Workplace Justice Research Articles

How Social Dominance Orientation Affects Union Participation: The Role of Union Identification and Perceived Union Instrumentality

ABSTRACTBridging social dominance theory and labour studies, this field study investigated the mechanisms underpinning the relationship between rejection of group‐based domination and participation in union activities. Respondents (N = 135) were members of a public sector union in California, that is, a hierarchy‐attenuating institution. Results revealed that union identification mediated the negative relationship between social dominance orientation and active union participation. Moreover, the mediational effect of union identification was moderated by perceived union instrumentality (i.e. outcome‐ and process‐based benefits afforded by the union), indicating that the relationship between union identification and participation was stronger among those union members who consider that the union affects workplace justice. The findings reveal the importance of both identity‐based and instrumental motivations underlying union participation. The novelty of applying social dominance theory to union behaviour is underscored. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An analysis of correlation between organizational justice and job satisfaction

This study was an attempt to explore the relationship between organizational justice, encompassed by three components: (distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice) job satisfaction, that is employees’ perceptions of workplace justice. This study, indeed, investigated the relationship among these justice measures in the Iranian environment. The data were collected through the distribution of questionnaires among 229 employees of Furniture Manufacturing Company through a stratified random sampling. The study findings showed that only one significant relationship existed between the age of respondents and their perceptions of organizational justice. The findings also suggested that this was a positive association organizational justice and job satisfaction. Employee job satisfaction depended upon the organizational justice of managers. Nevertheless, in measuring the three dimensions of organizational justice, the current study used survey items asking employees whether something is generally fair or not. Finally, although, this study was conducted in Iran, it was expected that the findings might have the relevance on a broader scale. The results could be very helpful for developing a new model of organizational justice with new implementation techniques by replicating this study in different countries and contexts.

Access to information and empowerment perspectives in health services

This study highly supports the role of empowerment in a health organization. The aim of the study is to emphasize the impact of empowerment dimensions (access to information, resources, workplace support, and development opportunities) over the workplace satisfaction, commitment, justice and workplace exhaustion. Two questionnaires were administered to measure empowerment and organizational climate in a sample of 108 hospital workers. The regression analysis revealed the role of empowerment dimensions on employees’ attitudes/ perceptions. Management should promote the empowerment practices in healthcare organizations and pay attention to the monitoring of empowerment practices effects on employees attitudes and performances.

Reclaiming authentic selves: Control, resistive humour and identity work in the office

This article analyses a study that reveals employees using humour to resist an organization’s normative control attempts via a ‘workplace justice’ program. In an interesting ‘doubling’, the program used excerpts from the television comedy The Office which were intended to provide clear examples of inappropriate workplace behaviour and foster consensual understanding. However, The Office can be read as a parody of the performativity of management, gender and political correctness, a reading that problematizes the organizational purposes and one exploited by employees to construct alternate interpretations. Analysis focuses on a number of intersecting areas centring on identity work and humour. Firstly, resistance to normative control and its presumed intrusions, with resistance manifest in the form of humour. Related to this are employee perceptions that the organization required the mere performance of ‘appropriate behaviour’ in conformance with politically correct, managerially fashionable and legalistically expedient expectations. This raises questions about performance, identity and authenticity. Secondly, identity work takes place within power, but operates through a series of plateaux: actions may act resistively in relation to a managerial/hierarchical plateau whilst at the same time acting to reproduce forms of heteronormative masculinity in a different, gender power plateau. Thirdly, the article examines the role of humour in the complexities of identity work and in relation to different frameworks of power. It further theorizes and illustrates the ambiguities of humour and its double-edged capacity to contribute to the maintenance of the status quo and the performance of power as well as its resistive and subversive potential.

