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. It is acknowledged that the reliance on single respondents does impose certain limitations on the significance of the findings (see Benkoff, 1997), but as Bacon and Blyton (1999: 642) note it is common practice for studies to rely 'solely on individual human resource managers as the source of industrial relations information and opinion'. Large-scale studies of workplace trade unionists are less common, despite the fact that union representatives 'play a critical role in shaping and mediating relationships between managers and employees' (ibid: 642). Given the emphasis the partnership approach places on the changing roles of trade unions at the workplace level, the focus of the current article on the attitudes and experiences of workplace representatives towards industrial relations change is a particularly worthy and topical area of study.

The survey sample was drawn from the MSF membership database and included the most senior MSF representative at each workplace across eight key industrial sectors: airlines, aerospace, chemicals, education, finance, health, manufacturing, voluntary. After piloting the survey instrument at a number of MSF training schools, all questionnaires were distributed and returned through the MSF head office during April and May 2000, with a follow-up survey of non-respondents during July. 2084 questionnaires were distributed, with 353 returns. Some returns had to be rejected, however, as they were incomplete or from extraneous sectors, leaving 317 useable responses. The distribution of returns presented in Appendix 1 shows that the response rate varied by sector, from a low of 10 percent in manufacturing to a high of 26 percent in health, a distribution that is in line with recent multi-sector surveys (see Arrowsmith and Sisson, 1999). The overall response rate was just over 15 percent. Whilst this is low, such response rates are not uncommon for postal questionnaires (see Saunders et al, 2000). The accuracy of the MSF database could also have influenced the response rate, as not all questionnaires were distributed to named individuals and there may also have been instances where named representatives had either retired from work or given up their union positions. Two important points, however, can justify the relevance of the data. Firstly, whilst the response rate is low the number of returns (at 317 workplaces) is high, allowing us to undertake a meaningful statistical analysis. Secondly, the spread of respondents by sector, firm size and MSF union representation was reasonably representative of the original sample population [iii] .

Some of the themes raised by the survey are investigated at a more intensive level through a brief case study of a National Health Service trust hospital. The case study draws upon exploratory research interviews and our attendance at meetings between management and unions on the subject of partnership.

The principles of partnership and the question of 'voice'
In the UK, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has set out what it regards as the six key principles of partnership. These principles can be understood as the necessary building blocks and preconditions for the successful development of partnership at the workplace. The principles represent an attempt by the TUC to develop a common partnership strategy that can bind trade union action in Britain together. The principles e