Labor union, between group inequality, and individual attitudes toward redistribution

Objectives We attempt to examine how union membership affects redistributive attitudes. We argue that the impact of union membership on support for redistributive policies is conditional on the economic inequality between the union and nonunion members (between group inequality [BGI]). When BGI is high, unions have less incentive to emphasize the solidaristic redistributive norm because the majority of union members would not be the beneficiaries of government redistribution. Methods We employ multilevel modeling using the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) datasets that cover 39 countries between 1985 and 2010. Results We find that the positive effect of union membership on individual support for redistributive policies decreases as the level of BGI increases. Conclusion Our study demonstrates the importance of group-level inequality as the contextual factor in explaining the nexus between union membership and preferences for government redistribution. It also suggests that unions play a substantial role in shaping members' attitudes toward government policies in general.