Abstract:

The present paper includes insights on trade union members’ perceptions of job dissatisfaction related to inequalities at a Scottish university. Research spanning more than five decades has consistently shown that trade union member employees report higher levels of job dissatisfaction than non-union employees, although industrial relations scholars have been unable to agree on as to why that is the case. Prior research of trade union membership and its link to job dissatisfaction has largely been quantitative. The present study therefore added much needed, individual-level insights to the industrial relations literature through its use of a qualitative approach that included interviews with 23 individuals. This research is part of a wider project in which trade union membership and job dissatisfaction were explored, and that led to the author being awarded a PhD from the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom.