Migrant workers, a vital component of China′s industrial workforce, significantly contribute to the nation′s economic progression and urbanization. However, these workers frequently encounter substantial deficits in securing decent employment, enduring unequal pay and rights at work. These disparities not only adversely affect migrant workers′ well-being, but also threaten society′s harmonious, stable, and healthy growth. Consequently, enhancing the quality of migrant work has emerged as a major area of concern for researchers and practitioners alike.Trade unions, as defenders of workers′ rights and interests, are expected to maintain and protect migrant workers′ dominant position. Yet, opinions differ on whether trade unions can foster a favorable relationship with enterprises to guarantee migrant workers a fair share of the enterprises′ progress and facilitate high-quality employment. This paper contends that resolving this contradiction entails understanding the intricate interaction between enterprises and trade unions, analyzing the traits of various modes of enterprise-trade union interaction, and subsequently unveiling the varying impacts of these interactions on migrant workers′ decent work.Based on the identity theory, this study investigates how enterprise-union coupling relationships (EUCR) affect migrant workers′ decent work. The results reveal that: 1) Borderline-EUCR, typified by “loose connection,” marginally enhances the social resources of migrant workers through increased interaction with colleagues and the enterprise. However, these resources lack stability and fail to meet migrant workers′ needs for core resources like income and participation at work. This uncertainty regarding their organizational identity impedes significant overall improvements in their decent work. 2) Auxiliary-EUCR, driven by “production,” neglects migrant workers′ comprehensive resource demands, demanding instead their proactive contribution to production. This depletes migrant workers′ resources, damages their organizational identity, and consequently, diminishes their overall decent work. 3) Rectification-EUCR, characterized by “supervision and restriction,” ensures that migrant workers receive sufficient basic resources (e.g., income and safety) and reasonable growth resources (e.g., work participation and career development). This effectively enhances their organizational identity and overall decent work. 4) Symbiosis-EUCR, denoted by “value fusion,” satisfies migrant workers′ all-encompassing demands for both basic and growth resources, markedly improving their organizational identity and decent work at the organizational level. 5) Compared to Rectification-EUCR, Symbiosis-EUCR offers more abundant, reliable, and stable resources, significantly enhancing migrant workers′ organizational identities and decent work to a greater extent.Three main contributions are made in this study. First, while earlier research has primarily concentrated on the antecedents of migrant workers′ decent employment at individual and institutional levels, this paper transcends these boundaries. By exploring the effects of EUCR on migrant workers′ decent work, we broaden the research spectrum regarding predictors at the organizational level. Consequently, we enhance the comprehensive understanding of how migrant workers′ decent work is created. Second, this research emphasizes that the fundamental cause for the dearth of decent work among migrant workers stems from the lack of organizational recognition of their identity. Based on identity theory, we construct a logical sequence: “EUCR → identity enhancement → decent work”, and systematically analyze how various types of EUCR can uniquely enhance migrant workers′ organizational identity through resource allocation, thereby fostering differential quality of work. Our findings contribute not only to the basic understanding of how EUCR affects migrant workers′ decent work, but also offer a systematic framework for subsequent research investigating the mechanism of EUCR′s impact on migrant workers′ decent work. Third, most extant studies on EUCR′s impact represent average results, with scant focus on migrant workers. By uncovering the distinct influences of Borderline-EUCR, Auxiliary-EUCR, Rectification-EUCR, and Symbiosis-EUCR on migrant workers′ decent work, we enrich the existing literature by extending the scope of research groups. This study also responds to addresses the inconsistent findings on the impact of enterprise-union relationships on migrant workers′ decent work, thereby facilitating a comprehensive understanding of the complex forms, characteristics, and effects of these relationships. Last but not least, this study suggests a novel approach to enhancing migrant workers′ decent work, offering practical guidance for enterprises and trade unions to establish appropriate relationships that promote mutual value creation and benefit sharing between migrant workers and enterprises.