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A study of young workers' union behaviors

Ed Dandalt (John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada)
Marybeth Gasman (Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA)
Georges Goma (Universite du Quebec a Rimouski, Rimouski, Canada)

Personnel Review

ISSN: 0048-3486

Article publication date: 13 July 2020

Issue publication date: 13 January 2021

333

Abstract

Purpose

This study seeks to explore the union perspective of a group of unionized young Canadian teachers to understand their belief system about trade unionism.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology used herein consists of collecting and examining the interview data of participants (n = 37) through the theoretical lens of radical perspective.

Findings

The findings suggest that participants positively associate unionism with bargaining for their special interests, providing professional development services and opportunities for professional socialization. But this pluralist perspective has not translated into an engagement in the union life.

Research limitations/implications

So far, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to the whole population of Canadian young teachers because the participants’ sample size is not large enough. In consideration of this limitation, unions need to survey the union opinions of their young rank and file members at a large scale to draw a clear understanding of the needs of these members to adequately adjust their renewal and revitalization strategies to those needs.

Originality/value

The findings of this study are significant because the intersection between young teachers and organized labor is underresearched in Canada.

Keywords

Citation

Dandalt, E., Gasman, M. and Goma, G. (2021), "A study of young workers' union behaviors", Personnel Review, Vol. 50 No. 1, pp. 344-357. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-10-2019-0544

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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