Correlates of Teachers’ Perceptions on Support Received from their Building Union Representatives

The decline of unions in the U.S. is a salient issue for workers, and a number of studies have demonstrated the relationships between worker attitudes and unionization. The vast majority of this research pertains to workers' attitudes toward the union as an organization, but little has examined workers attitudes to the union officials who are closest to them on a daily basis. As unions strive to maintain membership and support, research that addresses correlates of union members' satisfaction with their work-site union representatives is needed. This study investigates factors associated with teachers' assessment of the adequacy of the support they receive from their building union representatives. Study results show that teachers' satisfaction with leadership communication, board of education practices, staff support, school pride, parent involvement, and the lack of gossip among employees are all associated with teachers' rating of the support they receive from their building union representatives. Implications for the selection and preparation of work-site union representatives are discussed