Trade Unions and Training Practices in British Workplaces

The authors use British establishment-level data from the 1991 Employers' Manpower and Skills Practices Survey (EMSPS) and individual-level data from the Autumn 1993 Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) to investigate the links between training provision and workplace unionization. Both the probability of receiving training and the amount of training received are found to have been substantially higher in unionized than in nonunion workplaces. The authors view these results as showing that trade unions can play an important role in developing and boosting skill formation in Britain.