The potential of a union default to influence the preferences and choices of non-union workers in unionised workplaces

Abstract

This article questions the perception of non-union workers as rather rigid and out-of-reach non-unionists by using research conducted in New Zealand. It explores whether, under new institutional architecture, non-unionists would continue to exhibit the same preferences and exercise the same choices as before. This was done by testing their responses to a union default scenario. The significance of this study concerns how this particular group of workers, contra non-union workers in non-union workplaces, would react to a union default where a union is already available to them. By contrast, non-union workers in non-union workplaces not only at present have effectively no choice for gaining union representation but are also bereft of any experience of it in their workplace. The results suggest 44% of these employees would join as a result of a union default with union density consequently rising in New Zealand from 17–18% to 26–27%.

The union default: Free‐riding solutions

“…When presented with a scenario, where employers would be legally compelled to enrol new employees as members, 65% of respondents indicated they would retain membership (Harcourt et al, 2022a, p. 116). In a 2018 New Zealand survey, where the same scenario was presented, even 44% of nonunion workers currently employed at unionised workplaces said they would remain members, following automatic enrolment (Harcourt et al, 2022b, p. 17). In practice, therefore, free‐riding may be limited, suggesting it is less concerning than standard economic theory would predict.…”

The union default: Effects and implications of regulated opting‐out

“…If combined with union recognition processes for sector‐based bargaining, a union default would make it much easier to recruit and retain members, especially in hitherto hard‐to‐reach sectors with many small employers and high staff turnover, such as shops, cafes and restaurants (Harcourt, Gall, Novell, et al, 2021). It could even be used to effectively recruit non‐union workers in already unionised worksites, a group commonly assumed to be forever non‐union by choice (Harcourt, Gall, Wilson, & Rubenstein, 2021). Although a union default is no guarantee of enhanced union bargaining, it can be seen as one of the necessary, if not sufficient, conditions for it.…”