Environment Pressures, Managerial Industrial Relations Ideologies and Unionization in Chinese Enterprises

DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2012.00908.x
AuthorMingwei Liu,Chunyun Li
Published date01 March 2014
Date01 March 2014
Environment Pressures, Managerial
Industrial Relations Ideologies and
Unionization in Chinese Enterprises
Mingwei Liu and Chunyun Li
Abstract
Based on extensive field research in China during 2005–2010, this article aims
to explore the determinants of unionization in the Chinese context. We find that
managerial strategies toward union organizing and functioning have been criti-
cal in determining unionization outcomes in Chinese enterprises. While various
environment pressures may impose critical constraints on these strategies,
managerial industrial relations ideologies are central in shaping these strategies
when environment pressures barely exist or are bearable by management. Our
study makes the first effort in exploring industrial relations ideologies in
China and contributes to better understanding of unionization in the Chinese
workplace.
1. Introduction
Industrial relations (IR) theorists have, for a long time, stressed the impor-
tance of environment and ideology in shaping IR processes and outcomes. In
particular, the strategic choice model proposed by Kochan et al. (1986) sug-
gests that (i) managerial strategic choices, which vary considerably within
any given context, play a key role in explaining IR outcomes; (ii) environ-
ment pressures are important, but they do not strictly determine IR out-
comes; and (iii) the IR values and beliefs of key decision makers are central
to explaining variation in managerial strategies.
While the role of various environment forces has been widely studied in the
IR literature, few empirical studies have examined how perceptions, values
and beliefs of actors affect the course, structure and outcome of IR. More-
over, to date, IR ideologies outside the Western context have been largely
unknown, and the arguments proposed by the strategic choice model have
mainly been tested in advanced industrial economies.
Mingwei Liu and Chunyun Li are at Rutgers University.
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British Journal of Industrial Relations doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2012.00908.x
52:1 March 2014 0007–1080 pp. 82–111
© John Wiley & Sons Ltd/London School of Economics 2012. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
Taking a grounded theory approach, this article aims to explore the deter-
minants of unionization in Chinese enterprises.1Although Chinese unions
are not independent from the Party and extremely weak on the shop floor,
they are not completely useless to workers (Chen and Chan 2004, 2010).
Moreover, a high rate of unionization may possibly provide a broad platform
for the development of genuine unionism in the future (Liu 2010). We argue
that environment pressures and managerial IR ideologies are two key factors
in shaping managerial strategies toward unions, which play a decisive role in
determining unionization outcomes in Chinese enterprises. When environ-
ment pressures are deemed too high by employers, they tend to comply with
the request of union establishment or functioning. When environment
pressures barely exist or are deemed bearable or secondary by employers,
however, managerial IR ideologies are central to shaping their union strate-
gies. We discover five major sources of environment pressures on unioniza-
tion, that is, the official trade unions, local governments/labour bureaus,2the
Party, workers, and actors of global corporate social responsibility move-
ment. We also identify three dimensions of managerial IR ideologies that are
important to unionization in Chinese enterprises: perceptions of Chinese
unions, respect of labour laws and belief in the value of employee involve-
ment. In addition, we reveal three managerial strategies toward union
organizing and three toward union functioning, each shaping unionization
outcomes differently.
Our findings suggest the validity of the strategic choice model in the
Chinese context. With nuanced analysis of the linkages among environment
pressures, managerial IR ideologies and managerial union strategies, this
study also contributes to better understanding of union organizing and func-
tioning in Chinese enterprises. Moreover, our study brings an actor-centred
approach to the field of China labour studies as a valuable addition to the
dominant paradigm of political economy analysis.
This study is based on extensive field research in 12 Chinese cities during
2005–2010.3The fieldwork entailed open-ended interviews and informal talks
with managers, enterprise union cadres and workers in over 100 enterprises
with different ownership status. Interviews with over 60 local government
and trade union officials and Chinese labour relations scholars were also
conducted to triangulate our findings. While most interviews were conducted
individually, some were done in groups, which is common for field research
in China. The interviews on average lasted 2 hours, with some extending over
4 hours while some lasted less than 1 hour.
2. Union organizing in Chinese enterprises: setting the scene
China has only one single, official trade union, that is, the All China Fed-
eration of Trade Unions (ACFTU). Different from its counterpart in the
West, union organizing in China means setting up ACFTU branches bureau-
cratically at various levels, with the fundamental goal being not so much to
Determinants of Unionization in Chinese Enterprises 83
© John Wiley & Sons Ltd/London School of Economics 2012.

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