COMPARING UNION AND NONUNION ESTABLISHMENTS IN BRITAIN

Existing survey research in Britain has shown that there are notable d ifferences between the characteristics of union and nonunion establish ments. But at the same time case study research has indicated that the characteristics and employment practices of nonunion organizations va ry quite widely. In order to try to reconcile these findings, this pap er presents an analysis of some data contained in the 1990 national Wo rkplace industrial Relations Survey. The findings reveal that a sizeab le minority of nonunion establishments have similar characteristics to unionized establishments which, in turn, make them particularly vulne rable to union organizing efforts and help account for the fact that i t is these nonunion establishments which are most strongly opposed to a possible union presence. The implications of these findings for futu re research are then discussed.