Abstract
AbstractUnionized workers tend to be less satisfied with their jobs than their non‐union counterparts. Despite 40 years of research that has sought to explain this phenomenon, the causes of this relationship are not fully understood. Drawing on nationally representative panel data from the UK, this study uses quasi‐experimental methods to compare how the job satisfaction of union members and their non‐union counterparts changes in response to an exogenous event. Results suggest that working conditions rather than the behaviour of unions are the more likely cause of union member job dissatisfaction.
Highlights
Unionized workers tend to be less satisfied with their jobs than their nonunion counterparts
For the sake of brevity, we provide a list of amalgamated occupations: teachers and all employees in schools and colleges; municipal government workers, probation officers, clerical and administrative grades working in job centres, law courts, police, passport office and other government agencies; the National Health Service including healthcare assistants, clerical staff, porters, paramedics, cleaners, podiatrists and chiropodists, nurses and hospital doctors; HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
We first report average levels of job satisfaction among those affected by the pensions dispute and those not affected, distinguishing further between union and non-union members
Summary
Unionized workers tend to be less satisfied with their jobs than their nonunion counterparts. Results suggest that working conditions rather than the behaviour of unions are the more likely cause of union member job dissatisfaction It is a well-established empirical regularity that union members are less satisfied with their jobs than their non-union counterparts (Borjas 1979; Bryson et al 2010; Freeman 1978; Green and Heywood 2015; Laroche 2017, 2016). There is some disagreement about whether such dissatisfaction is ‘true’ or ‘voiced’ (Freeman and Medoff 1984: 139) but the basic underpinning idea is that unions have a causal impact on job dissatisfaction
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