Benefit of working in a unionised workplace

Employees in workplaces which recognised unions were “significantly less likely” to have been adversely affected by the recession, an authoritative new survey said.

The Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) — conducted for government by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research – also found that one in five companies not adversely affected by the recession still froze or cut pay.

Its findings noted that redundancies and pay freezes in the public sector have led to perceptions of job security plummeting, along with trust in managers. But the good news for unions is that WERS finds that they are generally holding their own across the economy, with the percentage of union members and the extent of their coverage virtually unchanged since 2004.

WERS found that unions have improved their membership in larger firms, increasing from 44% in 2004 to 50% of employees, which was significant as larger firms account for more than half of all employees in the private sector.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This survey reveals the degree to which opportunistic employers used the recession as an excuse to hold back pay.

“It’s reassuring to learn that unions have held their own and were able to help working people get through the worst economic storm in living memory. The challenge in the months ahead will be to take unions into new workplaces and parts of the economy where union membership is rare.”

www.tuc.org.uk/union-issues/unionised-enterprises-less-likely-be-hit-recession