The Union and Its Members: A Psychological Approach (Industrial and Organizational Psychology Series)

a The Union and Its Members

INDUSTRIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY SERIES Editors

Cary L. Cooper Neil Schmitt

The Union and Its Members A Psychological Approach

Julian Barling Clive Fullagar E. Kevin Kelloway

New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1992

Oxford University Press Oxford New York Toronto Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town Melbourne Auckland

Delhi

and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan

Copyright © 1992 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barling, Julian. The union and its members: a psychological approach/ Julian Barling, Clive Fullagar, E. Kevin Kelloway. p. cm.—(Industrial and organizational psychology series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-507336-3 1. Trade-unions -Psychological aspects. 2. Psychology, Industrial. 3. Organizational behavior. I. Fullagar, Clive. II. Kelloway, E. Kevin. III. Title. IV. Series. HD6490.P78B37 1992 158.7—dc20 91-25183

2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 Typeset by Thomson Press (India) Ltd., New Delhi, India Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

Preface

The writing of this book has grown out of, and has helped us to refine, several shared convictions about organizational psychology, about unions, and about the need to combine the two. First, we share a mutual concern that organizational psychology, as it is currently taught and practiced, effectively ignores the role of unions in shaping organizational behavior. In perpetuating this situation, the risk of developing and disseminating a truncated body of knowledge about organizational psychology looms large. Second, we believe that unions in themselves are fascinating organizations to study. The very nature of unions as democratic organizations that operate in the economic marketplace provides a unique setting in which to evaluate theoretical propositions of organizational psychology. Moreover, union membership gives rise to a unique set of attitudes and behaviors that are worthy of study. Third, we are convinced that the study of unions from the standpoint of organizational psychology offers considerable benefits to both parties. In this sense, the theories and methods of organizational psychology may assist labor organizations in achieving their goals. Similarly, the study of unions has the potential to advance theorizing in organizational psychology. Developing and refining these convictions has lead us to the belief that the relationship between the union and its members is a logical focus for behavioral investigations. A primary aim in writing this book is to apply the knowledge base of organizational psychology to an understanding of the unionization process. We employ the term "unionization process" advisedly. While "unionization" is commonly used to described the decision to vote for, or join the union, we explicitly reject this limited definition. Rather, we hold that unionization is a process that begins well before a certification campaign (e.g., through early family socialization) and continues long after an individual has joined the union. In this view, the development of general and specific union attitudes and commitment to the union, the decision to participate in union activities, and, ultimately, the decision to retain or discontinue union membership (whether through the collective act of decertifying the union or individually resigning from the union) are all vital components of the unionization process. Of equal importance is the decision by some members to assume a formal leadership position within the union, and the effects of their leadership behavior on the attitudes and behaviors of other rank-and-file members.

VI

PREFACE

For too long, both unions and organizational psychology have been ill served by the ongoing relationship of mutual neglect. Neither the study of organizational psychology nor unions can afford to ignore each other any longer. The knowledge base of organizational psychology is well suited to furthering our understanding of unions. Likewise, with their unique characteristics of democracy, conflict, and voluntary participation, unions provide an ideal setting for theory testing for organizational psychology. Thus, substantial benefits to both parties will accrue from a more informed and equitable exchange. It is our hope that this book advances the understanding of the unionization process in its broadest context, and contributes to the developing interaction between unions and organized psychology. Acknowledgments One of the lessons learned in writing a book of this nature is the extent to which the completion of our tasks and projects depends on those around us. This book is no exception, and we acknowledge the diverse contributions that others have made. First, the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (to Julian Barling and E. Kevin Kelloway) is gratefully acknowledged. Second, in their different ways, Valerie Angus, Steve Bluen, Julie Chatterton, and Karyl MacEwen helped us to see the project through to completion. Third, we would like to acknowledge the influence of Michael E. Gordon. More than any other person, his courage, and, yes, commitment in legitimizing unions as a valid focus for organizational psychology and his intellectual contributions made it that much easier for us to approach this topic. Lastly, we acknowledge the support of our wives, Janice, Dorothy, and Debra, and our children, Seth, Monique, Megan, James, and Thomas. Kingston, Ont. Manhattan, Kan. Guelph, Ont.

