Union membership and the willingness to prioritize environmental protection above growth and jobs: A multi‐level analysis covering 22 European countries

Abstract

This article contributes to debates about trade unions and the environment by studying differences between union members and non‐members when asked to prioritize between environmental protection and jobs and economic growth. Differences are explored in a multi‐level framework based on European Values Study data from 2017, covering 22 European countries. The empirical results show that members are more pro‐environmentally inclined than non‐members. This is demonstrated to be attributable to a large extent to the fact that members tend to be more left‐leaning politically, a disposition which tends to be associated positively with environmental concern. While those employed in transport and manufacturing generally are least likely to be willing to prioritize environmental protection, membership has the most pronounced positive effect in this group. The tendency for members to be more pro‐environmentally inclined is consistent across the studied countries. The article also shows that both members and non‐members in countries with higher collective bargaining coverage tend to be more pro‐environmentally inclined. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the political nature of collective interest representation with which unions are concerned, broader debates about union renewal and the importance of unions in garnering workers’ support for a greener economy.

A world systems analysis of union membership and support for government spending on environmental protection

“…This finding may be interpreted in relation to a body of literature which suggests that union members can become-or due to self-selection be pre-disposed to be-more willing to embrace policies that transcend their narrow or short-term self-interest (Ahlquist and Levi, 2013;Fiorito, 1992;Kirmanoğlu and Başlevent, 2012;Rosetti, 2019); what Mosimann and Pontusson (2017: 479) refer to as a "solidarity effect." A solidaristic rationale is in fact proposed as partial explanation of the finding that European union members tend to be more willing than their non-organized counterparts to prioritize environmental protection above growth and jobs (Ringqvist, 2022). Such an effect is mediated by leftist ideological orientation, which is shown elsewhere to be associated with a predisposition toward self-transcendence (Kilburn, 2009;Kirmanoğlu and Başlevent, 2012).…”

“…This article contributes with new empirical insights concerning union members' environmental attitudes (Chen, 2017;Ringqvist, 2022) by extending the geographical scope beyond the US and Europe and engaging WST (Wallerstein, 2004) as a comparative framework, revealing significant international variation in the association between union membership and support for government spending on the environment. Notably, whereas public support for environmental spending is shown to be substantially weaker in core as compared to non-core states, the latter being subject to more extensive environmental threats, the reverse holds for the membership effect which instead is significantly more likely to be positive in core states.…”

“…The variable-which has been used in other studies (Valizade et al, 2023)-is on a seven-point scale ("1 = not at all"; 7 = "to a great extent") based on a questionnaire which asks: "To what extent do labor market policies help unemployed people to reskill and find new employment?" While bargaining coverage may have been a relevant addition (Ringqvist, 2022), such data are not available for all countries in the sample. Moreover, supplementary analyses (not shown) reveal that the membership effect is not moderated by bargaining coverage, nor union density.…”

“…Trade unions’ relationship to the environment is an area of increasing interdisciplinary interest including contributions from industrial relations scholars and the emerging field of environmental labor studies (Flanagan and Goods, 2022; Räthzel et al, 2021; Ringqvist, 2022; Uzzell and Räthzel, 2013a). Prominent accounts in the literature, which are predominantly qualitative studies with a particular focus on the level of union policy, point to recurring dilemmas between jobs and environmental protection (Räthzel and Uzzell, 2011; Thomas and Doerflinger, 2020).…”

“…Early assumptions concerning union members’ reluctance to embrace environmental agendas have been contested (Chen, 2017). Indeed, it is now a fairly well-established insight extending from the US to Europe that union members tend to be more pro-environmentally inclined than their non-organized counterparts (Chen, 2017; Kojola et al, 2014; Ringqvist, 2022). Less is known, however, about whether this membership effect is observable beyond these economically more developed contexts.…”