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This study takes a mutual gains perspective to investigate how a labour‒management partnership (LMP) impacts organisational occupational and health safety (OHS) performance and creates a safe workplace. It develops a model linking employee psychological safety with a collaborative industrial relations (IR) climate and ultimately organisational OHS performance. The research context is China ‒ where LMP is driven by the Party-state in managing labour relations. To test the proposed linkage model, multi-level structural equation modelling is conducted, using matched employer‒employee data from 205 companies and 7229 employees in an industrial park in the Yangtze River Delta. The results support the use of the linkage model, demonstrating that partnership decision-making increases psychological safety, in turn developing a collaborative IR climate, ultimately reducing the number of accidents. This study contributes to partnership research by exploring the underlying mechanisms of how a partnership arising from the logic of neo-pluralism successfully delivers mutual gains for employees and employers in a non-pluralist context. It has wider implications for collaborative management and OHS management in a developing country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human resource management (HRM) is a major mechanism to realise decent work and achieve employee well‐being in China. Key questions concern how and when HRM is mutually beneficial for employers and employees, particularly how well HRM works with trade unions in achieving decent work. This study examines the effect of high‐performance work systems and trade unions on employee engagement, paying particular attention to the role of industrial relations (IR) climate in facilitating this relationship. Hypotheses were tested via unique cross‐sectional survey data from a large employer–employee matched dataset collected from 264 manufacturing firms and 6921 workers in China. The findings highlight that HPWS are a key mechanism for realising decent work. We also find positive evidence for the mutual gains of decent work illustrating the combined impact of HPWS and trade unions in achieving higher levels of employee engagement. Notably, a co‐operative (as opposed to adversarial) IR climate is seen to reinforce this relationship, indicating the significance of the quality of relationships among management, employees, and unions in shaping employee outcomes. Overall, these findings advance understanding of the realisation of decent work and 'mutual gains' in a Chinese context. Key points HPWS are a key mechanism for realising decent work, while the collective voice function of the trade union in China remains insufficient.Greater levels of employee engagement and decent work are achieved when employees experience the combined influence of both HPWS and trade unions.A co‐operative industrial relations climate, as reflected in the perceived quality of relationships among management, employees, and unions plays a critical role in enabling and enhancing mutual benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]