The Influence of Workplace Justice Perceptions on Commercial Driver Turnover Intentions

Employee retention is a critical and challenging workplace issue including in the U.S. motor carrier industry with its perennially high driver turnover rates. Truck driver retention affects supply chain performance because of its impact on carrier operating safety and the service capacity of the trucking industry. Government authorities exert an influence on truck driver retention via the safety policies, labor policies, and regulations they mandate. A proposed rule requiring electronic on-board recorders of some carrier drivers offers an opportunity to investigate the influence of government policy on driver work intentions. In this study we examine this influence through the lens of procedural justice theory. Drawing on procedural justice literature, we develop a model which examines the procedural justice perceptions of commercial drivers and the subsequent impact on their decision-making behavior, including their organizational and industry intentions to remain or quit.

Reaching out for strength within? ‘Social movement unionism’ in a small country setting

ABSTRACTTrade unions around the developed world face common challenges in terms of declining membership and influence, and ‘conventional’ union revival strategies have yielded limited success. A relatively recent innovation has been the embrace of ‘social movement unionism’ (SMU), which challenges traditional workplace conceptions of trade union roles via alliances with campaigning civil society organisations. This empirical study examines how SMU is conceived and applied in a small country context, focusing on the role of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. The findings suggest that SMU can appeal to trade union associations in smaller national (or regional) settings owing to a combination of institutional and size effects which concentrate networks. This has implications for unions and union federations interested in advancing both workplace and wider social justice concerns.

A Study of Workplace Justice Differences During Times of Change

The authors used social comparison theory in conjunction with fairness theory to investigate the impact of differences between personal and third-party perceptions of change justice on commitment to the change and turnover intentions. Results involving data from manufacturing employees, who had recently undergone a sweeping organizational change, indicated that differences in perceived fairness for oneself versus others were negatively related to change commitment but positively related to emotional exhaustion. In addition, results indicated that emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between justice differences and the important outcomes of change commitment and turnover intentions. Implications for organizations and future research are discussed.

Societal Costs of Prescription Opioid Abuse, Dependence, and Misuse in the United States

The objective of this study was to estimate the societal costs of prescription opioid abuse, dependence, and misuse in the United States. Costs were grouped into three categories: health care, workplace, and criminal justice. Costs were estimated by 1) quantity method, which multiplies the number of opioid abuse patients by cost per opioid abuse patient; and 2) apportionment method, which begins with overall costs of drug abuse per component and apportions the share associated with prescription opioid abuse based on relative prevalence of prescription opioid to overall drug abuse. Excess health care costs per patient were based on claims data analysis of privately insured and Medicaid beneficiaries. Other data/information were derived from publicly available survey and other secondary sources. Total US societal costs of prescription opioid abuse were estimated at $55.7 billion in 2007 (USD in 2009). Workplace costs accounted for $25.6 billion (46%), health care costs accounted for $25.0 billion (45%), and criminal justice costs accounted for $5.1 billion (9%). Workplace costs were driven by lost earnings from premature death ($11.2 billion) and reduced compensation/lost employment ($7.9 billion). Health care costs consisted primarily of excess medical and prescription costs ($23.7 billion). Criminal justice costs were largely comprised of correctional facility ($2.3 billion) and police costs ($1.5 billion). The costs of prescription opioid abuse represent a substantial and growing economic burden for the society. The increasing prevalence of abuse suggests an even greater societal burden in the future.

Employment Insecurity, Workplace Justice and Employees’ Burnout in Taiwanese Employees: A Validation Study

