Public Attitudes Towards Unions

In a general context, understanding the attitudes of the Public toward unions is paramount in having an insight into the level of support for organized labour. Workers and non-workers alike have some beliefs about unions, and these beliefs, together with the individual‘s socio economic and demographic factors are what influence their decision to join or not join a union. The growth, development or decline of union movement rests on the perception of unions by the public. This study is aimed at exploring the general attitudes of the public towards unions and to analyse if the different union attitudinal pattern of employees has any significant influence on union behaviour in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The research used a quantitative research method and 585 questionnaires were distributed to respondents in five (5) regions of TRNC. The collected data was analysed using IBM SPSS software, the reliability of the variables were significant, and results from the main analyses indicated a strong positive relationship between union instrumentality and the decision to join a union; a weak negative relationship was found between labour image and the decision to join a union; and finally, the result showed that a person‘s demographics have a very little influence in their decision to join a union.