College Faculty's Attitudes toward its Union under Conditions of Adversity

Abstract

A survey was conducted among unionized faculty in a northeastern college which previously had two strikes before concluding collective bargaining agreements. The respondents were aware that a ruling was imminent on the college's application to the National Labor Relations Board claiming that the faculty was management, as per the Yeshiva University decision. Also, the respondents were concerned because several of their colleagues were terminated for “financial exigency,” an employer's explanation unacceptable to the union, which had its own version of the motives for the dismissals. The results of the Likert-scale questionnaire developed by Uphoff and Dunnette demonstrated overwhelming approval of the union and its procedures. The data showed significant values of chi-squared for sex, rank, age, and tenure. Also, females were more approving of union communication than males, and higher ranked faculty were more supportive of grievance adjudication and less supportive of affiliation with national unions than lower ranked faculty.