Critically Appraise the Relations in a Non Union Firm

The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the employment relations in a non – union Firm. The essay will start with a definition of non – union firm, attention will be given to characterise these firms. This will be followed by a review of the labels given to these firms due to their employment practices used. There will be comparisons of small and large companies and attention will be drawn to the general management styles adopted in these companies. Finally, this will lead to a conclusion and summary of the critiques noted throughout the essay.

A non union firm is defined by Heery and Noon (2001) as an organisation where a trade union is not recognised by management for individual representation, joint consultation, or collective bargaining. They suggest many non-union companies tend to have poorer employment conditions as opposed to unionised companies. Furthermore McNabb & Whitfield (2000) categorise small non – union firms as ones that tend to portray poor wages and conditions.

At the risk of comparing between companies between different companies, O’Neil (2006) reported on health and safety concerns between union and union firms and was suggested by the Louisville Courier Journal newspaper in USA small non union mines generally are paid less and they do not have unions who demand the mines to comply with safety regulations. This supports McNabb and Whitfield (2000) in terms of poor conditions, again this is a comparison between a company in the USA and the UK. Charlwood & Terry (2007) state non-union representation had an insignificant impact on wage dispersion, but they do not categorise between small, medium and large firms.

According to the WERS 2004 survey the majority of employees in small firms reported, managers were good or very good at keeping employees informed regarding changes to the running of the organization, changes in staffing and changes to their job (DTI, 2005). Therefore the assumption is that small firms reported have open

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