The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 2nd June 2023
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 2nd June 2023
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Late last month an important event in the trade union calendar took place. This was the publication of the annual {Trade Union Membership, UK 1995–2022: Statistical Bulletin} from the Department of Business & Trade (DBT). This event was tactfully ignored by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) so the {New Worker} can claim a modest scoop.
Sadly it is not difficult to see why the TUC ignored the publication. The figures will bring more joy to {Daily Telegraph} readers than to those of the {New Worker}. The main results of the survey are surprisingly a decline in trade union membership, despite the recent strike wave, which in theory ought to give a boost to trade union numbers. Normally strike action boosts union recruitment, but not in this case. One possible explanation is that the recent and present round of industrial action took place in already well-organised areas.
The headline figures are that the percentage of UK employees who belong to trade unions fell to 22.3 per cent in 2022, down from 23.1 per cent in 2021.
In numerical terms this means 200,000 less workers are in unions, with only 6,250,000 trade unionists out of a workforce of 28,300,000. Between 2021 and 2022 the workforce grew by 100,000, which makes things even worse.
Both the public and private sectors saw falls. Private sector members fell by 152,000 to 2.4 million in 2022, the lowest ever. In the public sector, numbers declined by 48,000 to 3.84 million. Two thirds of the overall fall was accounted for by a decline of 129,000 private-sector female employee numbers. Across the UK the largest decline was in Wales, where the comparatively high density fell 4.2 per cent to 31.4. Only in Northern Ireland was there any decent increase, by 1.8 to 32.3 per cent.
These are Government figures, based on its {Labour Force Survey}, and cover membership of all registered trade unions, whether or not affiliated to the TUC. They often differ from those from the Trade Union and Employers Association Certification Officer (not updated since 2020), which are based on official returns from unions and bosses’ organisations, but the trends are clear. All the figures quoted here cover the last quarter (October–December) of 2022. Membership figures supplied by trade unions themselves often needed to be taken with a pinch of salt, particularly in those unions which, if branch membership lists are to believed, many members are well over 90 years old.
The cautious DBT statisticians state that “this represents the lowest union membership rate on record among UK employees for which we have comparable data (since 1995)”. Things are worse than that, however. The 1995 starting date (when density was 32.4 per cent) is simply due to a change in counting techniques introduced that year.
In fact trade union membership has been in in decline since the highpoint of 1979, when 13.2 million were in unions. Numbers fell dramatically to 7.94 million until 1996 when things improved slightly, followed by a period of gentler decline until 2010, when the picture became more varied with further decline punctuated with occasional signs of growth. The period 2017–2020 saw modest growth that has now been reversed, first with a small fall in 2021 followed by the latest decline. We have to go back to 1938 to find an absolutely smaller number of trade union members. On present trends, trade unions could go the way of friendly societies if action is not taken to reverse the long-term decline.
It is worth noting that in an international context the figures are not too bad. In the USA it is only around 10 per cent. Across the Channel in France the union density is less than 10 per cent, but what the workers save on union dues they spend on petrol bombs and barricade-building tools. Across the Rhine, Germany has a density of 16.5 per cent, but most unions are simply branches of management and union leaders are difficult to distinguish from directors. It is only in the Scandinavian countries do we find high memberships density, with Denmark’s 66.5 and Norway’s 49.2 per cent.
Some unions will doubtless assert the picture is not all bleak, or as bad as the DBT figures would have it, but the arguments about statistical details and arguing over who is to blame need to take a distant second place to urgent recruitment drives, preferably after unions have had a good hard look at themselves and ask what has gone so wrong. Many of Britain’s unions are big enough to undertake pilot projects in different regions before adapting the successful models across the board, assuming of course the will was there.
