Employee involvement programs: Should unions get involved?

We test the mediated effects of participation in employee involvement (El) programs on employee desires for union involvement in the future developmen t and diffusion of EI and the perceived durability of an EI program as a po ssible moderator of these effects. Results indicate that participants devel oped more positive attitudes toward the EI program than nonparticipants and , in turn, these attitudes were related to higher desires for union involve ment in El. Additionally, volunteers developed more positive attitudes towa rd the EI program than nonvolunteers and, in turn, these attitudes were rel ated to higher desires for union involvement in EI. However the relationshi p between attitudes toward El and desires for union involvement in EI was s ignificantly less positive for participants who viewed the EI program as du rable.