| Title of publication/activity: |
The Employment of Temporary Agency Workers in the UK: With or Against the Trade Unions? |
| Type of publication/activity: |
Working Paper |
| Nature of content: |
Secondary analysis |
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Author(s): |
Boheim R and Zweimuller M |
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Year: |
2009 |
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Working Papers: |
Working paper number: |
4492 |
Working paper publisher: |
Institute for the Study of Labour (IZA), Bonn |
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Survey instruments used: |
WERS 2004 |
|
| Management Questionnaire: |
Y |
| Employee Representative
Questionnaire: |
N |
| Financial Performance
Questionnaire: |
N |
| Survey of Employees: |
N |
|
|
WERS 1998: |
Y |
WIRS 1990: |
N |
WIRS 1984: |
N |
WIRS 1980: |
N |
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Panel data: |
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WERS 1998-04: |
N |
WERS 1990-98: |
N |
WIRS 1984-90: |
N |
|
|
Associated studies: |
|
Employers' Labour
Use Strategies Survey (ELUS): |
N |
Employers' Manpower and Skills
Practices Survey (EMSPS): |
N |
Annual Business Inquiry (ABI): |
N |
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PDF of full research: |
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URL location: |
http://ftp.iza.org/dp4492.pdf |
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Summary/Abstract: |
| A firm's decision to employ agency workers may be perceived as a replacement of directly employed workers or as way to curb union power, which trade unions would oppose. Alternatively, trade unions may encourage the (temporary) employment of agency workers in a firm, if they manage to bargain higher wages for their members. We estimate the relationship between hiring agency workers and trade union activity at the workplace, in particular, the type of collective bargaining agreements. We use British data from the Workplace Employment Relations Surveys (WERS) of 1998 and 2004. The empirical association between the employment of agency workers and union strength is weak, but positive.
Furthermore, workplaces with collective bargaining have lower wages in the presence of agency workers, suggesting that agency workers are hired against the unions. |
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Previously published as: |
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