind that such workers often voice their concerns on an individual basis. They want to ‘retain the strongly‐felt option of independence’ (Osnowitz 2010: 128) with a spontaneous reluctance vis‐à‐vis collective actions (Wynn 2015), whatever their perception of social risks, as shown by Jansen and Lehr (2019). Many of them consider the peculiarities of project‐based work are not understood by conventional unions — who often see them as ‘false’ independent workers or again ‘disguised’ employees — and prefer to voice directly their own demands.…”

What explains the increase in trade union density and female share of union members in the United Kingdom in 2017–2020?

“…More recent literature has used individual-level data to consider the job security-union membership nexus. 3 Nätti et al (2005), using data on Finnish employees, find that perceived job insecurity increases unionisation rates and Jansen and Lehr (2022), in a study of individuals in the Netherlands, also find that greater job insecurity is positively associated with union membership. A similar association is obtained by Guest and Dewe (1988) for workers in the UK electronics industry.…”

“…One effect of this instability has been on consumer expectations of unemployment, which have tended to increase for both males and females since 2014, but with sharp increases in 2015 and especially at the time of the first 'lockdown' (Figure 3). Since job insecurity has been found to increase the probability of union membership (for example, Jansen and Lehr, 2022), macroeconomic instability may explain part of the increase in union membership observed since 2017. If females have a greater dislike of income variability (i.e.…”

“…Since job insecurity has been found to increase the probability of union membership (e.g. Jansen and Lehr, 2022), macroeconomic instability may explain part of the increase in union membership observed since 2017. If females have a greater dislike of income variability (i.e.…”

Platform economy puzzles: the need for a multidisciplinary perspective on gig work

“…One puzzle is the insider-outsider problem, a growing problem for labour institutions (Jansen and Lehr 2019;Lindbeck and Snower 1984;Rueda 2007). This phenomenon precedes the development of the digitally mediated gig economy; arguably, it is at the crux of the success (and fears) related to the gig economy.…”