Skip to main content
Log in

The Relationship Among Union Membership, Facets of Satisfaction and Intent to Leave: Further Evidence on the Voice Face of Unions

  • Published:
Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined the impact of union membership on employees’ intent to leave their jobs across a number of facets of satisfaction, as a further test of unions’ voice face. Among the findings were that there were significant relationships between job, compensation, benefits, working conditions, and immediate supervisor satisfaction and intent to leave one’s job for nonunion employees. In contrast, only the relationship between job satisfaction and intent to leave was significant for union employees. Finally, over the facets of satisfaction where one would expect unions to have the most influence, the relationship between intent to leave one’s job and satisfaction was greater for nonunion employees than for union employees. These results provide a great deal of support for the effect of unions’ voice face.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We ran separate regressions for union and nonunion employees, rather than one regression with a union status variable, for clearer exposition. Using only one regression equation with interaction terms becomes somewhat problematic in interpretation and depends on a number of un-testable assumptions. In addition, we would have needed to report separate regressions for union and non-union groups to clarify the interactions regardless.

References

  • Abraham, S. E., Friedman, B. A., & Thomas, R. K. (2005). The impact of union membership on intent to leave: Additional evidence for the voice face of unions. Employee Rights and Responsibilities Journal, 17(4), 201–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batt, R., Colvin, A. J. S., & Keefe, J. (2002). Employee voice, human resource practices, and quit rates: Evidence from the telecommunications industry. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 55(4), 573–594.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bender, K. A., & Sloane, P. J. (1998). Job satisfaction, trade unions, and exit–voice revisited. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 51(2), 222–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryson, A., Cappellari, L., & Lucifora, C. (2004). Does union membership really reduce job satisfaction. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 24(3), 439–457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cotton, J. L., & Tuttle, J. M. (1986). Employee turnover: A meta-analysis and review with implications for research. Academy of Management Review, 11, 55–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dole, C., & Schroeder, R. G. (2001). The impact of various factors on the personality, job satisfaction and turnover intents of professional accountants. Managerial Auditing Journal, 16(4), 234–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faber, H. S., & Saks, D. H. (1980). Why workers want unions: The role of relative wages and job characteristics. The Journal of Political Economy, 88(2), 349–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. B., & Medoff, J. L. (1984). What do unions do. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghiselli, R. F., LaLopa, J. M., & Bai, B. (2001). Job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intent: among food service managers. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 42(2), 28–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groothuis, P. A. (1994). Turnover: The implication of establishment size and unionization. Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics, 33, 41–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanisch, K. A. (1992). The job descriptive index revisited: Questions about the qu. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 377–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirshman, A. O. (1970). Exit, voice and loyalty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iverson, R. D., & Currivan, D. B. (2003). Union participation, job satisfaction, and employee turnover: An event history analysis of the exit–voice hypothesis. Industrial Relations, 42, 101–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karsh, B.-T., Booske, B., & Sainfort, F. (2005). Job and organizational determinants of nursing home employee commitment, job satisfaction and intent to turnover. Ergonomics, 48(10), 1260–1282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krosnick, J., Nie, N., & Rivers, D. (2005). Web survey methodologies: A comparison of survey accuracy. Paper presented at the 60th Annual Conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research in Miami Beach, Florida.

  • Lee, T. W., & Mitchell, T. R. (1994). An alternative approach: the unfolding model of voluntary turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 19(1), 51–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, T. W., Mitchell, T. R., Holtom, B. C., McDaniel, L. S., & Hill, J. W. (1999). The unfolding model of voluntary turnover: A replication and extension. Academy of Management Journal, 42(4), 450–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mobley, W. H., Griffeth, R. W., Hand, H. H., & Meglino, B. M. (1979). Review of conceptual analysis of the employee turnover process. Psychological Bulletin, 86(3), 493–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagy, M. S. (2002). Using single-item approach to measure facet job satisfaction. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 75, 77–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, J. L. (1977). The study of turnover. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rees, D. I. (1991). Grievance procedure strength and teacher quits. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 45, 31–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schleicher, D. J., Greguras, G. J., & Watt, J. D. (2004). Reexamining the job satisfaction-performance relationship: The complexity of attitudes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 165–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. C., Kendall, L. M., & Hulin, C. L. (1969). The measurement of satisfaction in work and retirement. Chicago: Rand McNally.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tett, R. P., & Meyer, J. P. (1993). Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and turnover: Path analysis based on meta-analytic findings. Personnel Psychology, 46, 259–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, R. K., Krane, D., & Taylor, H. (2004). On the convergent validity of attitude measurement in phone and online surveys. Paper presented at the 59th Annual Conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research in Phoenix, Arizona.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven E. Abraham.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Abraham, S.E., Friedman, B.A. & Thomas, R.K. The Relationship Among Union Membership, Facets of Satisfaction and Intent to Leave: Further Evidence on the Voice Face of Unions. Employ Respons Rights J 20, 1–11 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-007-9061-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-007-9061-z

Key words

Navigation