Support for Worker Participation: Attitudes Among Union and Non-Union Workers

Abstract

This research examines support for worker participation among union and non-union workers using LISREL analysis on data from the 1977 Quality of Employment Survey. Results are consistent with an underdog explanation of support among the total sample of workers: support is greatest among those with the fewest organizational and personal resources and rewards, those expressing dissatisfaction with extrinsic rewards, those working in large plants, and union members. The underdog explanation is also supported among non-union workers. However, among union workers there is broader and more varied support based primarily on subjective evaluations of work: not only extrinsic dissatisfactions, but also those most supportive of union activities, and those with high perceived job autonomy. These results suggest advocates of worker participation have underestimated the effects of unions and dissatisfaction with extrinsic rewards on fostering worker support for participation.