HOW POTENTIAL IS ESTABLISHING A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN UNION AND

MANAGEMENT AT MY WORKPLACE?

This test indicates conditions in which your workplace may engage in partnership between union and
management. Consider the frequency of the following statements in the past two years. Check only
one answer for each statement.
Use the following scale for your responses:
Never = 1, Seldom = 2, Occasionally = 3, Frequently = 4
N S O F
1. Union has workplace meetings of its members

2. Union meetings are well attended

3. Plenty of volunteers to help out when something about union needs

to be done
4. Members discuss work-related issues with union officials

5. Union conducts training to improve members’ skill and knowledge

6. Union conducts polls or surveys to obtain members’ opinions

7. Union discusses non-employment issues, such as concerning

“quality” improvement
8. Management conducts consultative mechanisms, such as “morning
tea” or meetings with top level managements
9. Management establishes employee involvement plan, e.g. quality
circles, autonomous work-groups
10.Management is willingly discuss workers grievance proposed by
union
11. Management promotes union members to higher position

12. Management provides facilities or funding support for union

13. Management has meetings with union

14. Meetings between union and management are attended by decision-

makers, namely top management level and union leaders
15.Meetings between union and management discuss operational
issues, such as concerning “quality” or “productivity” improvement
16.Meetings between union and management discuss strategic issues,
such as concerning “product development” or “business competition”
17. Management informs union in advance concerning plans of work-
related change, such as regarding work methods
18. Management consults union regarding non-employment matters

19. Management invites union to establish a joint problem-solving

team
20. Management includes union suggestions or initiatives as part its
policy
HOW POTENTIAL IS ESTABLISHING A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN UNION AND
MANAGEMENT AT MY WORKPLACE?

Scoring Key

This score was calculated by totalling your responses to the 20 items.

Calculate Reset
Your score is

Analysis and Interpretation

Partnership between union and management may be established and sustain to benefit to all parties at
workplace if some conditions are met. First, the union possessed strong bargaining power through
membership support and high level of workplace activism. Moreover, the union employs less
adversarial approach. Second, the management adopts pluralist view and avoids anti-union strategies.
And last, there is a mutual recognition and commitment to cooperation process between them, which
is translated into tangible actions to achieve harmonious industrial relations that delivers mutual gains,
including business success, employment security, and improved productivity and job satisfaction.

Your score can be interpreted as follows:

20 - 30 points = ineffective situation to establish partnership

31 - 40 points = workplace situation needs improvement to establish partnership
41 - 50 points = your situation still have room to improve to establish partnership
51 - 80 points = your situation is favourable to establish partnership