Employment insecurity and workplace injustice are important psychosocial hazards. However, few studies of these associations have been conducted in Chinese-speaking populations. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of employment insecurity and workplace justice scales, and examined their associations with the levels of workers' burnout status in Taiwanese workers. Study subjects were participants in a national survey of employees in Taiwan, consisting of 9,636 men and 7,406 women. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess employment insecurity (six items) and workplace justice (nine items), as well as other psychosocial work characteristics. After the survey was completed, in-depth interviews with 10 employees were conducted for a qualitative evaluation. Cronbach's α was 0.87 or greater for the workplace justice scale and 0.76 or greater for the employment insecurity scale, indicating satisfactory internal consistencies. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a factor pattern consistent with the theoretically assumed structure, except that the items with statements in reversed direction were loaded on separated factors. Higher levels of employment insecurity and lower levels of workplace justice were associated with higher burnout scores. However, results from the qualitative interviews suggested that some questionnaire items contained double-barreled questions, and some questions were misinterpreted or considered irrelevant by participants. The Chinese version of employment insecurity and workplace justice scales were found to have satisfactory reliability and validity. However, improvement of these scales is still needed.

The Structure of a Rawlsian Theory of Just Work

This article outlines the structure of a Rawlsian theory of justice in the employment relationship. A focus on this theory is motivated by the role it plays in debates in business ethics. The Rawlsian theory answers three central questions about justice and the workplace. What is the relationship between social justice and justice at work? How should we conceive of the problem of justice in the economic sphere? And, what is justice in the workplace? To see fully what demands justice makes on the workplace, we should first spell out the implications that domestic justice has for working conditions. When this is done, we can develop a conception of workplace justice and investigate what content such local justice should have. John Rawls’s political liberalism was constructed for the specific problem of a just basic structure; in order to apply it to another problem the key theoretical concepts must be revised. Reasons for a specific construction of a local original position are given and arguments are presented in support of a principle of local justice, which takes the form of a choice egalitarian local difference principle.

Reexamining the Workplace Justice to Outcome Relationship: Does Frame of Reference Matter?

abstractUsing a combination of self‐interest and deontological theories as justification, we propose a demarcated view of workplace justice that separates justice for an individual (personal justice) and inferred assessments of justice for organizational members (third party justice). Results of two studies confirmed the appropriateness of separate justice measures and demonstrated differential effects on key criteria based on the relevancy (personal or joint) of the outcome in question. Specifically, Studies 1 and 2 found that personal justice was a better predictor of organizational commitment and turnover intentions while third party justice was more closely related to workplace cohesion (Study 1), citizenship behaviours (Study 2), and deviance behaviours (Study 2). Implications of these findings and future research needs are discussed.

A Study of Relationship between Organizational Justice and Job Satisfaction

This study examined the relationship between of organizational justice encompassed by three components:(distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice) and job satisfaction, and employees’ perceptionsof workplace justice. The study investigated the relationship of these justice measures in the Jordanianenvironment. The data was collected through the distribution of questionnaires among 229 employees of numberElectrical Industrial Companies selected through a stratified random sampling.The study findings show that only one significant relationship exists between the age of respondents and theirperceptions of organizational justice. The findings also suggested that this was positive associationorganizational justice and job satisfaction. Employee job satisfaction depends upon the organizational justice ofmanagers. Nevertheless, in measuring the three dimensions of organizational justice, the current study usedsurvey items that asked employees to respond to items that asked whether something is generally fair.Finally, although this study was conducted in Jordan, it is anticipated that the findings may have relevance on abroader scale. By replicating this study in different countries and contexts the results could be very helpful fordeveloping a new model of organizational justice with new implementation techniques that can be implementedeasily and successfully.

