Factors Influencing the Effect of Joint Union-Management Programs on Employee-Supervisor Relations

This study tests a model in which programmatic features of joint union-management programs, the exercise of relative power options by employers, and organizational constraints are hypothesized to influence the intensity of collaborative efforts and, in turn, changes in employee-supervisor relations. An analysis of survey responses provided in 1986 by 92 unionized manufacturing plants having formalized joint programs generally supports the model. The results suggest, for example, that improvements in employee-supervisor relations are more likely when joint programs are structured to have highly active team-based efforts and substantial union leader participation; when programs are in their first few years of activities; when there has been either substantial growth or substantial decline in employment levels; and when the employer has refrained from subcontracting out bargaining unit work.