Baanonzekerheid als schending van het psychologisch contract bij vakbondsleden: gevolgen voor vakbondsattitudes en opzegintentie in België en Nederland [Job insecurity as violation of the psychological contract among trade union members: consequences on attitudes towards unions and the intention to resign membership in Belgium and the Netherlands]

In this article the consequences of job insecurity among union members are explored. Having established that most employees have instrumental motives for joining a union, and using psychological contract theory, we hypothesize that job insecurity among union members correlates with a lower level of perceived union support, lower satisfaction with the union, reduced (affective) commitment towards the union, and a higher intention to resign union membership. These hypotheses were tested in Belgium and the Netherlands. Evidence was found to support the assumed association between job insecurity and a reduction in perceived union support. In Belgium, job insecurity was also associated with reduced union satisfaction and intention to resign membership. In neither country job insecurity was associated with union commitment. These results partly support the hypothesis that union members experience job insecurity as a violation of their psychological contract with the union.