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Individual Voice in Employment Relationships: A Comparison Under Different Forms of Workplace Representation

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  • David Marsden

Abstract

This article considers the role of individual employee voice in regulating the 'zone of acceptance' within the employment relationship, and examines the extent to which different models of collective voice inhibit or foster the operation of individual voice. It focuses especially on the role of representatives who deal with job-level grievances who operate within contrasted frameworks of collective voice. In one, representation is negotiated with the employer, and in the other, it is based on rights established in employment law. The former is commonly associated with shop stewards and unions, and the latter with employee delegates and works councils. It is argued that whereas in the negotiated model individual and collective voice are substitutes, in the rights-based one they are complements. The article also considers how this may alter under dual-channel representation based on both unions and councils, which is very common in European workplaces. Britain provides an example of the negotiated model, and France of both the rights-based and dual-channel models. These ideas are tested using data from the 2004 British and French workplace employment relations surveys, and confirmed using data from the 1998 surveys.

Suggested Citation

  • David Marsden, 2011. "Individual Voice in Employment Relationships: A Comparison Under Different Forms of Workplace Representation," CEP Discussion Papers dp1070, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1070
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    Cited by:

    1. Sarah Ashwin, 2021. "In memoriam David Marsden 1950–2021," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(4), pages 979-981, December.
    2. Thomas Amossé & Philippe Askenazy & Martin Chevalier & Christine Erhel & Héloïse Petit & Antoine Rebérioux, 2016. "Industrial Relations and Firms’ Reactions to the Recession: A Comparative Micro-Econometric Analysis of France and Great Britain [Relations sociales et ajustements à la crise : une analyse micro-st," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-02172455, HAL.
    3. David Marsden, 2015. "The future of the German industrial relations model [Die Zukunft des deutschen Modells der Arbeitsbeziehungen]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 48(2), pages 169-187, August.
    4. Michael Barry & Adrian Wilkinson, 2016. "Pro-Social or Pro-Management? A Critique of the Conception of Employee Voice as a Pro-Social Behaviour within Organizational Behaviour," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(2), pages 261-284, June.
    5. Min Park, 2021. "Unionized employees’ influence on executive compensation: Evidence from Korea," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(4), pages 1049-1083, December.
    6. Agnes Akkerman & Roderick Sluiter & Katerina Manevska, 2022. "Let’s take it outside: Seeking alternative targets for expressing dissent at work when voice is suppressed," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(4), pages 1767-1788, November.
    7. Ilaria Armaroli, 2022. "Integrating direct employee voice within the framework of worker representation: The role of an Italian trade union in organising disintermediation," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 658-684, May.
    8. Thomas AMOSSÉ & Philippe ASKENAZY & Martin CHEVALIER & Christine ERHEL & Héloïse PETIT & Antoine REBÉRIOUX, 2019. "Industrial relations and adjustments to the crisis: A comparative micro‐statistical analysis of France and Great Britain," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 158(3), pages 463-487, September.
    9. Kelly Pike, 2020. "Voice in Supply Chains: Does the Better Work Program Lead to Improvements in Labor Standards Compliance?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(4), pages 913-938, August.
    10. Rémi Bourguignon & Florent Noël & Géraldine Schmidt, 2015. "Is employability detrimental to unions ? An empirical assessment of the relation between self-perceived employability and voice behaviours," Post-Print hal-02020996, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor-management relations; industrial jurisprudence; individual and collective voice; works councils;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence

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