Employee-level outcomes of union-employer cooperation: Who benefits from workplace partnerships

We examine the extent to which union-management partnership is associated with mutual gains for employers, employees and trade unions using a multi-level analysis of nested employer-employee data from the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study. The paper makes a contribution to our understanding of cooperative union-management relations through its examination of a potential role of employment relations climate as an enabling mechanism; and its systematic exploration of benefits associated with the three main stakeholders to the cooperative union-management framework (employees, employers and trade unions). The findings suggest mutual gains for all stakeholders are varied; and for trade unions are contingent on the presence of a positive employment relations climate.