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This article explores whether union commitment dampens public sector job satisfaction. By examining the connection between union commitment and two workplace attributes that are presumed to be more prevalent in public sector workplaces—perceptions of higher red tape and greater public service motivation—this article develops three hypotheses exploring the direct and indirect relationships between union commitment and public sector job satisfaction. The findings from a series of structural equation models indicate that union commitment directly increases members' job satisfaction, but it more prominently increases members' job satisfaction indirectly by reducing perceived red tape and enhancing public service motivation.

This study examines whether public sector unionization encourages members to perceive more red tape in the work organization. Using the concepts of union socialization, commitment to union values, and stakeholder red tape, I develop and test a theoretical model that accounts for the direct and indirect effects of union socialization on member perceptions of red tape. The results from a series of structural equation models suggest that more socialized members perceive more red tape and are more likely to commit to union values. However, more committed union members perceive less red tape within the work organization. As such, the increase in perceived red tape because of union socialization is partially mitigated by member commitment to union values.  Although interaction between union members may alert employees to negative components of the work environment, commitment to union values encourages members to perceive organizational rules as necessary protections of employee rights.

This study examines whether the norms and values of labor unions contradict public service motivation (PSM). Using Perry and Wise's conceptualization of (PSM) this article tests four hypotheses by analyzing both quantitative data drawn from the employees of a large metropolitan city and qualitative data drawn from semistructured interviews conducted in two large Midwestern cities. I expect that as employees become socialized into union membership, they will increasingly identify with rational, affective, and normative union motives. The quantitative findings suggest that union socialization is associated with lower compassion, higher self-sacrifice, and greater commitment to the public interest. Union socialization is unrelated to attraction to policy making. This study supports the hypotheses that unions shape members' motives through the socialization process. I rebut the argument that public sector union members are solely self-interested, but the findings suggest that union socialization can undermine one's feelings of compassion.