The Relationship Among Union Membership, Facets of Satisfaction and Intent to Leave: Further Evidence on the Voice Face of Unions

This study examined the impact of union membership on employees’ intent to leave their jobs across a number of facets of satisfaction, as a further test of unions’ voice face. Among the findings were that there were significant relationships between job, compensation, benefits, working conditions, and immediate supervisor satisfaction and intent to leave one’s job for nonunion employees. In contrast, only the relationship between job satisfaction and intent to leave was significant for union employees. Finally, over the facets of satisfaction where one would expect unions to have the most influence, the relationship between intent to leave one’s job and satisfaction was greater for nonunion employees than for union employees. These results provide a great deal of support for the effect of unions’ voice face.

The consequences of dual and unilateral commitment to the organisation and union

This article examines the pattern and consequences of commitment to organisation and union amongst union members in a UK National Health Service Trust. Those who perceived the industrial relations climate as positive were more likely to be dually committed to both organisation and union. As anticipated, union commitment predicted union citizenship behaviours and intent to quit the union. However, organisational commitment predicted intent to quit the organisation but not organisational citizenship behaviour, which was predicted by union commitment. Findings suggest that those with a unilateral commitment to the union are more likely than the dually committed to engage in citizenship behaviours aimed at helping fellow members and colleagues, perhaps because they feel unconstrained by any strong loyalty to the organisation.     

Paying to queue: a theory of locational differences in nonunion wages

Traditional theories of the effect unions have on nonunion wages are difficult to reconcile with firm and worker mobility. We show how differences in nonunion wages can persist in a two-city search model. Nonunion wage differences across cities are driven by transition rates into the union sector. Should union queues form in the nonunion sector, union power decreases nonunion wages as workers are willing to take lower wages to line up for union jobs. However, if queues are formed in the unemployed sector, union power increases nonunion wages as nonunion firms pay premiums to induce workers to leave the queue.     

Trade union membership and dismissals

In Germany, there is no trade union membership wage premium and a membership fee of 1% of the gross wage. Therefore, prima facie, there are strong incentives to free-ride on the benefits of trade unionism. We establish empirical evidence for a private gain from trade union membership which has hitherto not been documented: in Western Germany, union members are less likely to lose their jobs than non-members. In particular, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel we are able to show that roughly 50% of the observed raw differential in individual dismissal rates can be explained by the estimated average partial effect of union membership.     

Relationships between self-concepts,aspirations, emotional responses,and intent to leave a downsizing organization

This study examines how individual-level factors, such as task self-confidence, self-esteem, personal goals, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment affect workers' decisions concerning intent to leave the downsizing organization. Results indicate that task self-confidence and role self-esteem had positive, largely direct effects on intent to leave, which can be contrasted with the inverse relationship between the self-concept and intent to leave typically found in non-downsizing organizations. From this investigation, several implications for managing human resources in the downsizing organization are drawn and discussed in the context of planning for downsizing, implementing downsizing, and managing the downsized organization.     

An Event History Analysis of Employee Turnover: The Case of Hospital Employees in Australia

This study proposes an integrated model and alternative methodology in the study of voluntary employee turnover. A causal model comprising four categories of variables: personal, job-related, environmental, and employee orientations is formulated. This model is tested on a sample of 415 hospital employees over a 12-month period, employing the statistical procedure of event history analysis. During this period, 88 employees voluntarily left the hospital, representing a turnover rate of 21 percent. Consistent with expectations, the personal variable of kinship responsibility, the job-related variable of autonomy and the employee orientations of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave had significant effects on employees' decision to quit. The variables of sex and age were observed to play a moderating role in the analysis. Kinship responsibility had a significant negative relationship with turnover for females and males, and for those employees older than 30 years of age. The theoretical, empirical, and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Union commitment and participation among Hong Kong firefighters: a development of an integrative model

This paper examines the factors influencing members' intent to participate in their union, drawing on a study of Hong Kong firefighters. As in Western studies, the main direct predictor of intent to participate is affective union commitment, but instrumentality is a relatively more important antecedent of affective union commitment and participation than in the Western studies. We found some evidence of frustration-aggression effects on intent to participate in ‘militant’ and ‘general’ union activities, although the latter was significant only among individuals who perceive management–employee relations as co-operative and trusting.     

