Restructuring municipal government: labor-management relations and worker mental health.
This study is a mixed-method investigation of the association between labor-management relations and employees' mental health in a municipal sector undergoing New Public Management-style restructuring. Analysis of the survey data (N = 902) demonstrates a relatively strong and persistent relationship between management practices and employee psychological health. Interviews with a subsample of 54 workers reveal that management's excessive control, incompetence, and unresponsiveness, combined with minimal rewards for workers' efforts, left staff feeling devalued. Our findings suggest that workers' mental health was harmed by the undermining of their sense of self-worth and the loss of avenues to improve their working conditions.
McDonough
Peggy
P
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, 6th Floor, Toronto, ON, Canada M5T 3M7. peggy.mcdonough@utoronto.ca
Worts
Diana
D
Fox
Bonnie
B
Dmitrienk
Klaudia
K
D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D009111:Local Government; D016272:Occupational Health; D009864:Ontario; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*