Press Release

2 December 2002

Marching on together?
Recent trends in union membership

Union membership has dropped by a third in the last 18 years. Just under a third of employees (31%) are union members compared with almost half (49%) in 1983.

Alex Bryson, one of the authors of this new report appearing as a chapter in the British Social Attitudes: the 19th Report, edited by NatCen, commented:

"the analysis gives some in-sight into the reasons for the decline in unionisation in Britain over the last two decades, a decline that is unprecedented in the post-War period. The analysis suggests we haven't seen the end of the decline. But the research also suggests that unions shouldn't be written off. There remains substantial support for unionisation among workers in Britain, and most unions are viewed positively by their members. The challenge for unions is convincing employers to view them more positively, and to convert positive attitudes towards unions among workers into paid up membership."

The authors, Alex Bryson from the Policy Studies Institute and Raphael Gomez from the London School of Economics, suggest several reasons for the fall in union membership:

• The changing nature of the workforce. There are more jobs now in areas that are traditionally less unionised. This accounts for around a third of the fall in union density between 1983 and 2001.
• Decline in the rate of union membership across all types of worker. This accounts for two-thirds of the fall in union density between 1983 and 2001. Union density fell more quickly in areas of traditional union strength, namely among full-time workers, manual workers, the low paid, those in manufacturing and workers in unionised workplaces.
• Fewer employees are in unionised workplaces (64% in the early 1980s, 47% now) meaning that they would have to organise a union at their workplace in order to join it.
• The benefits of membership may have declined. Traditionally, a key benefit has been the role trade unions play in negotiating higher than average wages for their members. This 'gap' between members' and non-members' pay rates has declined since the mid 1990s. However, the authors suggest that it may well increase again after the next economic downturn.
• The most worrying trend, from a union perspective, is the appearance of a new cohort of workers who have no experience of union membership and its benefits. The percentage of employees who never become a member rose from 28 per cent in 1983 to 48 per cent in 2001.
• There is no evidence that employees are becoming more disillusioned with unions. Almost two thirds (62%) of those in unionised workplaces think the unions do their job well, a figure that has changed little since the early 1980s.

Notes to editors

1. Marching on together? - Recent Trends in Union Membership by Alex Bryson and Raphael Gomez appears as a chapter in British Social Attitudes: the 19th Report. The authors received funding under the Leverhulme Trust's 'Future of Unions in Modern Britain' programme. Alex Bryson would also like to thank the Economic and Social Research Council (grant no. R000223958) and the Regent Street Polytechnic Trust for funding.

2. British Social Attitudes: the 19th Report is published on Wednesday 4 December 2002 by Sage, price £37.50. It is edited by Alison Park, John Curtice, Katarina Thomson, Lindsey Jarvis, and Catherine Bromley. Sage is found at www.sagepub.co.uk.

3. The authors: Alex Bryson is Principal Research Fellow at the Policy Studies Institute. Raphael Gomez is Marketing Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Institute of Management at the London School of Economics. Both are Research Associates at the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

4. The British Social Attitudes survey has been conducted annually since 1983. Each survey consists of more than 3,000 interviews with a representative, random sample of people in Britain. It is funded by charitable and government sources.

5. PSI is a registered charity and has no association with any political party, pressure group or commercial interest.

6. Contacts for the chapter Marching on together Nelleke van Helfteren, Head of Communications, PSI 020 7468 0468 Alex Bryson, Author, PSI (020) 7468 2225

7. Contacts for the British Social Attitudes: the 19th Report
Sara Jones, Press Officer, NatCen 020 7549 8522 (w) 07960 585 144 (m) s.jones@natcen.ac.uk
Alison Park, Co-director BSA 020 7250 1866 (w) 07765 245 561 (m). a.park@natcen.ac.uk
Lindsey Jarvis, Co-director BSA 020 7250 1866 (w) l.jarvis@natcen.ac.uk
Katarina Thomson, Co-director BSA 020 7250 1866 (w) k.thomson@natcen.ac.uk