HRSDC-IC-SSHRC Skills Research Initiative

Working Paper Series

Unionization, Training and Technology Related Skills Development
by Richard Chaykowski and George Slotsve.

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Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between unionization and the incidence and intensity of workplace training, technology usage, and technology-related training activity. The areas of training considered are as follows: basic training (including literacy and numeracy); occupational training (including professional, apprenticeship, and sales training); training related to human resource practices, such as team building, leadership and communication skills; and technology-related skills development, especially computer-based technologies. For each training type, both classroom and on-the-job training were examined. The empirical analysis utilizes both the employer and employee survey data from the Workplace and Employee Survey.

The results suggest that there is an association between unionization and technology usage, and between unionization and training, especially on-the-job training. The results also reveal that the association is somewhat complex. It depends on the type of training considered, and whether or not one considers the effect of establishment unionization versus whether or not an employee is covered by a collective agreement. For example, while a higher proportion of unionized establishments offered various types of training, a lower proportion of employees in unionized establishments received training. When we looked at employees, unionization is associated with a lower probability of participating in occupational and organizational classroom training, but is associated with a higher probability of participating in occupational and organizational on-the- job training. For basic training (such as literacy), unionization is associated with higher classroom and on the- job training. Similarly complex results hold for technology related training: the probability of participating in classroom training is higher among unionized employees, but lower for on-the-job training; while in the event of technological change, the incidence of employee training is lower for unionized employees, but the training intensity is greater.

Taken together, the results suggest that unions serve as a significant mediating factor affecting training activity, technology usage, and the level of training activities among employees subject to technological changes. However, the nature of the effects varies. Policies aimed at affecting skills development in unionized establishments would likely require sufficient flexibility to account for these diverse effects. Several implications of these results for policies related to skills development are explored in the conclusions to the paper.