Work attitudes as predictors of unionization activity

Abstract

Examined the predictive relationships between attitudes toward work and level of union activity. To develop and test a predictive model of unionization, the attitudes and subsequent union activities of both a developmental sample and a cross-validation sample were examined. The sample consisted of 87,740 salaried clerical, sales, and technical employees from 250 units of a large organization. In 125 of these units some unionization activity had taken place shortly after the attitude survey had been administered, whereas in 125 of these units no unionization activity had taken place. The work attitude measures were obtained from scales described by F. J. Smith (1972). Results show that attitudes are useful predictors of future unionization activity. The most significant predictors of the severity of unionization activity were items dealing with the supervision received. When combined with the findings of J. G. Getman et al (1976), the present data show that employees who are dissatisfied are more likely to participate in union activities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)