Labor Studies
Motivations for Taking Up Union Office
The role of local union official is usually an unpaid position, even where compensation is offered it will be constrained; this indicates motivation for those who do take up the office is unlikely to be financial (Sloan and Witney, 2010). So why do people take up that office?
In a seminal study on the path to union leadership has indicated that several preconditions exist prior to an individual considering taking up union office. An individual will need to perceive themselves as having the suitable qualifications to stand for leadership, and will not stand unless they believe others to hold the same perception (Koziara et al., 1982). In most cases, the qualifications will include previous experience in union administration (Koziara et al., 1982), which itself indicates that standing for office is likely to be part of a progression. The same study also notes that experience in the lower echelons of a union may also be seen as a route to more senior position (Koziara et al., 1982). Therefore, long-term potential progression may be one motivation.
Koziara (et al., 1982) found that most union officers stated that they believed that they could do a good job and that they were good with people. Sayles and Strauss (1953, quoted Koziara et al., 1982), identified 6 potential rewards that may motivate the pursuance of union office. Koziara (et al., 1982) found that of these the most common were personal satisfaction gained through a sense of achievement and self-fulfillment, intellectual stimulation and the escape of job related monotony. Sayles and Strauss (1953) also identified the potential to gain social status with the responsibility, and the less noble motivation of office as an outlet of aggression. Interestingly, the desire for power was not a common motivator.
The motivators are primarily associated with social needs and found within models such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010), demonstrating that intrinsic desires are usually motivators for those seeking local union office.
References
Buchanan, D; Huczynski, A, (2010) Organizational Behavior, Harlow, FT/Prentice Hall
Koziara, Karen S; Bradley, Mary I; Pierson, David A, (1982, Feb), Becoming a union leader: the path to local office, Monthly Labor Review, p44-46
Sloane, A, A; Witney, F, (2010), Labor Relations (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
