Industrial relations in britain

Three post-war phases can be identified:

• 1948-1968: Membership grew from 9.3 million to 10.2 million; union density moved between c.42% and 50% during this time
• 1970s: Membership grew markedly as white collar workers unionised. Total union membership reached all all-time high of 12.6 million in 1979, with density peaking at about 56%
• 1979-: Between 1979 and 2008 union membership fell by 5 million members to 7.6 million, with union density falling from c.56% to c.28%

Decline in strikes

• Along with the decline in unionisation there has been a decline in strike activity
• From a peak of 3906 strikes with almost 11 million working days lost in 1970, the number of strikes fell to 116 in 2005, resulting in only 157 000 working days lost
• Wages and pay-related issues still underpinned more than half of the strikes in 1999
• In the twenty-first century, a greater proportion of strikes are ‘defensive strikes’
• Decline of strike action in Britain may be steeper than elsewhere due to the restrictive legislation introduced by the Conservative Thatcher government

How can we explain the fall in British union density?

• There is no agreement on the relative effects of forces that have contributed to the fall in British unionism, yet it is generally accepted that these forces include:
• macro-economic context
• changing composition employment and of the labour force
• management resistance and workplace practices
• state labour policies
• issues internal to unionism
• 1997-2010 Labour Governments did not reverse these trends and actively encouraged private-sector involvement in the public sector

Contemporary British unionism

• In 2008, there were only 193 unions (a massive decrease from 1348 unions in 1920 – a result of both union mergers and falling union density)
• Union membership is concentrated within fourteen unions accounting for over 80% of total union membership, with the three largest unions representing just over half of all unionised workers
• Within the labour force there are marked variations in union density:
• In 2007, unionism in the public sector was 59%* whilst union density in the private sector was only 16%
• Non-manual workers are more likely to be unionised than manual workers
• Unionism is slightly higher amongst women (30%) than amongst men (c.26%)
• Full-time workers are more likely to be unionised (30%) than their part-time counterparts (22%)
• Workers over the age of 50 are more likely to be unionised (35%) than workers aged under 25 years (10%)