Although research has shown that support for United States (U.S.) unions centers on improving members’ working conditions, recent investigation suggests unions’ roles in helping all working people and addressing broader societal issues also deserve attention. Outside the U.S., research has long supported the importance of the latter, prosocial roles. This paper draws on prior research to develop a conceptual model outlining the basis for worker support for unions in the U.S. and France. It proposes that while unions’ dual roles—workplace representative on one hand and defender of all worker societal interests—both contribute, national context moderates this relationship. Using an experimental vignette study, results suggest that while French and American workers differ in their propensity to support unions, these differences do not stem from differing effects of instrumental and prosocial unionism.
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