Control Structure and Union Functions

American unions provide an especially fertile field for the exploration and testing of theoretical notions concerning control structure in organizations because of their wide variation in structure. The level of democratic control in a local appears to be related to the members' interest in broad and general goals for their union. Little ground is found for the hypothesis that militant union-management conflict is related to democracy within the local. Rather, union-management conflict affects the total amount of control exercised in the union. The amount of control exercised within a union depends on a number of interrelated causes and effects, including the power of the union, the extent of inter-as well as intra-organizational conflict, and membership loyalty, conformity, and participation.