The Effect of Trade Unions on the Provision of Training: Australian Evidence

Abstract

This paper uses data from the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey conducted in 1989–90 to examine the net impact of trade unions on the extent of formal types of employer‐provided training. A net positive effect is found, but only where unions are active in the workplace and not merely de jure representatives of the work‐force. The results also indicate, with respect to in‐house training, that unions shift the emphasis towards work‐forces with long tenure, a finding that is consistent with ‘union voice’ arguments. © 1994 Blackwell Publishing Ltd / London School of Economics