Union effects on managerial and employee perceptions of employee relations in Britain

This paper uses matched employer-employee data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS98) to estimate influences on managerial and employee perceptions of the employee relations climate. Both the strength and direction of union effects differ according to the nature of the union and employer responses to it. Employee and employer perceptions of climate differ according to the strength of the union, bargaining arrangements adopted, and managerial attitudes to union membership. Employees'' perceptions of climate are also strongly associated with employees'' perceptions of union effectiveness.