Factors That Have Contributed to The Changing Patterns of Trade Union Membership in Britain
A trade union is a legal group that is composed of workers in a given region. The main purpose of trade unions campaigning for and ensuring that the interests and rights of the workers are protected. When a trade union successfully conducts its purpose, it not only benefits its members but also all the employees in the workplace. Sturdy and well organised trade unions can influence the formulation of labour laws and thus helping all the workers in the country.
In Britain, most of the existing trade unions are usually independent of employers. Trade unions mostly focus on five major activities. First, they negotiate payment contracts on behalf of their members with the employer. Secondly, trade unions discuss changes that take place in the workplaces; for example, in the case of redundancy, they are involved before any action is taken. Thirdly, when a member of the trade union is faced with disciplinary action, or when the member wants to present a complain, the trade union is mandated the to represent them in the meeting with the employer (Munro, 2018). Lastly, trade unions are responsible for offering their members with legal and monetary guidance. Most of the employers recognises the rights presented by trade unions that represent their employees. In such a case, the employer can negotiate with the union in regard to its employee’s pay and conditions. When a fir that has got more than 20 employees fails to recognise the rights of employees as presented by the union, the trade union is given the power to seek recognition through legal means.
Over time trade unions the membership in Britain has been undergoing drastic changes. Specifically, in the period of 1980s and 1990s, there were noticeable changes that took place. In the period before 1980, more than half of the Britain employees belonged to trade unions, and more than ¾ of them were covered by a collective pay settings method. Trade unions were strong and independent entities in Britain. They were recognised to depend on government policies and interference as they were not dependent on labour laws; instead, workplace institutions controlled them. Therefore, the trade unions were successfully able to turn down and prevent governments efforts to reduce their powers. The attempts by a government to bring the trade unions down often contributed to the downfall of that regime rather than achieving the intended purpose of weakening trade unions. However, several decades later, the membership of trade unions has drastically reduced, and the bargaining power of the existing unions has greatly diminished. The weakening of the trade unions in Britain was unexpected, and for a lengthy period, the scholar had not given it much thought. Trade membership in Britain had reached its topmost level in 1979 where trade unions had a total group of 13 million workers. In the following years, the number of workers in the trade unions drastically reduced but then stabilised at 7.3million between 2000 and 2012. From 2013, membership of the associations has been increasing. Currently, more than 27% of Britain employees are members of the trade union. However, membership of the union is high in the public sector as compared to the private sector. 57% of employees in the public sector belong to a trade union, while only 15% of the employees belong to the unions (Munro, 2018). Trade union membership has been changing, and it is essential to evaluate the factors responsible for in members patterns.
history of trade unions in Britain
Trade unions in Britain originated from the industrial revolution in the 18th century. The industrial revolution was characterised by transforming Britain from an agrarian society into a rural society where the economy was based on mines, factories, and textile factories. The working conditions during this era was characterised with employees who included children being required to work for extended hours with low payments. The workers were not happy with the working conditions and at one point in the 18th century came together to campaign for their rights in the workplace. However, the efforts of the workers to come together was hindered by the industry owners, the government, and the media. Between 1799 and 1800 an act known as the combination act was passed and it prohibited any form of union among the workers. During this period participation in any the strike was punishable, and it attracted three months of imprisonment, or one was subjected to hard labour for 60 days. Thus, government policies that were put in place prevented workers from forming trade unions. Although the combination act prohibited any strike from taking place, protests had become very common in the 1830s government took measures that prohibited any worker from joining a trade union. This, however, did not stop the ongoing campaigns against the poor working conditions which resulted to adoption of trade union act in 1871 which recognised trade unions as legal bodies and were protected by the Britain law. However, the participation of trade union in workers strike was made legal in 1875. The 1871 adoption of trade union saw many workers join unions in their workplaces. The workplace unions joined and formed a labour representation committee. In the period between 1888 and 1918, trade unions became immensely powerful, and their impact was felt during the two famous strikes. The first strike involved women workers in East End of London while the second was a five-week strike took place in 1889, and it led to workers earn at least a wage of 6 pence in an hour.
In the 1980s, the Britain government privatised industries such as electricity, gas and railway firms. The public entities also turned into using private contractors to offer them with different services. Use of private service providers and privatisation of parastatals led to the decline of the union’s power. The central government under Margret Thatcher was determined to eradicate the power and influence that the trade unions enjoyed. During her regime, the coal mines workers were forced to go back to work after a striking and they were subjected to police brutality and arrest. The workers were also served with redundancy notice which led to unemployment. These had a significant impact on union membership by workers.