Applying the Ruggie Framework in Canada

FOCUS H BUSINESSAND HUMANRIGHTS Applying the Ruggie Framework in Canada In2009 1 contacted JohnRuggie and suggested we worktogether to operationalise Freedomof Association in Canada ROY J. ADAMS is Ariel F.Sallows Chair of Human Rights (2009-2010) with the College of Law atthe University of Saskatchewan At Ruggie is present attempting is in UN a to phase Special operationalise of Representative hiswork his where 'Protect John he Ruggieis ina phaseofhisworkwherehe is attempting tooperationalise his 'Protect , Respect,Remedy' Framework.Developed in responseto businessreactionagainstdemands for thelegalregulation ofcorporate humanrights responsibilities, theRuggieframework saysthat although governments have primeresponsibility to promoteand protect humanrights, corporationsmusttake responsibility forhumanrights within their sphereofcontrol and influence. Eventhough he didnotrecommend legalcompulsionatthis point, Ruggie's effort hasgotten the attention ofthelegalcommunity. Ata recent conference onfreedom ofassociation that I organised in Saskatoon,Saskatchewan in February 2010, KevinCoon,a partner intheprominent management -sidelaw firmof Baker and McKenzie, reported to theaudiencethathisfirm was now advisingclientsto put compliancewithhuman rights standards highon their agendas. In its 2007 BC Health Services Case the CanadianSupremeCourtgrantedconstitutional protection tocollective bargaining andtheimpact of thatdecisionwas the centralfocus of the Saskatoonconference. Coon, however, told the audiencethat, inthelongrun, Ruggie's framework was likelyto have thebiggerimpact.His comments areonlineathttp://foa2010.blogspot.com. Sincetheend ofWorldWarII an increasingly strong globalhumanrights consensushas come intoexistence. Amongitsmostsacrednormsis thathumanrights are rights thatare held by human beings simplyas a function of their humanity. Theyare rights thatare universal and indivisible. Thereis no legitimate humanrights hierarchy. Each humanrightis equally sacred and deservesequal respect. Theexplication ofhumanrights is a complicated processthat occursviaa congeries ofinternationaland national organisations. Withregard to workers' humanrights, however,one organisationstandsoutas theprimesourceofstandards - theInternational LabourOrganisation. Sinceits founding in 1919ithasdevelopeda richbodyof principlesthat provide a relativelyexplicit roadmapto nationsand to corporations looking forguidanceregarding compliance withworkers' humanrights. In thespring of2009I contacted JohnRuggie and suggested thatwe worktogether to operationalise one human right, Freedom of Association, inone venue,Canada.Theobjective was to determine what Canadiangovernments hadtodo tofulfil their international obligation to promote and protect the right,and what Canadiancorporations had to do to respectthe rights oftheir workers toorganise andtobargain collectively. He declined,pleadinginsufficient resources tobother withconditions insucha rich and politically democratic country as Canada. The result, in myopinion,is to place injeopardythecredibility ofhisentire effort. Although human rightsare supposed to be universal, Ruggiehas focusedalmostentirely on human rights issuesindeveloping countries. Thatis not surprising since the recentsurgeof interest in business and human rightshas been led by NGOs demanding thatglobalisation benefit not onlycorporations, mostofwhichhave rootsin therichNorth, butalsothepeopleandnations of thepoorersouthern halfoftheplanet. Fairenough However, manydeveloping country leaderssuspect that recent concern for human rights expressedbyvoices based in highly developed countries is a ploytoimposeconditions that will hindertheirdevelopment. By refusing to apply hisframework universally to bothrichand poor nations;by,in effect, givingrichcountries and corporations operating from thema pass,Ruggie adds credencetothatsuspicion. The strategy offocusing exclusively on developingcountries also leavesunexamined thestatus of workers'rightsin advanced countries. Ruggie'sdismissalof myoffer was almostcertainly based on theunexamined assumption that Canada is largely freeofhumanrights problems or thatthosethatexist(such as lingering discrimination )are recognised and are being addressed. Ifso,with regard totheright toorganise and bargain collectively, thatassumption is,I submit, unfounded. Approximately 70 percent ofCanadianworkers have theirtermsof employment unilaterally imposedby theiremployers. Theycannotindividuallynegotiatethose termsbecause of an imbalanceof powerand because conditions in firms ofanysize are standardised and require a collectiveprocessto get at them.Questioning employer authority intheunorganised workplace is insubordination. Workers mustdo as theyare toldor facesummary dismissal. Atan unorganisedworkplace theemployer maychangeconditionsat will,putting workers in thepositionof abjectresignation to their fateorquitting. In the unorganised firm, there is no objective, independent workplace justice system.Discipline is metedoutaccording tothewilloftheboss. As theCanadianSupremeCourtstatedin BC Health Services,collectivebargaining deserves constitutional protection because it affirms and supports theCanadianCharter valuesofdemocracy , dignity, equality, and worker autonomy. In theunorganised Canadianfirm, thereis a deficit ofthosevalues. INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 14Volume 17Issue 22010 FOCUS □ BUSINESSAND HUMANRIGHTS As a member of theILO, Canada is constitutionally committed notonlyto permit butrather topromote collective bargaining - tofoster itand makeitsexercise easyandthenorm. Itsresponse tothat obligation istoprovide mostworkers with laws underwhichtheymay acquire collective bargaining rights iftheyareable to form unions and state-certify themas exclusivebargaining agents. But certifying a bargainingagent in Canada is noteasy.The pathto certification is strewn withobstacles. Despite Ruggie'sinjunction thattheyavoid infringing therights ofothers, Canadianemployers commonlydiscourage their unorganised workersfrommakinguse of the certification process. The prevailingnorm (fosteredby employers and condonedby the state)is that workers shouldacceptemployer authority unless subjected to extraordinary abuses ofthatunilateralpower .To unionisein Canada is, moreor less,understood tobe...

