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8 Trade Unions and Unpaid Overtime in Britain (2010)
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@MISC{Veliziotis108trade,
author = {Michail Veliziotis},
title = {8 Trade Unions and Unpaid Overtime in Britain},
year = {2010}
}
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Abstract
Trade unions have traditionally focused on working time aspects and have campaigned extensively against long working hours in Britain. An aspect of this long working hours “culture ” is the phenomenon of unpaid overtime, which has increased in extent and importance in Britain and other industrialized countries during the last decades. This paper examines the relationship between unionization and unpaid overtime in Britain. We suggest that the impact of union status on the amount of unpaid overtime will depend on the nature of the firm and the sector in which it operates. Analysis of the first seventeen waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) confirms these hypotheses. In the for-profit, non-caring sector of the economy, being covered by a trade union in the workplace leads to less unpaid overtime, probably because unions protect employees from employer coercion and negotiate standardized reward and promotion procedures which provide no long-term incentives to work extra hours. On the other hand, in the non-profit, caring sector, union members work more unpaid overtime than covered non-members. Evidence is presented in favour of a specific pro-social ethos of union members: being a union member is associated with a higher probability of belonging to any other social or interest group organization in Britain. It appears the pro-social attitudes of union members lead them to donate extra working time in the non-profit, caring sector, while union coverage has no effect. The above results are important for two different reasons. First, they enhance our understanding of what unions do in the contemporary British labour market, contributing to the broad literature of union effects on various aspects of the employment relationship. Second, they can form the basis of further research on the overall attitudes and beliefs of union members, something that has been ignored in the economic analysis of the union membership decision. Trade Unions and Unpaid Overtime in Britain
Keyphrases
unpaid overtime trade union union member industrialized country pro-social attitude union status union effect last decade different reason promotion procedure contemporary british labour market non-caring sector first seventeen wave broad literature various aspect british household panel survey interest group organization long-term incentive overall attitude employer coercion time aspect union coverage extra working time union membership decision long working hour culture economic analysis specific pro-social ethos extra hour employment relationship
