How triple-role conflicts of Chinese enterprise trade unions impact employees' satisfaction: rights expectation as moderator

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the extent to which unionized employees are dissatisfied in Chinese Enterprise Trade Unions (CETUs) when they perceive high levels of the triple-role conflicts, as well as whether rights expectations will moderate these relationships. The authors define CETUs' triple-role conflicts as the extent to which CETUs and their cadres prioritize fulfilling the roles of preserving social stability (“peace”) and/or maintaining the production order (“production”) over protecting worker's rights and interests (“workers” rights).Design/methodology/approachPilot study developed the scales via both qualitative and quantitative studies, which include item generation using the transcript of individual interviews with 36 informants, and exploratory factor analyses with 106 respondents. The study used a sample of 327 employees from more than 20 firms in North and Southwest China.FindingsResults indicate high reliability and validity of the scales and provide largely consistent supports for our hypotheses: three dimensions of triple-role conflicts are negatively related to employees' satisfaction in CETUs, and rights expectations moderate these relationships.Originality/valueThis study developed three scales to respectively measure CETUs' triple-role conflicts, rights expectation and satisfaction in CETUs. More importantly, the findings shed light on the moderating mechanism of rights expectation in the relationships between triple-role conflicts and satisfaction in CETUs.

Fueling employee proactive behavior: The distinctive role of Chinese enterprise union practices from a conservation of resources perspective

“…Different from their Western counterparts, who speak mainly for employees, CEUs are more likely to hold multiple roles (Chan et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2019). They provide employees with service and protection and assist enterprises in maintaining labor discipline and improving productivity to contribute to social stability (Ren et al., 2021). Despite the long‐standing criticism about CEUs' inefficacy in organizing and representing employees (Chang & Brown, 2013), our study provides strong evidence that CEUs are doing well in coordinating the interests of employees and enterprises, and CEUPs are an essential driver of organizational change.…”

“…Given the distinct differences between CEUs and Western unions, widely used theoretical frameworks such as the two faces of unionism model (Freeman & Medoff, 1984), may not be generalizable to research on union effects in China. This study considers the COR theory as a more compelling theoretical framework because CEUPs can be viewed as critical organizational resources, and the resource mechanism may not only benefit employees in terms of achieving various work goals (Chan et al., 2017) but also motivate them to better engage with the enterprise (Newman et al., 2019), thus reflecting CEUs' pursuit of common good for both employees and enterprises (Ren et al., 2021). Belonging to one union system, all CEUs theoretically offer the same practices to employees; however, the extent to which they implement CEUPs may differ (Zhang et al., 2018).…”

“…However, due to long‐standing alienation, a recurring problem is that workplace partnership in Western countries remains more like a goal than a reality (Bray et al., 2020). By contrast, CEUs are more of multiple‐role holders; in addition to speaking for employees, they act on behalf of the enterprise for production and the nation for stability (Chan et al., 2017; Ren et al., 2021). Although CEUs have generated long‐held criticism for their weak capacity to bargain with enterprises, a fast‐growing body of literature has verified their distinctive role in promoting Chinese workplace partnership (Xi et al., 2017).…”

Union influence on change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior: evidence from China

“…The experiences of CEU may provide some cues for western union renewal. CEU has broken through the limitation of representing employees only but takes the development of enterprises as an important duty (Ren et al. , 2020).…”

“…Consequently, CEU functions more like a "bridge", promoting the partnership between the employer and workforce (Li et al, 2019). In the day-to-day conduct, CEU coordinates labor relations, cares for employees' life, and carries out recreational activities rather than engaging in confrontational bargaining with the enterprise (Zhang et al, 2018;Ren et al, 2020). Although some studies have criticized that CEU is not a "real" trade union (Chang and Brown, 2013), we contend that the series of activities organized by CEU, that is, CEU practices, can be an essential driver toward change-oriented OCB.…”