Breaking Down the Numbers
At first glance trade unionists seem to be brainier than non-unionists. The figures show that almost two-thirds 63 per cent of union members have a degree or other higher education qualification compared with slightly under half of non-union employees. At one level this simply marks the welcome expansion of higher education and more jobs requiring degrees (such as nursing). The more worrying aspect of that statistic, however, strongly suggests that trade unions are failing to attract the type of workers who found it necessary to found trade unions in the first place. The danger of trade unions becoming professional associations and not fighting, working-class organisations is a real one. It is possible that the rise of the small, non-TUC unions such as the IWW, UVW and the IWGB aimed at low-paid migrant workers suggests that there is a worrying gap in the market left by the bigger unions.
Another feature of present-day trade unionist is that they seem to be past the first flush of youth. Of employees who were trade union members in 2022 only 3.7 per cent were aged between 16 and 24, 20.9 per cent 25 to 34, 35.7 per cent between 35 and 49, with 39.7 per cent 50 or over.
Trade unionism now seems to be something people grow into rather than get initiated into on the first day at work. About a quarter of trade unionists had between 10–20 years of service, those in jobs for 20 years accounted for another 22.3 per cent, but newbies with less than one year and between 1–2 years of service tenure accounted for only 9.5 and 6.7 per cent respectively.
A related point is the low unionisation of low-paid workers. Whilst it is not surprising that only 17.7 per cent of those earning more than £1,000 per week are in unions, it is shocking that only 11 per cent earning less than £250 were. Union density is around the average of 22.1 per cent for those earning between £250–£499 and an above-average of 28.3 per cent for those on £500–£999. As part of the same pattern, bosses of various standing tend to be more likely trade unions members than the workers they supervise: 31.1 per cent of foremen are as compared with 21 per cent of those who are not managers or supervisors.
Trade unionists with a disability are slightly keener than the average worker on trade unionism, but even here the rate is only 27.6 per cent compared with the non-disabled rate of 21.3 per cent.
At present those in professional occupations account for 43.5 per cent of trade unionists compared with 27.9 per cent of UK employees overall. Non-professional occupations with high unionisation levels are in Caring, Leisure and Other Service occupations, and Process, Plant and Machine Operatives.
Public versus Private
The de-industrialisation that marked the 1980s naturally hit male manufacturing jobs the most, and its legacy is still with us. In the long-term, since 1995 private-sector union membership has declined the most: trade union membership in the private sector fell by 981,000 or 8.9 per cent since 1995; in the same period public sector membership increased by 121,000 or 3.3 per cent, but that positive figure does not make much of a dent in slowly declining density even in the strongest sectors.
The 2022 figures show that private sector density was 12 per cent last year, it was much stronger at 48.6 per cent in the public sector. This means than now only a minority of public sector workers are organised, however, a fall of 12.7 per cent in the density since 1995. The 48.6 per cent sounds good but it occurs in a very soft environment where union organisers do not become crocodile food.
Boys and Girls
In 2022 only 25.6 per cent of female employees were in unions, again a depressing record low. This fall of 115,000 to 3.55 million in 2022 accounts of 58 per cent of this year’s decline. Male membership was only 19.1, a fall of 0.8 per cent, another low record of 2.7 million.
In stark contrast, in 1995 no less than 35 per cent of male workers were unionised with just below 30 per cent of female workers. Declines in male membership saw the ratio equalise at around 29 per cent in 2002, after that the male density has dramatically fallen to its present level. Sadly, it has taken a decline in female membership to narrow the gap. The changing balance of the sexes is due to an increase in females as a proportion of the workforces, with the decline in manufacturing where the workforce was three-quarters male. There was a large increase in the number of employees in Education and Human Health and Social Care, where female employees account for more than 70 per cent of the workforce. These are highly unionised as bosses tend not to shoot union organisers. That has been responsible for Unison overtaking Unite as the largest union in Britain.
Across the Country
Taking a geographical look at the figures does not reveal many surprises, apart from noting that UK trade unionism is strongest across the Irish Sea in northern Ireland with a comparatively mighty 32.3 per cent, it was the only major growth area last year. After which comes Wales on 31.4, which also had the most severe decline. Coming third is the North East of England on 26.4. Scotland comes fourth. The north of England is generally fairly strong but the English average is a low 21 per cent, with the Midlands and South all below the abysmal average.