Loneliness,job satisfaction,and organizational commitment of migrant workers: empirical evidence from China

This study examines the relationship between loneliness, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of migrant workers. 213 migrant workers completed the survey. This study found that migrant workers are satisfied with their jobs and are committed to their organizations. Contrary to expectation, migrant workers are not lonely. Age and gender do not have influence on loneliness or organizational commitment. Single migrant workers feel lonelier than the married migrant workers. Married and longer-tenured migrant workers are more committed to the organization. There is no significant correlation between loneliness and organizational commitment. This research also indicates that lonelier migrant workers have higher job satisfaction while job satisfaction has significant positive correlation with organization commitment. Implications include having favorable policies to improve the management and services for migrant workers, a need for regulations to safeguard the migrant workers' rights and interests, and providing favorable living arrangements.     

Trying to Stem the Flow: Union Membership Turnover in the Public Sector

Based on a survey of members leaving UNISON, this study suggests that more than 40,000 members leave the union every year because of their dissatisfaction with some aspect of structure, organisation or policy. This analysis identifies some of the barriers faced by unions that are attempting to promote more participative unionism in order to reduce rates of membership turnover.     

High and low performers' intention to leave: examining the relationship with motivation and commitment

By studying intrinsic sources of motivation, the current research extends theory development in the motivation and commitment field to examine when employees of varying performance intend to leave their organisation. Based upon a nation-wide study of retail banking employees in one of the largest Australian financial institutions (N = 784), we found that for high-performing employees with either a promotion focus or affective commitment, there was significantly reduced intention to leave. The relationship between affective commitment and intention to leave was not significantly strengthened by increases in promotion focus. Implications for development of theories focused on intrinsic sources of motivation and commitment as well as the practical implications for talent retention are discussed.     

Accounting for geographical variance in the union satisfaction gap

Evidence of spatial variance in the relationship between trade union membership and job satisfaction is limited. Using three nationally representative data sets, we examine lower levels of satisfaction among union members and considers how this relationship varies geographically across the nations and regions of Great Britain. The analysis demonstrates that the union satisfaction gap can largely be accounted for by relative characteristics of union members and the jobs that they hold. However, there is evidence of geographical variance. The union satisfaction gap is generally found to be highest within Scotland and North of England. Despite high levels of union membership, evidence of a union satisfaction gap in Wales is relatively weak. These differences relate to differences in the perceptions of industrial relations among employees across these areas, which appear to be related to geographical variance in worker heterogeneity.     

Residual affective commitment to organizations: Concept,causes and consequences

Research on affective organizational commitment has largely been conceptually restricted by the temporal boundaries of organizational membership, while only few authors have addressed how individuals may commit to an organization before becoming members. Given that individual careers increasingly span across a greater number of organizations, this restriction limits our ability to capture how employees experience their workplaces throughout their careers. Addressing this gap, this article contributes to the literature on affective commitment by arguing that individuals may remain affectively committed to an organization after having left it. We extend the temporal structure of affective commitment beyond separation by introducing the concept of residual affective commitment, and present a model of how such commitment is formed. We elucidate the interplay between residual and current affective commitment, complementing research on organizational newcomers. Finally, we open up new avenues for research by discussing theoretical consequences of the introduction of residual commitment.     

The Theory of a Working Class: a Re-Appreciation of Ralf Dahrendorf

Competing social theories defining “working class” can be tested against the reality of trade union membership. Only Dahrendorf’s is a good match. He follows Marx and Weber by requiring the economic need to work, but additionally requires that such work be in jobs lacking authority, jobs at the bottom of the workplace hierarchy in which one takes orders from those above, but has no one below to give orders to. This definition can be used to predict working class behaviors other than forming unions including the general lack of support for revolutionary change and a classless society while still giving support for issues of social justice. Support for underdogs is evident among union members because membership fosters the recognition of one’s own underdog role. The importance of unions’ role in social justice generally is evident in the relationship between union strength and income equality.     

