ABSTRACT
Using the extensive data of the U.S. Workplace Representation and Partici pation Survey, R.B. Freeman and J. Rogers (1999) provide an answer to the provocative question: What do workers want? While the details of their an swer are shaded, the broad outlines are clear. Two-thirds of U.S. workers want more influence at their workplace and one-third express dissatisfaction with the influence they have currently. One-third of U.S. nonunion workers desire union representation and identify better pay and working conditions as the most important thing unions could do for their members (Freeman and Rogers 1999, 40-41, 69-80). This desire for both more influence and for unions is identified as the “representation gap,” a gap that fails to close largely because of the union-resistance activities of management. Moreover, advanced human resource management including, most notably, employee involve ment schemes, serves to reduce the desire for unions, making the gap less than it would be otherwise (113-114).
