This article questions the perception of non-union workers as rather rigid and out-of-reach non-unionists by using research conducted in New Zealand. It explores whether, under new institutional architecture, non-unionists would continue to exhibit the same preferences and exercise the same choices as before. This was done by testing their responses to a union default scenario. The significance of this study concerns how this particular group of workers, contra non-union workers in non-union workplaces, would react to a union default where a union is already available to them. By contrast, non-union workers in non-union workplaces not only at present have effectively no choice for gaining union representation but are also bereft of any experience of it in their workplace. The results suggest 44% of these employees would join as a result of a union default with union density consequently rising in New Zealand from 17–18% to 26–27%.

本文通过使用在新西兰进行的研究，质疑将非工会工人视为相当死板和遥不可及的非工会主义者的看法。它探讨了在新的制度架构下，非工会主义者是否会继续表现出与以前相同的偏好并做出相同的选择。这是通过测试他们对工会默认情况的反应来完成的。这项研究的意义在于，这群特殊的工人（与非工会工作场所中的非工会工人相反）将如何应对工会违约，而他们已经可以使用工会。相比之下，非工会工作场所的非工会工人不仅目前实际上没有获得工会代表的选择，而且在他们的工作场所也没有任何经验。