J. B. C. F. E. K. K.

Contents

1 Organizational Psychology and Unions, 3 Some Effects of Unions, 4 The Neglect of Unions by Organizational Psychology, 6 Why the Neglect? 8 Plan of the Book, 8

2 The Structure of Labor Organizations, 10 The Structure of Organizations, 10 The Conceptualization and Measurement of Union Structure, 12 Correlates and Consequences of Union Structural Characteristics, 15 Conclusion, 28

3 The Unionization Process, 30 Demographic Predictors of Certification Elections, 32 Personality Characteristics and Beliefs about Work as Predictors of Certification Elections, 36 Macro-level Predictors of Voting Behavior in Certification Elections, 37 Micro-level Predictors of Union Voting Behavior, 48 Modeling Union Voting Intentions and Decisions, 58 Conceptual, Empirical, and Ethical Issues in Predicting Union Voting Behavior, 63 Some Implications for Unions and Management, 67 Conclusion, 68

4

Union Commitment, 70 A Definition of Union Commitment, 71 The Nature of Union Commitment, 71 A Model of Union Commitment, 74 The Consequences of Union Commitment, 86 Dual Loyalty to Company and Union, 89 Situational Influences on Union Commitment, 92 Conclusions, 94

Vlll

5

CONTENTS

Union Participation, 95 The Nature of Union Participation, 96 Causes of Union Participation, 100 Consequences of Union Participation, 119 Conclusions, 122

6

Union Leadership: The Role of the Shop Steward, 125 The Shop Steward Role, 127 Becoming a Union Leader, 130 Styles of Leadership, 136 Effects of Union Leadership, 142 Some Remaining Questions Concerning Union Leadership, 148

7

Breakdowns in the Unionization Process, 150 Decertification: When the Union Leaves the Member, 150 Predicting the Outcome of Decertification Elections, 153 Contrasting the Predictors of Certification and Decertification, 163 Decertification: Some Implications for Management and Labor, 163 Decertification: A Potential Threat to the Labor Movement? 164 Quitting the Union: When the Member Leaves the Union, 165 Conclusion, 166

8

Effects of Unions on Organizational Behavior, 167 How Unions Affect Organizational Behavior, 168 Primary outcomes of Collective Bargaining, 169 Secondary Outcomes of Collective Bargaining, 177 Methodological Issues in Studying the Effects of Unions on Organizational Behavior, 188 Some Implications of Unionization for Organizational Psychology, 190 Conclusion, 191

9

Concluding Thoughts and Challenges, 192 The Process of Unionization, 192 Some Remaining Challenges, 196

Appendix: Extent to Which Union-related Issues Are Covered in Leading Organizational Psychology Textbooks, 202 References, 207 Author Index, 237 Subject Index, 245

The Union and its Members

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111

Organizational Psychology and Unions Unions are fascinating organizations and contrary to what the prophets of doom would have us believe, they will not vanish in the near future. (Klandermans, 1986, p. 199)

In this statement Klandermans (1986) articulates two critical assumptions for anyone interested in organizational functioning and unions. First, Klandermans reminds us that in and of themselves, unions are interesting, if not intriguing organizations. Second, despite pessimistic predictions to the contrary, Klandermans asserts that unions will be with us for a long time. We accept that Klandermans is correct on both accounts, and this raises an intriguing paradox for anyone studying organizational behavior, industrial relations, or both: Simply stated, organizational psychology has treated unions as both uninteresting and unimportant. At the same time, scholars of industrial relations have not looked to organizational psychology to further their understanding. As Strauss (1979, pp. 391-392) noted so cogently over a decade ago: IR scholars have almost actively rejected psychological contributions; psychologists (with a few distinguished exceptions) have displayed little understanding of the institutional peculiarities of IR. Thus the institutional naivete of most psychological studies is matched only by the psychological naivete of IR analysis. Put another way, IR scholars too often view industrial relations as a unique institution regarding which lessons from other spheres of life are almost irrelevant; by contrast, psychologists tend to view industrial relations as mostly interpersonal relations, ignoring its institutional setting.

