17 - Commitment to, and activism within, labour unionism

Summary

ABSTRACT

This chapter addresses commitment and activism in labour unions. We first define our topic and the relationship between these two key concepts and their relationships with other “unionism terms”. Next, we review selected theoretical perspectives and selected “classics” in the scholarly literature on commitment and activism. Following that, we review findings on possible antecedents, emphasizing meta-analytic and recent reports. We then turn attention to a few critical issues for the future, among them younger workers, new technology and measurement of commitment. We conclude with a brief comment on the importance of commitment and activism for union vitality and renewal.

Keywords: Union commitment; union activism; union activists; challenges for unions

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter we focus upon the relationship between workers and their unions, and the role that relationship plays in worker activism on behalf of unions. Various terms have been used to refer to the relationship between workers and unions, including “attachment”. A more common term in the scholarly literature is “commitment”, which is often recognized as multidimensional, and consequently differentiated into sub-dimensions such as belief in unionism, loyalty, responsibility and willingness-to-work on behalf of the union. Additional closely related terms include union citizenship behaviours (see Chapter 16) and allegiance. All these terms focus heavily on the affective, attitudinal and intentional orientation of the members towards their unions. Many other union-related concepts, such as union satisfaction (satisfaction with the union) or perceived union support (of workers), may be related to union commitment, but are seen as distinct concepts.

There are other relationships between workers and their unions that are not usually considered part of the commitment construct. Notably, workers have quasi-contractual relationships with unions wherein they agree or at least accept that the union will be their exclusive bargaining agent, their advocate for public policy issues, a provider of direct benefits and (often) that the union will be compensated for its services, typically through dues payments. To this point we have deliberately avoided the term “union member” to emphasize that the relationships of interest can also involve non-members represented by the union but who do not pay dues, also known as “free riders”.