Why collective bargaining in higher education

Fordham University faculty members rejected collective bargaining in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised election in the spring of 1975. The present study was conducted prior to the election. Relationships between faculty members' attitudes toward collective action and their perceptions of the quality of the organizational characteristics of the University were examined.The study was based on modern organization theory which contends that the needs of organizational participants must be satisfied and integrated with organizational goals to maximize output and to minimize the potential for dysfunctional behavior of the participants.The findings supported theory. Faculty members were less supportive of collective action when they perceived administrator-faculty and intrafaculty relationships, motivation processes, and communication processes to be at levels conducive to meeting their needs.