Macroeconomics factors
The pattern of trade union membership in Britain mostly depends on the macroeconomics factors such as the unemployment level, the level of income and changes in prices. The existing macroeconomics conditions affect the employee’s demand for trade union services. When there is inflation in the country, i.e. prices increase at a faster rate compared to wages, employees are likely to join the union to gain protection against inflation. In this case, trade unions campaign for the adjustments of the salaries to match the current prices. When wages rise, the workers will join a trade union to gain financial security, when the rate of unemployment increases, the demand for union services decline as few people will join the union. However, a rise in unemployment may encourage the workforce to join trade unions to gain protection against unemployment.in 1970s the was an increase in the general prices and wages. There was also a decline in skilled jobs as compared to manual tasks. Therefore, many employees joined trade unions as they believed that the unions would defend and help in improving their living standards(Disney, 1990). Although in the 1980s, there was an increase in prices and income, the union membership and density decreased. The reduction in membership was associated with an increase in the levels of unemployment.
The attitude of the employer towards trade union is likely to affect the membership of the employees. In Britain, it is not a legal requirement for an employer to recognise the activities of trade unions. Therefore, if an employer recognises the contributions and the rights that the trade unions campaign for, the employees are likely to join a trade union(Mason and Bain, 1993). There exists a causal relationship between the employer’s attitude and the level of members in trade union by the workforce in each workplace.
The organisations of the public sectors also have contributed to the changes in the trade union patterns. In the period between 1969 and 1979, trade unions expanded and realised remarkable growth in a weak and organised industrial environment. However, real growth in terms of membership was realised in industries where the trade unions were well organised, and their activities recognised. The local government, schools and health facilities contributed to more than 50% increase in trade union membership(Disney, 1990).
In the 1980s, the interaction between government policies, employers’ policies and the economic forces largely influenced the patter that trade unions adopted. In addition to these external factors, the leadership of the union was also a great influencer of the change. A leadership that focused and was committed to achieving growth in the union was likely to bring an increase in the membership of the union. The decision-making process of the union also contributed to change in the union membership. In Britain, the expansion of the two major trade unions in the 1960s and 1970s can be attributed the leadership skills and the influence that the secretary generals of the trade unions had on the policymaking process. The leaders of these unions sort to identify with the needs of its members and therefore adopted a bargaining method that would ensure that the needs of the members were met. The union adopted an open recruitment policy that allowed members of small unions to join them(Mason and Bain, 1993). Therefore, the leadership and the priorities of given trade unions have an impact on the change in the membership patterns that are witnessed in the trade unions.
The decline of the private sector in recognition of trade union has played a significant role in shaping the union membership patterns in Britain. To establish the impact of the private sector on union membership, it is important to understand and separate the employers that recognise and honour the duties and demands of trade unions. When an employer recognises one or more unions for the purposes of bargaining the payments and the conditions of the workers, the employers contribute to an increase in the membership of the union. From 1980 up 2004, research has shown that there has been a decline in the rate at which trade unions are recognised across different sectors. No sector in Britain has been immune to this trend. Research shows that de-unionisation has been great in the water and energy sectors which in the initial stages represented a big percentage if the union membership. Union recognition rate declined from 50% in 1980 to 327 in 2004(Bryson and Blanchflower, 2008). It has been reported that de-recognition in Britain is a rare occurrence, and the lowest percentage of trade recognition has been reported due to the new organisations failing to recognise trade unions.
The relationship between the trade union and the politics of Britain
The British labour party has a strong organisational and institutional relationship with the labour movement since the time it was formed. Even today it was there existing strong links between the labour movement and the British labour party. In the 1990s the Labour party had reserved roles of the labour unions despite conflicts in the ruling regime. The link between the labour union and the labour part has impacted the industrial relations and the means through which the labour party is integrated into the political economy of the country. In the past, all the attempts that have been there to redefine the role of labour unions and the prevailing industrial relation have resulted in political instabilities. Before the labour union was integrated into the British political system, the middle class had presented their concerns regarding industrial conflicts and economic decline that was being witnessed in the country. Most of the economist appeared to blame the trade union of the economic decline that was being experienced in the country(Disney, 1990). In the 1980s and 1970s, it was reported that in the workplaces there existed strict working rules, the resistance of technology and innovation and poor working habits in the workplaces. These habits had a significant impact on the patterns of trade union membership.
