Does union voice matter in Chinese workplace

This study examines the effectiveness of enterprise unions' collective voice face in influencing employment outcomes and firm performance in China where enterprise unions do not have a monopoly face. Drawing on a sample of 1268 firms in 12 Chinese cities, this paper analyzes whether union voice activities make a difference at the workplace within unionized firms and compares the effects of unions with a collective voice face and non-voice unions. The results indicate that, without the power from monopoly face, enterprise unions' supposed collective voice function is very limited: union voice activities do not improve wage or firm performance and what they tend to associate with are a few benefits. Unions with a collective voice face correlate with more employment outcomes than non-voice unions, though both types of unions associate significantly with a small number of outcomes. The evidence suggests that the national union's effort to expand collective consultation and to promote union participation in management may strengthen enterprise unions' representative role to a limited extent; there is still a long way to promote Chinese workers' collective voice in the absence of independent unions and the right to strike.