Summaries
Job insecurity, attitudes towards trade unions and trade union membership: an exploration of their relationship in Belgium
The data of a telephone survey in Belgium (n = 1.487) were used to explore the associations bet ween job insecurity, trade union attitudes (three components of union commitment, perceived union support, satisfaction with the union and 'union consciousness'), trade union membe rship and the intention to quit membership (among members) versus the intention to be come a member (among non-members). Previ ous research shows that workers mostly join unions because they are looking for protection. This finding enables us to develop three broad hypotheses. First, union members will report a higher level of job insecurity than non-union members. Second, job insecurity among mem bers will be associated with a lower level of commitment, perceived union support, satis faction and union consciousness, and with the intention to quit membership. Third, job inse curity among non-union members will be asso- dated with a higher level of union consciou sness and with the intention to become a mem ber. The results corroborate the first and the third hypothesis. The second hypothesis was partly rejected. Insecure members felt dissatis fied, as predicted. Job insecurity among mem bers, however, was associated with the inten tion to continue membership instead of quit ting.
Will members of the middle class threatened by unemploymenmt join a union? An
exploration of the relationship between class, job insecurity and union membership.
It is widely believed that job insecurity in indu strial societies is on the increase. In particular, several studies have argued that the job insecu rity of the (higher) middle class has substantial ly risen in the eighties and nineties. In this arti cle the question whether or not this is true is in vestigated. The effect of job insecurity on union membership is also looked at. To answer the re search questions we use survey data of 1992,
1994, and 1996. We only use data about workers in paid employment working at least 11 hours a week.
The job insecurity of the workers is measu red with three indicators: 1) actual unemploy ment; 2) perceived job insecurity; 3) numerical flexibility. According to these indicators job se curity in the Netherlands is still substantially high. However, especially the perceived inse curity and the numerical flexibility have slight ly risen in the 1992-1996 period. Contrary to our expectations, job security of the higher middle class is still relatively high compared to • the working class. However, our data also show that the job (in)security of the lower middle class seems to be converging with the working class.
Our findings show that job insecurity has only minor and mostly statistically insignifi cant - effects on union membership. Moreover, numerically flexible workers less often join a. union than workers with a more secure labour contract. However, it is important to note that with respect to union membership members of the middle class contrary to expectations put forward in the literature do not react different ly on job insecurity than members of the wor king class.
Job insecurity and participation in the works council
In this study we examined the relationship bet ween job insecurity and participation in the works council. Using Hirschman's theory (1970) about exit, voice and loyalty, we concep tualized participation in the works council as a kind of voice: an active and constructive res ponse to a dissatisfying situation. The results of a survey study among municipal employees show that there is no relationship between job insecurity and the intention to become a candi date for the works council. However, there is a relationship between job insecurity and the in tention to vote for the works council : the inten tion to vote was lowest among employees that combine job insecurity with either low job sa tisfaction, low organizational commitment, or
Summaries
low trust in the works council. We argue that ra ther than considering voting a kind of voice, non-voting should be considered a kind of ne glect: a passive and destructive reaction to dis satisfaction at work.
Job insecurity, union participation and union services
Two studies among Dutch union members are reported that focus on consequences of job insecurity relevant for trade unions. In the first study the relationships between perceived job insecurity and several types of contact with and participation in the union are investigated. Results show that job insecurity is related to several specific forms of contact/participation. \ separate study among members of one Dutch trade union, investigates the relation ships between job insecurity and the need for information about job opportunities and the labor market and the need for career guidan- ce/advice. Insecure members report a higher need for both information and guidance and almost all members indicate they would appre
ciate their union to provide guidance/advice.
International restructuring , job insecurity and employee participation
This paper explores the challenges that interna tional restructuring poses on employee partici pation. It is based on a case study of a chemical company which is owned by a world market lea ding multinational corporation. As a result of sector-wide overcapacity, the company became the object of international restructuring. The parent corporation subjects its assets to a per manent selection processes. This sword of Da mocles curtails the power of the local works council. The European works council basically functions as a management-controlled HRM tool. Alongside, workers manage to create space for bottom-up interaction. Nevertheless, there are no indications of an emerging international solidarity. Selection is only the start of rationali sation. Functions, that once belonged to the company, are now centralised. This means that the scope for local codetermination decreased. The new European Works Council does not fill this gap. Plant management becomes integrated into the corporate management structure. A tendency toward punishment centred bureau
cracy is the result, productive codetermination becomes problematic.
Downsizing and job insecurity: A Swedish - Canadian comparison
There is increasing concern about the 'down side of downsizing' in the recent literature. The negative effects on the morale of the workers who have 'survived' the downsizing exercise may be so harmful to overall productivity as to outweigh whatever immediate economic gains the workforce reductions may bring, it is clai med. Different research traditions have put for ward different factors that might serve to m iti gate such negative effects. The hum an resource management literature suggests that good la bour relations generating trust and organizati onal commitment among employees may sub stantially attenuate or even eliminate the po tential ill-effects of downsizing, it is argued. By contrast, a number of political economists criti cal of the 'free-market' model allegedly practi ced in the US have argued that a crucial factor in helping allay the fears and anxieties caused by industrial restructuring is the degree of em ployment and/or income security available to workers outside their current place of employ ment. Recent work on the effects of labour u ni ons, finally, suggests that the presence of uni ons may either attenuate or exacerbate the nega tive effects of downsizing on the worries of 'sur vivors', depending on the general character of the overall industrial relations system. In this article we report findings from a Swedish-Cana- dian comparison of blue-collar manufacturing workers having been exposed to various kinds of change, including downsizing. The results provide strong support for the claim that expe rience with downsizing, irrespective of a varie ty of controls, has a strong negative effect on survivors' anxiety everywhere. At the same time, there is also some evidence suggesting that the degree of externally provided security has a mitigating effect on the fears and worries of 'survivors' and that the presence of labour unions can serve to exacerbate such worries in highly adversarial industrial relations settings. On the other hand, the quality of relations and degree of trust between employees and their employers at the local level do not appear to have much of a mitigating effect on the impact of downsizing