The peak of the concerns regarding the declining economic development by the politicians, the public and the blame of the labour union was reached in the 1960s. The industrial reform became a major concern of the public, and the disagreement between the government and trade regimes brought down two governments. The fall of these regimes saw the establishment of Margaret Thatcher government under the conservative party. Her leadership led to the adoption of neoliberalism and radical industrial reform. Her government undertook strict reforms that saw the reduction of the labour unions power. However, her changes le to the puzzle of how the trade union powers were defined before the 1980s and specifically the role the trade unions were given by through central government in the formation of industrial relation reforms. In the 1970s there existed two main reforms that were campaigning against the decline of the Britain economy, the liberal pluralist, and the Tory reformist. The groups came up because of the industrial relation reforms that had led to an increase in the strike rates, inflexible and restrictive labour practices, and the high cost of labour. The pluralist reformist group was composed of the educated elite of the time. The group argued that the problems in the UK reflected the widespread disorderliness in industrial relations. To solve the problem, the reformist recommended a collective bargain in the workplaces and repatriated the union authority through education and persuasion. The Tory reformist held the same argument as the liberal pluralist but emphasised the core source of the problems in the industrial reforms was the trade unions. They recommended that there be legislation restrictions and application of sanctions to hinder the abuse of power by the trade unions. Margaret Thatcher seemed to apply sanctions, and she was able to reduce the power that the trade union enjoyed. Consequently, the trade membership by the workforce reduced by a higher percentage.
Composition of the workforce
The previously discussed factors seemed to concentrate on the era when there was a reduction in the employment rate in Britain. The theories held that a decrease in employment resulted in a decline in the density in the trade unions. However, by 1993, there was an increase in the work, but the union membership continued to decline(Report, 2002). Thus, it can be concluded that other than the level of employment, other factors contributed to the change in trade union membership patterns. One of the factors is the change in the composition of the workforce and the jobs available. The structure of the job market has changed over time(Machin, 2000). The presence of unionised sectors such as the public sectors that initially contributed to a high percentage in the unions only provide a small portion of the total employment in the current economy. Therefore, the percentage of union members also decrease with the change in the nature of jobs.
Industrial relation legislations has had a direct impact on the patterns of trade unions.in the 1980s, and the legislation played a role in the weakening of the trade unions. The law gave the employers the power to the trade unions if they participated in strikes. The legislation also undermined the power and the activities of the unions by raising the cost of union organisation and reducing the cost the employers incurred when opposing the unions(Report, 2002). As a result, the trade unions were not able to function and meet the needs of their members which led to few employees being interested in joining the unions.
Another factor that plays a key role in shaping the union’s members is its ability to meet the needs of the members and the ability to gain recognition in new workplaces. In the 980s, the labour unions were able to establish and recruit members from the new working places. They were able to gain recognition in the new firms. However, over time it has been increasingly harder for the trade unions to establish in the new industries, and thus they do not gain recognition from the employer. The attitude of the employer regarding the trade union has a direct impact membership of the union by the employees. Therefore, the inability of the trade unions to gain recognition in the new workplaces has resulted in the a decline in the membership(Report, 2002).
The structure and the policies that are adopted by the trade unions affect the patterns of the membership. In most cases, union policies are often not clear. The process of serving the current members and recruiting new members was not always well organised and planned. The labour union often focussed on some of the needs while other functions were completely ignored. For example, parental leave and female members of the unions had been neglected for long until recently. The unions also failed to have an outlined procedure of dealing with the employers. Therefore, they took so long when conducting a single bargain; thus, they were not effective in the delivery of services. The inefficiency of the trade unions discouraged new employee from joining the unions(Report, 2002)
Trade unions play an important role in promoting the welfare of its members. The unions ensure that the members receive a fair wage and the work under good working conditions. However, over time, there has been a change in the trade union membership. Some of the factors that contribute to the shift include government policies, employers attitude, change in the workplaces and job structure, policies and the regulations adopted by the union, dominant microeconomics factors, the ability of the unions to gain recognition in the new job markets. However, unregulated labour unions can result in increased labour cost forcing some firms out of the market.