Filling the vacuum? Non‐union employee voice in the Auckland hotel industry

Abstract

Purpose

To examine non‐union channels of employee voice in the Auckland hotel industry over ten years in order to determine the efficacy of non‐union employee representation in a lightly unionised service sector context.

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on a longitudinal study of employment relations in the Auckland hotel industry. Interview and archival data were collected in three waves between 1993 and 2003. A case study of a single hotel illustrates the analysis.

Findings

A majority of the hotels studied have adopted and continue to develop an array of non‐union voice channels. While hotel management retain their traditional decision‐making prerogatives and worker influence is constrained, there is evidence that interest in developing non‐union voice channels to gauge employees’ concerns and interests at work is valued by management, albeit for instrumental reasons.

Research limitations/implications

Major limitations include the lack of employee data and sample composition: large hotels in one region only. Further research, incorporating data on employee attitudes and perceptions, is required in order to understand employees’ expectations and desires for influence at work and the reasons for any perceived efficacy.

Originality/value

This study shows that, contrary to the dominant view that they are of little or no value, non‐union voice channels may provide workers in a non‐union setting with a measure of influence that would otherwise be denied.

Citation

Haynes, P. (2005), "Filling the vacuum? Non‐union employee voice in the Auckland hotel industry", Employee Relations, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 259-271. https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450510591594