Some light in union membership figures

Two major union confederations in Europe have published membership figures recently, with the trends going in opposing directions. The CFDT, one of France's two major confederations, has announced an increase in membership whereas the DGB, the dominant union grouping in Germany, has announced a decline.

The CFDT states that its 1999 membership was 7.2% higher than the year before, whereas the DGB records a 3.2% loss. However, the DGB is 10 times the size of the CFDT with over eight million members at the end of 1999 compared to just over 800,000 for the CFDT. The latest figures are a continuation of past trends for both organisations (see Labour Research, September 1999).

However, from a trade union perspective there is some encouragement in the details of the 1999 figures. The CFDT's 1999 increase is the highest annual increase recorded since it started to rebuild its membership in 1988, while the DGB's decline is the lowest annual fall since the drop in membership began after the peak in 1991.