Union Leadership and Member Attitudes: A Multi-Level Analysis

Analyses of union leadership roles show that union presidents should have both a within-union and an external focus. The authors combined multilevel survey data from 3873 union members in 248 local teachers’ unions with archival and field staff data to examine relationships between leadership and members’ perceptions of union instrumentality and justice, union commitment, and participation. The results showed significant union level effects on members’ beliefs about, and attitudes towards, their unions, attributable to the presidents’ internal and external leadership, wage outcomes, and union characteristics. Relationships between internally focused leadership and members’ loyalty and willingness to work for the union were partially mediated by perceptions of union instrumentality and justice. These perceptions fully mediated the relationship between externally focused leadership and union loyalty.