IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v43y2022i3p1305-1318.html

Not so exceptional? Prosocial influences on union support among US workers

Author

Listed:
  • Jack Fiorito

    (Department of Management, College of Business, Florida State University, USA)

  • Irene Padavic

    (Department of Sociology, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Florida State University, USA)

Abstract

US unions have often been characterized as ‘exceptional’ in their weakness and conservatism compared to their Western European counterparts. American organized labor is associated with a ‘business unionism’ philosophy that assumes American workers are only pragmatic and materialistic, seeing their unions as vehicles for improving the terms and conditions of employment at their workplaces. Such an analysis omits the potential power of a belief that unions work to improve society. Applying an experimental vignette design based on a survey of over 1000 employed persons, this article examines whether ‘workplace instrumentality’ is the only motivation for workers to support unions. The authors consider the likelihood of voting yes in a union representation election to test the efficacy of two less studied predictors – perceiving unions as positively influencing society and perceiving them as facilitating workers’ voice in union policies and practices. Logistic regression shows that the most influential beliefs associated with union support were that unions improve terms and conditions of employment for represented workers (‘union instrumentality’), that unions positively influence society (‘prosocial unionism’), and that unions offer workers substantial influence on union policies and practices (‘worker say’). Researchers and union organizing campaigns should consider devoting greater attention to the social benefits of unionism and to union democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Jack Fiorito & Irene Padavic, 2022. "Not so exceptional? Prosocial influences on union support among US workers," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(3), pages 1305-1318, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:3:p:1305-1318
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X21990094
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X21990094
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0143831X21990094?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clayton Gumber & Irene Padavic, 2020. "Race Differences in Motivations for Joining Unions: The Role of Prosocial Beliefs," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 101(2), pages 490-502, March.
    2. Arthur Martinez & Jack Fiorito & Gerald Ferris, 2011. "Solidarity Revisited: Group-level Effects on Individual-level Union Voting," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 61-74, March.
    3. Lucio Baccaro & Chiara Benassi & Guglielmo Meardi, 2019. "Theoretical and empirical links between trade unions and democracy," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 40(1), pages 3-19, February.
    4. Bruce E Kaufman, 2018. "Rethinking Industrial Relations, or at least the British radical frame," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 39(4), pages 577-598, November.
    5. Jane Holgate & Melanie Simms & Maite Tapia, 2018. "The limitations of the theory and practice of mobilization in trade union organizing," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 39(4), pages 599-616, November.
    6. Bruce E. Kaufman, 2004. "What Unions Do: Insights from Economic Theory," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 25(3), pages 351-382, July.
    7. Peter Gahan & Andreas Pekarek, 2013. "Social Movement Theory, Collective Action Frames and Union Theory: A Critique and Extension," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(4), pages 754-776, December.
    8. Steven L. Blader, 2007. "What Leads Organizational Members to Collectivize? Injustice and Identification as Precursors of Union Certification," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 108-126, February.
    9. Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick & Richard Hyman, 2019. "Democracy in trade unions, democracy through trade unions?," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 40(1), pages 91-110, February.
    10. James T. Bennett & Bruce E. Kaufman, 2004. "What Do Unions Do?: A Twenty-Year Perspective," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 25(3), pages 339-350, July.
    11. Steven McShane, 1986. "General union attitude: A construct validation," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 403-417, September.
    12. Aaron J. Sojourner, 2013. "Do Unions Promote Members' Electoral Office Holding? Evidence from Correlates of State Legislatures' Occupational Shares," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(2), pages 467-486, April.
    13. Jack Fiorito & Irene Padavic & Philip S. DeOrtentiis, 2015. "Reconsidering Union Activism and Its Meaning," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 556-579, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jack Fiorito & Irene Padavic, 2022. "What Do Workers and the Public Want? Unions’ Social Value," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(2), pages 295-320, March.
    2. Lorenzo Frangi & Muhammad Umar Boodoo & Robert Hebdon, 2022. "Demobilised or dormant? Exploring pro-strike attitudes among employees who have never joined a strike," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(3), pages 1236-1259, August.
    3. Lorenzo Frangi & Anthony C Masi & Bénédicte Poirier, 2023. "From Unwoven Societal Relationships to a Broad-Based Movement? Union Power in Societal Networks in Quebec (Canada)," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(5), pages 1377-1394, October.
    4. Guy Vernon & Mark Rogers, 2013. "Where Do Unions Add Value? Predominant Organizing Principle, Union Strength and Manufacturing Productivity Growth in the OECD," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(1), pages 1-27, March.
    5. Tom Redman & Ed Snape, 2014. "The antecedents of union commitment and participation: evaluating moderation effects across unions," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 486-506, November.
    6. Leon Gooberman & Marco Hauptmeier, 2023. "Union Coalitions and Strategic Framing: The Case of the Agricultural Advisory Panel for Wales," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(5), pages 1226-1243, October.
    7. Aslı Vatansever, 2023. "The Making of the Academic Precariat: Labour Activism and Collective Identity-Formation among Precarious Researchers in Germany," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(5), pages 1206-1225, October.
    8. David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson & Colin Green, 2022. "Trade unions and the well‐being of workers," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 255-277, June.
    9. Gregor Gall, 2018. "The uses, abuses and non-uses of Rethinking Industrial Relations in understanding industrial relations and organised labour," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 39(4), pages 681-700, November.
    10. Oriol Barranco & Oscar Molina, 2021. "Continuity and change in trade union frames: Evidence from general strikes in Spain," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 42(4), pages 1232-1253, November.
    11. Richard B. Freeman, 2005. "What Do Unions Do?-- The 2004 M-Brane Stringtwister Edition," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 26(4), pages 641-668, November.
    12. David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2020. "Now Unions Increase Job Satisfaction and Well-being," DoQSS Working Papers 20-08, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    13. Sadık Kılıç, 2023. "Rethinking Mobilization Theory for Union Revitalization within the SSA Theory Framework," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1087-1098, August.
    14. Davide Però & John Downey, 2024. "Advancing Workers’ Rights in the Gig Economy through Discursive Power: The Communicative Strategies of Indie Unions," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(1), pages 140-160, February.
    15. Blanchflower, David G. & Bryson, Alex, 2008. "Union Decline in Britain," IZA Discussion Papers 3436, IZA Network @ LISER.
    16. Cedric Dawkins, 2010. "Beyond Wages and Working Conditions: A Conceptualization of Labor Union Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 129-143, August.
    17. Gabriella Alberti & Davide Però, 2018. "Migrating Industrial Relations: Migrant Workers’ Initiative Within and Outside Trade Unions," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 693-715, December.
    18. Mihajla Gavin & Scott Fitzgerald & Susan McGrath-Champ, 2022. "From marketising to empowering: Evaluating union responses to devolutionary policies in education," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 33(1), pages 80-99, March.
    19. Christa N. Brunnschweiler & Colin Jennings & Ian A. MacKenzie, 2012. "Rebellion against Reason? A Study of Expressive Choice and Strikes," Working Paper Series 13012, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    20. John T. Addison & Paulino Teixeira, 2022. "The Incidence and Outcomes of Industrial Action: New Evidence from the 2019 European Company Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 9685, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:3:p:1305-1318. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ekhist.uu.se/english.htm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.