By Bruce Campbell, Mordern Survey
Labor relations and unionization issues have received a lot of attention in the news lately. With recent legislation in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana (among other states) proposing to greatly limit public employees’ collective bargaining rights, tens of thousands of protesters have turned out to voice their displeasure, in some areas for days and even weeks on end.
Throw in the high-profile dispute between the NFL players’ union and team owners and it’s no wonder unionization is such a hot issue. Whether you’re a union leader or someone with no union attachments whatsoever, there’s a good chance your daily life or the life of someone you know is now being impacted by the political struggle.
The history of labor unions in the United States dates back to before the Civil War, with the greatest period of growth occurring in the early decades of the 20th century and membership peaking in the 1950s. Seeking to improve working conditions, establish collective bargaining rights and improve job security, unions have played a critical role in balancing worker and employer relations over the past century.
While the recent political turmoil has centered on collective bargaining rights for public employees within the context of state budgetary concerns, many of the principle issues between employee and employer remain the same.
Studies have shown public approval for unions declining in the past few years, with an especially sharp fall in 2009, shortly after the impacts of economic recession hit home. With all the recent political contention, Modern Survey wanted to know, how does employee engagement relate to the desire to unionize? Is it primarily disengaged employees that want union representation? Furthermore, what components of engagement are most closely tied to a desire for union representation?
Of the numerous studies, which have sought to determine the level of public support for unions, some, like Gallup’s 2009 poll “Employee Engagement and Labor Relations,” have already looked into engagement levels of union vs. non-union employees. But Modern Survey noticed a missing piece to the puzzle. These studies failed to ask whether non-union employees wanted to be represented by a union.
Rather than measuring the public support for unions, Modern Survey measured the degree to which employees are interested in being represented by unions at their job. In addition to looking at the engagement levels for union vs. non-union members, we also looked at engagement levels for currently non-unionized employees who would vote “yes,” “no” or “maybe” to being represented by a union.
First, let’s look at engagement levels for union and non-union employees, as you can see in Figure 1, non-union employees are slightly more engaged.
Figure 1: Engagement Levels for Union and Non-Union Members
|
|
Disengaged
|
Under Engaged
|
Moderately Engaged
|
Fully Engaged
|
|
Union
|
33%
|
37%
|
19%
|
11%
|
|
Non-Union
|
28%
|
36%
|
24%
|
12%
|
Looking deeper, Figure 2 shows engagement levels for non-union members by willingness to vote for union representation. Note that of employees that report a willingness to unionize, more than 50 percent are actively disengaged.
Figure 2: Non-Union Employees – Would You Vote “Yes” to be Represented by a Union if You Had a Chance?
|
|
% of Total Population
|
Disengaged
|
Under Engaged
|
Moderately Engaged
|
Fully Engaged
|
|
Yes
|
15%
|
51%
|
26%
|
15%
|
8%
|
|
Maybe
|
38%
|
29%
|
35%
|
27%
|
10%
|
|
No
|
47%
|
20%
|
40%
|
26%
|
15%
|
Using correlation analysis, Modern Survey has determined that “confidence in the future of the company” is the strongest predictor of whether an employee would like to be represented by a union. While the prevailing assumption may be that people join unions to make more money, secure better benefits, or receive better treatment from their company, our study shows that these items are legitimate factors but not nearly as powerful as confidence in the company’s future. Currently, insecurity about the company’s future appears to be a potent motivator of a desire for union representation. Conversely, instilling confidence about the future would appear to be a highly effective union avoidance strategy.
Figure 3 lists the survey items most associated with likelihood of voting for unionization.
10 Survey Items Showing the Strongest Association with Reported Likelihood of Voting for Unionization Ranked on Strength of Association.
|
Norm Survey Item
|
Percent Favorable
by Voting Intent |
||
|
|
Yes
|
Maybe
|
No
|
|
I have confidence in the future of my company.
|
34%
|
57%
|
72%
|
|
Overall, I am satisfied with working for my company.
|
51%
|
61%
|
74%
|
|
I often recommend my company to others as a great place to work.
|
32%
|
50%
|
49%
|
|
My company treats employees well.
|
35%
|
56%
|
65%
|
|
I get enough recognition for the work I do.
|
31%
|
41%
|
55%
|
|
I am satisfied with my benefits package.
|
35%
|
52%
|
66%
|
|
I am paid fairly for the work I do.
|
35%
|
46%
|
61%
|
|
My total compensation package is competitive in our industry.
|
38%
|
54%
|
64%
|
|
I have confidence in my company’s senior management.
|
27%
|
45%
|
51%
|
|
Where I work, employees participate in decisions that affect their work.
|
26%
|
46%
|
51%
|
About the Study:
This study was conducted in February 2011 with a nationally representative sample of 700 U.S. working adults (18+ years old) who match census data in terms of age, gender and region. The total population of respondents that confirmed membership in a labor union amounted to 141, with 559 non-union respondents. All “likelihood of joining union” metrics (figures 2 and 3) include responses only from non-union member.
About the Author:
Bruce is a renowned employee survey expert with more than 25 years of human resource industry experience. Bruce develops Modern Survey’s standardized
employee survey content and strategic planning for development of employee survey norms and benchmarking data. He also assists clients in interpreting their employee survey results.
About the Author:
Bruce is a renowned employee survey expert with more than 25 years of human resource industry experience. Bruce develops Modern Survey’s standardized
employee survey content and strategic planning for development of employee survey norms and benchmarking data. He also assists clients in interpreting their employee survey results.