Turnover culture in the hospitality industry

Although turnover culture is considered to be a major problem in the hospitality industry, there is little to no research examining its influence on an employee's decision to stay or leave. This study attempts to address this deficiency by testing a causal model of employee intent to leave using a sample of 246 employees from six five-star accommodation hotels in Australia. The results indicated that turnover culture was the most important determinant of intent to leave, followed by the variables of job search behaviour, job opportunity, organisational commitment, union loyalty, job satisfaction, career development, routinisation, promotional opportunity, role conflict, and negative affectivity. Based on these findings various HR strategies are formulated, which have wider implications for the management of turnover in other work settings.     

Programme knowledge and value of work-family practices and organizational commitment

This study examined the relationship between the programme knowledge and value of work-family practices and organizational commitment. Employee programme knowledge of work-family policies was significantly related to affective commitment. This finding suggests that organizations should pay attention to how much their employees know about work-family benefits and how practices can be accessed. While the value of paid parental leave was positively related to normative commitment, the perceived value of childcare policy was negatively associated with both affective and normative commitment. These findings suggest that organizations must be aware that how employees perceive work-family practices can influence their commitment towards the organization. Specifically, practices that are viewed as having minimal value might actually lead to a reduction in commitment.     

Employee acceptance of organizational change:the role of organizational commitment

This study tests a causal model that predicts the acceptance of organizational change using a sample of 761 employees from a large public hospital in the state of Victoria, Australia. The LISREL results indicate that employee acceptance of organizational change is increased by organizational commitment, a harmonious industrial relations (IR) climate, education, job motivation, job satisfaction, job security and positive affectivity, and is decreased by union membership, role conflict, tenure and environmental opportunity. Organizational commitment was found to act as both a determinant and mediator in the change process. Implications for the management of organizational change using human resource (HR) strategies and policies are discussed.     

Is all turnover intent the same? Exploring future job preference and environmental considerations

This study approaches turnover intent in a novel way by incorporating both environmental and internal organizational factors together to create a more nuanced view of what drives turnover. The analytical focus is on senior-level employees in four agencies within the US Department of Health and Human Services. The findings show that internal organizational factors partially explain decisions to change jobs, but agency and time differences remain even after controlling for those factors. It also finds that the decision to leave government is driven by different factors than the decision to move to other jobs within government.     

The Rules of the Game: Union Solicitation in the Twenty-First Century Workplace

Even though union membership has declined steadily over the last 20 years, unions are dramatically increasing their efforts to organize the workplace. As a consequence, union solicitation drives are on the rise. While the case law in this area is relatively settled, many managers in nonunion environments are generally unfamiliar with the federal case governing union solicitations. This article examines the federal case law surrounding union solicitation and provides some practical guidelines for managerial conduct for dealing with union solicitation drives. It also discusses future directions in an interconnect world.     

Rising Income Inequality in a Time of Plenty: The Influence of Micro-Justice Standards and Group Membership on Macro-Justice Perceptions

Rising income inequality in the 1990s was used to examine the links between micro- and macro-justice. Data from a sample of 119 managers and 334 union members supported our hypothesis that those who more strongly endorsed equality norms at the micro-justice level perceived macro-level income inequality as more unjust. Looking at two key subgroups, our hypothesis that union members were more likely than managers to endorse an equality norm was not supported. Yet managers were significantly more likely than union members to endorse an equity norm at the micro level, as predicted. Finally, our fourth hypothesis that the equality norm mediates the relationship between union membership and perceived injustice was not supported.     

Linking organizational social exchange to intention to leave: Does normative commitment matter?

Abstract

This study examines the effects of organizational social exchange on normative commitment and intention to leave the organization. We develop a moderated mediation model with normative commitment as a mediator in the relationship between organizational social exchange and the intention to leave, and individual-level power distance as a moderator of the indirect link between organizational social exchange and the intention to leave via normative commitment. We collected the data for our two-wave study from 176 employees of a bank in Macau. The results of hierarchical regressions and bootstrapping analyses largely support our hypotheses.