The union default: Increasing union membership by facilitating the experience of unionism and overcoming the role of inertia

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By understanding both the role of unions as an ‘experience good’ and the place of inertia in contributing to the prevalence of non-unionism, this article suggests that a union default could have a major impact in recruiting new members. Drawing upon a sub-sample of non-union workers in unionised workplaces from a study conducted in New Zealand, the authors show that a significant minority would stay in membership and support a union default. These results have positive implications for understanding how to shape the preferences of non-union workers in union and non-union workplaces.