Aziz Choudry et al. Fight Back:Workplace Justice for Immigrants

Aziz Choudry et al. Fight Back:Workplace Justice for Immigrants

Oral Fluid Testing for Drugs of Abuse

Oral fluid (OF) is an exciting alternative matrix for monitoring drugs of abuse in workplace, clinical toxicology, criminal justice, and driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) programs. During the last 5 years, scientific and technological advances in OF collection, point-of-collection testing devices, and screening and confirmation methods were achieved. Guidelines were proposed for workplace OF testing by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, DUID testing by the European Union's Driving under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines (DRUID) program, and standardization of DUID research. Although OF testing is now commonplace in many monitoring programs, the greatest current limitation is the scarcity of controlled drug administration studies available to guide interpretation. This review outlines OF testing advantages and limitations, and the progress in OF that has occurred during the last 5 years in collection, screening, confirmation, and interpretation of cannabinoids, opioids, amphetamines, cocaine, and benzodiazepines. We examine controlled drug administration studies, immunoassay and chromatographic methods, collection devices, point-of-collection testing device performance, and recent applications of OF testing. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration approval of OF testing was delayed because questions about drug OF disposition were not yet resolved, and collection device performance and testing assays required improvement. Here, we document the many advances achieved in the use of OF. Additional research is needed to identify new biomarkers, determine drug detection windows, characterize OF adulteration techniques, and evaluate analyte stability. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that OF offers multiple advantages as an alternative matrix for drug monitoring and has an important role in DUID, treatment, workplace, and criminal justice programs.

Economic burden of prescription opioid misuse and abuse.

Prescription opioid abuse and its associated costs are a problem in the United States, with significant epidemiologic and economic consequences. The breadth and depth of these consequences are not fully understood at present. To summarize published, English-language biomedical evidence pertaining to the epidemiology and costs of prescription opioid analgesic misuse and abuse and to describe efforts to reduce the burden of these problems. Published English-language articles on the epidemiology and economics of abuse, misuse, or diversion of prescribed opioid analgesics in the United States were identified by searching PubMed, Web of Science, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature database (CINAHL), EconLit, and PsycInfo, using (economics OR epidemiology) AND (misuse OR abuse) AND opioid as search terms or Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms. Article bibliographies were also searched manually for applicable papers. The search was limited to articles published from 1995 through July 2009. The literature search identified 2,347 titles, of which all but 41 were excluded as not pertaining specifically to the epidemiology or economics of prescription opioid abuse or misuse in the United States. In 2006, approximately 5.2 million individuals in the United States reported using prescription analgesics nonmedically in the prior month, up from 4.7 million in 2005. The total cost of prescription opioid abuse in 2001 was estimated at $8.6 billion, including workplace, health care, and criminal justice expenditures. One study of commercially insured beneficiaries in the United States found that mean per-capita annual direct health care costs from 1998 to 2002 were nearly $16,000 for abusers of prescription and nonprescription opioids compared with approximately $1,800 for nonabusers who had at least 1 prescription insurance claim. The economic burden of prescription opioid misuse and abuse is large. While the existing evidence indicates that persons who abuse or misuse prescription opioids incur higher costs and health care resource use, differences in methods used to explore this question make estimating the actual societal burden imposed by this problem difficult. Efforts to establish and maintain a balance between access to these drugs for legitimate pain management while decreasing the risk of abuse and misuse are critically important and include such tools as patient and provider education, patient screening, and use of technology.

