An exploration of the relationships among union commitment, union democracy, and union effectiveness

This research was conducted to explore the relationships among the union members' commitment to their union, the extent of democracy within the local union, and the degree of union bargaining effectiveness at the local union level. Three hypotheses were offered: (a) there will be a moderately strong positive relationship between union commitment and union effectiveness, (b) there will be a moderately strong positive relationship between union commitment and union democracy, and (c) the relationship between union democracy and union effectiveness will vary depending on the index of union democracy used. Ten blue-collar local unions differing in age and size participated in the study. Officers of each local were interviewed to provide factual information concerning the local's objective union effectiveness, objective union democracy, and the age and size of the local. The memberships of each local were surveyed to determine their commitment to the union, perceptions of union effectiveness, perceptions of union democracy, and several demographic characteristics. The results provided support for the first and third hypotheses and mixed support for the second hypothesis. In addition, union effectiveness was positively related to the age and size of the local but negatively related to the degree of local control over negotiations. Finally, union commitment was positively associated with the degree of local control over negotiations.

Several implications for local union leaders were offered based on the results suggesting how the local unions could become more effective and more responsive to the members. Implications were also offered to industrial psychologists working with or considering working with labor unions. It was concluded that the field of industrial-organizational psychology can achieve a better balance between research conducted with management and research conducted with unions. Ultimately, such research can help to develop a better relationship between management and unions.