JOB-SATISFACTION, TRADE-UNIONS, AND EXIT-VOICE REVISITED

Many studies have found that unionized workers express less job satisf action than nonunion workers. The ''exit-voice'' explanation of this p henomenon is that dissatisfied nonunion workers tend to quit, whereas dissatisfied union workers tend to remain in their jobs and express th eir complaints through various voice mechanisms provided by their unio n. Furthermore, this ''voiced'' dissatisfaction, animated by the hope of effecting change, is said to be distinct from ''genuine'' dissatisf action. This study, the first to examine the exit-voice issue in Brita in, expands on the set of independent variables used by similar North American and Australian studies. When they control for industrial rela tions climate, the authors find that the negative relationship between unionization and satisfaction dwindles to insignificance in many case s. They conclude that union workers' relative dissatisfaction is in mo st cases entirely ''genuine'' and stems from poor industrial relations or from unions forming where satisfaction would be low anyway.