Abstract
David Coats charts the decline in trade union membership and influence in the United Kingdom (UK). For Coats, this is arguably the most striking and far-reaching change in the UK labour market over the last 40 years. In 1979 one in every two employees was a member of a trade union and almost four in every five had their pay and conditions of employment determined by a collective agreement. Today, fewer than one in four employees (23.4%) is a trade union member and collective bargaining covers a similar proportion of the workforce. Trade union members tend to be older than the general working population and are concentrated in the public sector. Fewer than one in seven employees in the private sector is a trade union member (13.2%). Contrary to the established stereotypes, most trade union members in the UK are women (56%), largely because professionals and associate professionals in the public sector are relatively well organised (BEIS in Trade Union Statistical Bulletin, Department for Business, Enterprise, Innovation and Skills, 2019). In light of all this, this chapter concludes by reflecting on the future prospects for trade unionism in the UK.
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Notes
- 1.
The Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) created a unified framework for social dialogue in the EU, resulting in framework agreements between the social partners on part-time work, fixed-term work and parental leave, all of which were enshrined in EU directives. The Treaty of Lisbon emphasised the role of the social partners, recognising the importance of social dialogue while respecting the autonomy and diversity of the parties.
- 2.
The WIRS/WERS series began in 1980 and was the product of a collaboration between the government and a number of other agencies. It is hard to detect any enthusiasm on the part of the present government for a new survey.
- 3.
In the period before the First World War (more precisely between 1910 and 1914) the level of industrial conflict was higher than at any time later in the century.
- 4.
Originally enacted in the Employment Relations Act 1999. The powers and duties of the CAC were set out in Schedule 1.
- 5.
This forms part of the government’s response to the report of the Taylor Review of Modern Employment Practices (Taylor 2017).
- 6.
In principle, therefore, representatives can be elected to negotiate an ICE agreement that dispenses with the need for workers’ representatives. There is a serious question whether this is consistent with the intention of the EU directive.
- 7.
As was the case with the 1970–1974 Heath government’s programme of reform, the Industrial Relations Act 1971, which was met with unremitting trade union hostility and employer indifference.
- 8.
On the notion of union membership as an experience good see Bryson et al. (2001).
- 9.
The first Fair Wages Resolution was adopted in 1891 by Lord Salisbury’s Conservative government.
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Coats, D. (2022). Workplace Democracy in the UK: Reviving Voice Institutions in Unpromising Times?. In: Colfer, B. (eds) European Trade Unions in the 21st Century . St Antony's Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88285-3_13
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