Two Pathways of Union Leadership for Participation

In this paper a model is proposed for effect of union leadership on union member attitude formation which in turn leads to union member participation. This effect is being explored in further detail through mediation of human drives. Two pathways for union participation are proposed such that transactional leadership forms the attitude towards union instrumentality through activation of ‘drive to acquire’ and ‘drive to defend’ and transformational leadership leads to the union commitment through activation of ‘drive to bond’ and ‘drive to comprehend’, and finally both leads to union participation. It is proposed that the effect of both leadership styles is moderated by favorable industrial relations climate.