INCREASING CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR WITHIN A LABOR UNION - A TEST OF ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE THEORY

A quasi-experiment was used to determine whether training union office rs in the skills necessary for implementing principles of organization al justice would increase citizenship behavior on the part of members of a labor union in Canada. The results showed that 3 months after tra ining, the perceptions of union fairness among members (n = 83) whose leaders were in the training group were significantly higher than amon g members (n = 69) whose leaders were in the control group. Factor ana lysis found that citizenship behavior had 2 dimensions: behavior suppo rting the union as an organization (OCBO) and behavior supporting unio n brothers and sisters (OCBI). Peer assessments revealed that citizens hip behavior on both dimensions was significantly higher among union m embers whose leaders were trained than among members whose leaders wer e not trained. Perceptions of fairness were found to mediate the relat ionship between training and OCBO but not OCBI.