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This article explores the barriers to union membership and organisation at workplace level in SMEs across Europe. It shows that the nature of social relations in SMEs makes the articulation of grievances a high risk strategy for workers and militates against the identification of collective interests as a basis for organisation. However, SMEs are dynamic organisations and organisational change can alter the conditions for representation. The article highlights the key importance of ‘pro-voice’ workers, with a collective frame of reference, for unionisation at workplace level. The general absence of such workers in SMEs compounds the problems faced by unions in addressing union renewal in the growth areas of the EU economy

This article introduces the SMALL project, its key research questions and methodology. It places SMEs within the context of the wider European economy. It sets out the data on union membership in SMEs which suggest that across Europe union membership is lower than in larger organisations. It then looks at rights to representation in SMEs and how thresholds based upon the number of employees reduce the potential for representation. The article explores collective bargaining coverage in SMEs. It considers the relationship between centralised collective bargaining systems and union membership in SMEs and the extent to which such systems can protect the terms and conditions of workers, drawing upon the case study evidence to suggest that such systems do not always ensure collective representation and organisation at workplace level. The article concludes by considering the steps that unions may need to take to address this.