The consequences of dual and unilateral commitment to the organisation and union

Abstract

Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. THE CONSEQUENCES OF DUAL AND UNILATERAL COMMITMENT TO THE ORGANISATION AND UNION. AbstractThis paper examines the pattern and consequences of commitment to organisation and union amongst union members in a UK National Health Service (NHS) Trust. Those who perceived the industrial relations climate as positive were more likely to be dually committed to both organisation and union. As anticipated, union commitment predicted union citizenship behaviours and intent to quit the union.However, organisational commitment predicted intent to quit the organisation but not organisational citizenship behaviour, which was predicted by union commitment.Findings suggest that those with a unilateral commitment to the union are more likely than the dually committed to engage in citizenship behaviours aimed at helping fellow members and colleagues, perhaps because they feel unconstrained by any strong loyalty to the organisation.

The role of management and trade union leadership on dual commitment: The mediating effect of the workplace relations climate

“…A positive WRC will be more favourable to dual commitment, as workers will perceive a greater convergence of interests between the union and management, and will thus see their attachment to both entities as compatible. In this sense, workers are likely to experience fewer conflicts in their double role as employees and union members when they perceive the WRC to be collaborative (Deery & Iverson, ; Redman & Snape, ). The above theoretical and empirical reflections lead us to propose:Hypothesis Workers' perception of the workplace relations climate will be positively linked to (a) organisational and (b) union commitments.…”

“…The main argument put forward to explain the positive link between WRC and dual commitment is that an individual is unable to develop an attachment to two conflicting entities given the cognitive dissonance that arises from such a situation (Angle & Perry, ; Magenau et al, ; Redman & Snape, ). Indeed, because of the discomfort associated with the presence of discordant cognitions, individuals will try to adjust their attitudes to diminish the dissonance and re‐establish a cognitive equilibrium (Festinger, ).…”

“…Establishing such collaborative workplace relations nevertheless remains controversial, as some scholars state that it can weaken union power and ultimately affect workers' union commitment (Kelly, ; Roche, ). However, an opposite position can be found in the extant literature on dual commitment (Angle & Perry, ; Ezirim, Nwibere, & Emecheta, ; Magenau, Martin, & Peterson, ; Redman & Snape, ), which has shown that a cooperative workplace environment—that is, a workplace in which the union, labour, and management are seen to maintain a cooperative relationship based on trust, respect, and the recognition of mutual interests (Hammer, Currall, & Stern, )—can result in workers being dually committed to both their employing organisation and their union (e.g., Bemmels, ; Kim & Rowley, ; Lee, ; Shan, Hu, Wang, & Liu, ; Snape & Chan, ). Researchers who have investigated the concept of dual commitment have thus contributed to our understanding of union–management collaboration by showing that such workplace relations do not necessarily result in a weaker relationship between the union and its members and can thus be positive and even desirable in unionised organisations (Balser & Winkler, ; Robinson, Griffeth, Allen, & Lee, ; Valizade et al, ).…”

“…Second, by considering the mutual influence of the leadership style of both union and management first‐line representatives, it examines how each of these two types of local actors can, respectively, promote or impair dual commitment on the part of workers. It thus builds on previous research on dual commitment (Angle & Perry, ; Kim & Rowley, ; Redman & Snape, ), which has mainly sought to measure and demonstrate the existence of this phenomenon.…”

Dual Commitment: Evidence From an Emerging Country Perspective

“…Inevitably, these differences might result in conflict between the service providers over the long term (Redman & Snape, 2016). Despite the propensity for conflict, dual commitment can exist in a harmonious environment (Redman & Snape, 2016).…”