Organizing for Immigrant Rights: Policy Barriers and Community Campaigns

Immigration to Canada has changed in basic ways the composition of the labor force. Over the past 40 years, a large wave of immigrants has arrived from the countries of the “Global South”. Many have arrived with high levels of education and qualifications; however, the jobs they receive are at the bottom of the labor market. The Immigrant Workers Center (IWC) in Montreal is an organization that provides individual services, education on rights, and organizes immigrant workers for workplace justice. This article describes three campaigns led by the center. They reflect the exclusion of immigrant workers from coverage in policy areas related to heath care, compensation for workplace injury, and benefits for collective lay-offs in the textile sector. The article concludes with some of the lessons learned in these campaigns.

Organizing at the Margins: Women Shape the Labor Movement

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Development and validation of a solid-phase extraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantification of methadone, heroin, cocaine and metabolites in sweat

A sensitive and specific method is presented to simultaneously quantify methadone, heroin, cocaine and metabolites in sweat. Drugs were eluted from sweat patches with sodium acetate buffer, followed by SPE and quantification by GC/MS with electron impact ionization and selected ion monitoring. Daily calibration for anhydroecgonine methyl ester, ecgonine methyl ester, cocaine, benzoylecgonine (BE), codeine, morphine, 6-acetylcodeine, 6-acetylmorphine (6AM), heroin (5-1000 ng/patch) and methadone (10-1000 ng/patch) achieved determination coefficients of >0.995, and calibrators quantified to within +/-20% of the target concentrations. Extended calibration curves (1000-10,000 ng/patch) were constructed for methadone, cocaine, BE and 6AM by modifying injection techniques. Within (N = 5) and between-run (N = 20) imprecisions were calculated at six control levels across the dynamic ranges with coefficients of variation of <6.5%. Accuracies at these concentrations were +/-11.9% of target. Heroin hydrolysis during specimen processing was <11%. This novel assay offers effective monitoring of drug exposure during drug treatment, workplace and criminal justice monitoring programs.

Developing a critical discourse: Michel Foucault and the cult of solidarity

Australian trade unions face the organizational and ethical challenge of advanced liberalism and its privileging of an enterprise culture, an ideological hegemony which unions, with their traditions of solidarity and collectivism, struggle to resist. While it has been argued that critical discourse studies offer a research methodology to develop politically engaged resistance strategies, CDS has not subjected the values and language of union mobilisation and class resistance to sufficient scrutiny. Employing discourse analysis to promote equality and workplace justice requires a willingness to engage in a critical examination of what terms like class solidarity now mean in the context of enterprise culture. Foucault's stress on the power relationships embedded in discourse clarifies the history of solidarity and intensifies our critical analysis of the new discursive formations of enterprise culture which have stripped traditional union solidarity of its institutional basis and authority. Foucault's ethics, based in the notion of the care of the self, suggests that union claims to govern and represent the interests of their members can only be reinvigorated by applying the Socratic ideal of self-examination and self-transformation.