STRESS AND STRAIN AMONG UNION LAY OFFICIALS AND RANK-AND-FILE MEMBERS

This study explored the effects of fulfilling, on a voluntary basis, t he role of lay officials in a local union of teachers on stress, strai n, and the relationship between stress and strain. Levels of typical t eachers' stress, and their effects on strain, were systematically comp ared for lay officials and rank-and-file members. Data were gathered f rom 1045 teachers who constituted 60 per cent of the staff in a repres entative sample of 30 high schools in Israel. Respondents completed a questionnaire that included measures of several types of occupation-sp ecific stresses and two psychological strains: Somatic complaints and burnout. Relative to the rank-and-file members, union officials report ed higher levels of overload and parent-teacher conflict, but the same levels of strain. The results of the regression analyses indicated, a s expected, that union officials' strain was predicted by stresses ass ociated with their representational duties. For the two groups of teac hers, the measures of stress exerted the same detrimental effect on ea ch of the strains. Thus, it was concluded that lay union officials wer e not at greater risk of psychological strain relative to their fellow teachers.