Exploring the Link Between Procedural Fairness and Union Membership in the Federal Government

Abstract

Little research focuses on how management in the public sector influences outcomes relevant to unions, such as membership rates. Membership is a particularly vexing union problem in right-to-work environments, such as the federal government, where no requirements exist for any dues payments. This research addresses the association between perceptions of the fairness of management decisionmaking procedures and the propensity to pay union dues in the federal government. An increase in the perception that management makes decisions fairly is associated with a decreased likelihood that a federal employee will choose to be a member of a union. Likewise, minorities appeared more likely than non-minorities to be union members, when controlling for other factors.