Factories become unions' weakest link

The proportion of employees in union membership - "union density" - has slipped by 10 percentage points since 1989, according to figures from the Autumn 2001 Labour Force Survey. In 2001 it stood at 29.1% compared with 29.5% in 2000 and 39.0% in 1989.

The drop in union density over the past 12 years has occurred mainly in the traditional union strongholds. In 1989 density in the production (manufacturing and energy) industries was 45%, but this had shrunk by last year to 28%.

Density among male employees fell in the same period from 44% to 30%, while among women the fall was slower - from 33% to 28%.

The figures also show that, in 2001, 48% of all employees worked in workplaces where there were trade union members present and 35.6% said their pay was affected by collective agreements.

Union density

1989 2001

All employees1 39.0 29.1

Male 44 30

Female 33 28

Full-time work 44 32

Part-time work 22 20

Production 45 28

Services 38 30

Less than 25

employees 19 15

25 or more

employees 49 36

Public sector n/a 59

Private sector n/a 19

1 excluding self-employed