The Effect of Unionisation on Employees’ Job Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment in the Cape Coast and Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana

Abstract

The study sought to find out how being a member of a trade union affects the satisfaction of employees in the Cape Coast and Takoradi Metropolis derive from their jobs and also how it influences their commitment to their organizations. In other words, the study examined whether unionized employees were more satisfied and committed to their organizations than non-unionized employees. The research design employed for the study was the descriptive survey. A total of 400 respondents were sampled from various financial institutions (insurance and banking institutions), using the systematic random sampling procedure. The respondents included 224 unionized employees and 176 non-unionized employees. The instrument used for the study was a set of questionnaire consisting of the Weiss et. al 20-item Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire and Allen and Meyer 18-item organisational commitment scale. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics to answer and test the research questions and hypotheses. The main findings of the study indicate that 87% of the respondents believed that union membership is important. Again, the findings suggest that on the average, unionized employees were more satisfied with their jobs that non-unionized employees, but non-unionized employees were more committed to their organizations than the unionized employees. However, a test of significance indicated that the two groups did not significantly differ in terms of their commitment and job satisfaction. The findings were discussed and appropriate recommendations were made.

Key Words: Unionisation, Job Satisfaction, Organisational commitment, Non-unionised, Ghana