Inner London has the dubious honour of propping up the rest of the table with only 16.5 per cent. What happened to the legacy of the Dockers and their tanner? Only in the South East and South West was there some modest growth to offset against a picture of wider decline across the British mainland.
Longer term decline since 1995 was steepest in Wales and Scotland, at 12.9 and 12.6 per cent respectively, reflecting the final decline of heavy industry in these areas.
Looking more closely we can see a slightly more positive picture when we turn attention to the percentage of employees with a trade union presence in the workplace. Greater Manchester tops the bill with a trade union presence of 61.7 per cent, beating Wales on 60.3. These areas are likely to offer the most scope for recruitment. It is legitimate to wonder however, why unions with an existing workplace presence have not managed to recruit more. Inner London is still the lowest, with a trade union presence in the workplace of 42.5 per cent.
With a few exceptions, the same geographical trends apply to the proportion of employees in jobs where pay depends on collective bargaining (agreements affecting more than one employee). Top of the tree is the old Strathclyde region in the West of Scotland with 55.1 per cent. Wales came second on 52.1 and as always Inner London comes last on 31.9 per cent.
Some Passing Observations
Turning to the reported ethnic make-up of trade unions, we find that native born British workers were most likely to be in a union, with 24 per cent unionised compared with 14.8 of foreign-born employees. ‘White British’ were most heavily unionised at the rate of 23.3 per cent, closely followed by the ‘Black or Black British’ ethnic group on 22.8. Density is lower amongst the ‘Chinese or other ethnic group’ employees at only 13.5 per cent, whilst ‘mixed ethnicity’, ‘Asian and Asian British’ employees were both just over 14 per cent, well below the workforce as a whole. They have high levels of employment in small catering establishments that have never been bastions of trade unions.
Amongst the ethnic minorities, female workers are more strongly organised than male by a margin of about 10 per cent. About half Britain’s Black or Black British employees work in the largely public sector areas of Health, Social Work, Education, Public Administration or Defence industries, which have high unionisation rates.
The latest figures show that being a trade unionist makes sense in the pocket as their wages are 3.5 per cent higher than non-unionists, but this figure has fallen considerably from last year’s bonus of 4.7 per cent.
Some Lessons
It is not alarmist to shout “Something Needs to be Done” before it is too late. First and foremost it is the responsibility of trade unions to recognise that they have failed to make themselves attractive to potential members, regardless of race, sex, age or any other factor. This brutal truth is clear from the low densities in the public sector where trade unions often have offices in the workplace. Although the public sector is comparatively strong there is plenty of room for improvement. Questions such as securing recognition at brutal employers such as Amazon are a very different matter.
Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990 so she can no longer be used as an excuse for low membership numbers in 2023. The new industries that have appeared since her departure need to be organised rather than spending time mourning those she destroyed.
To some extent the working class needs to pull its socks up. Too many workers think of trade unions as an ambulance service to be called upon in emergencies, but that is not how they work, they are only as strong as their numbers allow them to be.
All too often it takes a crisis such as COVID-19 or the threat of takeover or redundancy to boost union membership. Union representation benefits all employees in a workplace, even if they are not members, but to a limited extent. Although the mere existence of unions provides something of a shield for non-members, the lack of numbers prevents workers going on the offensive to pursue a pay claim.
Trade Union officialdom may not be entirely unhappy about a period of managed decline, so long as things to not go too far. Even then, a merger will save their bacon. More members equals more work for the well-paid bureaucrats who prefer doing unsatisfactory deals in the boardroom rather than spending hours handing out recruitment leaflets at a factory gate.
The increase in part-time work, occasionally by choice or more likely by necessity, is not good for unionisation. With support for students at an historical low, there is no shortage of people wanting a few hours of work as couriers or in the hospitality industry. Such jobs are seen as tedious necessity so they therefore have little interest in anything other than boosting their own irregular earnings and will be more interested in graduating than in becoming a working-class hero.
Perhaps some readers could write in with their own ideas or lessons, positive and negative, of union organising and recruiting. They are certainly needed.