This argument is easy to sustain. Social scientists who have chosen to comment on the relationship between organizational psychology and unions invariably describe this relationship as one of indifference at best, and neglect or animosity at worst (Fullagar, 1984; Gordon & Burt, 1981; Huszczo, Wiggins, & Currie, 1984; Rosen & Stagner, 1981; Shostak, 1964). During the 1980s, there was some awareness that these two disciplines could learn from and contribute to an understanding of each other. For example, several major journals devoted 3

4

THE UNION AND ITS MEMBERS: A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH

special sections (American Psychologist, 1984; Journal of Occupational Psychology, 1986) or special editions (International Review of Applied Psychology, 1981) to the interdependence of organizational psychology and industrial relations or unions. However, while some rapprochement may be emerging between organizational psychology and unions, considerable distance still needs to be covered. The general aim of this book is to show how a knowledge of organizational behavior and unions can be strengthened by an understanding of both. Some Effects of Unions If union membership was (1) infrequent and (2) exerted no effects on organizational functioning, the neglect of unions in the study of organizational functioning would be of no conceptual or practical consequence. We argue, however, that union membership certainly does make a difference. The extent to which this is true can be gauged from both the extent and the effects of union membership. Let us focus first on the extent of union membership. While it is certainly true that the proportion of unionized employees in the private sector in the United States has decreased virtually every year since 1980, public sector unionism has increased, and the absolute number of unionized employees is substantial: Even at its lowest level, close to 17 million employees in the United States were unionized (Kumar, Coates, & Arrowsmith, 1987). During the same period, other countries such as Canada witnessed a growth in union membership (see Table 1.1). While the absolute number of union members in Canada and the European countries is certainly lower than that in the United States, the proportion of their workforce that is unionized remains significant. Moreover, it is the aim of most labor organizations to continually increase the extent of their coverage. Of course, focusing only on the extent of union membership could provide a misleading picture: For example, union membership status could be unrelated, or even negatively related to organizational functioning. It is thus important

TABLE 1.1 Union Membership of Labor Organizations in Selected Countries as a Percentage of Total Wage and Salary Earnersa Country Australia Canada Japan Sweden United Kingdom United States West Germany

1961

1971

1981

1983

1984

1985

1986

59 30

53 32

57

36

58 38

57 38

57 37

55 38

34 68 43 30

34 76 50 30

31 91 56 23

30 94 54 21

29 95 53 19

29 89 52 18

28 89 50 17

42

43

42

43

43

31

37

'All data taken from Coates, Arrowsmith, and Courchene (1989).

Organizational Psychology and Unions

5

also to ask about the effects of union membership on various aspects of organizational functioning. We will analyze this issue extensively elsewhere (see Chapter 8). Suffice it to note that several factors point to the importance of union membership status for an understanding of organizational functioning, and extensive reviews exist examining this issue. In their classic text What Do Unions Do?, Freeman and Medoff (1984) show that differences exist between union members and nonmembers on critical macro-level variables such as wages, fringe benefits, and turnover. Throughout this text we will demonstrate how attitudinal and behavioral variables of some significance to organizational functioning are influenced by union membership status (see Chapter 8), union commitment (see Chapter 4), and union participation (see Chapter 5). One visible way of illustrating the effects of union memebership is by analyzing the workdays lost through work stoppages. As can be seen from Table 1.2, while there is wide variation between countries, the number of workdays lost per thousand employees is substantial. Also, the decreasing proportion of unionized employees is not an accurate indicator of the meaning of union membership for organizations. Note that while the proportion of unionized workers in the United States is substantially lower than that of the United Kingdom (see Table 1.2), the number of workdays lost per thousand employees in some years (e.g., 1983, 1986) is higher in the United States than in the United Kingdom. (This is also true for other between-country comparisons.) Clearly, unions are important and are perceived to be important by government and business. As one example of this, Margaret Thatcher's government in the United Kingdom during the 1980s (Towers, 1989) devoted extensive resources to reducing the power of unions. Also, as will become apparent in Chapters 3 and 7, organizations expend considerable financial and human resources in attempts to ensure union-free environments. Thus, the argument that unions do exert a substantial influence on organizational and TABLE 1.2 Workdays Lost per Thousand Employeesa Average Country Australia Canada France Germany Italy Japan Sweden United Kingdom United States a

1960-70 259 547

176 14

1971-81 674 912 200

49

1,185

1,189

20 187 591

147 549 274

144

104

1981

1982

797

377 615

908 88 3 635 14 55

198 172

136