Determinants of Union Participation of Public Sector Organizations in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between various predictors of union participation namely;union loyalty, union instrumentality, them and us attitude and workplace collectivism onemployees’ willingness to participate in union activities of public sector organizations in SriLanka. A structured questionnaire was distributed among randomly selected sample of 254unionized employees in seven large scale highly unionized public sector organizations. Thestatistical results of the study revealed that member attitudes namely; union loyalty and unioninstrumentality were positively associated with union participation. However, union loyalty wasthe significant and most powerful predictor of union participation.

Key Words: Union Participation, Union Loyalty, Union Instrumentality, Them and Us attitude,Workplace Collectivism