2
BRIEFLY ABOUT REPORT 2 OF 5 | 2011
Opinions on Unions and Work
Views on trade union membership
Summary of the second report
Views on trade union membership
The majority of LO members
consider union membership
to be of great value as regard
core union issues such as
wages, work environment and
employment protection
LO, january 2012
Mats Larsson
1
Summary of the second report
In the middle of the 1990s almost 90 percent of workers were members of a
trade union. Since then there has been a slow but steady decrease of the
union membership. In 2007 the raised fees of unemployment insurance
accelerated the decline of affiliated members and during the first quarter of
2011 the quota of the total union membership was the lowest in over 40
years – 69 percent.
The decrease in the number of union members can be explained by the
economic turns, structural changes and raised fees of unemployment
insurance. However the question is whether there have also been changes in
people’s attitudes and confidence towards union membership. According to
the second part of the report series “Opinions on Unions and Work” – which
assess the workers view of union membership – no such signs are yet to be
seen.
Diagram 2.1 Rate of unionisation between 1975–2011
Persent
100
80
60
40
20
0
1975
1980
1985
Employees in total
1990
1995
Blue-collar w orkers
2
2000
2005
2011
White-collar w orkers
The value of the membership
The majority of LO members consider union membership to be of great
value as regard core union issues such as wages, work environment and
employment protection. Many members also appreciate the support and help
the union membership can provide in different situations. It is also highly
valued among members that union membership brings advantages regarding
insurance and education. valued among the members (see diagram 3.1).
80 percent of all LO members consider the union membership to improve
employment protection, 66 percent consider it to give possibilities to
influence work environment and 63 percent consider it to improve wage
development. However, only 36 percent of LO members consider union
membership to improve their own impact on their work.
71 - 78 percent of members consider that union membership gives help and
support whenever there is some form of crisis at work, risk of
unemployment, strike or lockout or a dispute with the employer.
In addition to this over 80 percent of the members considers that the LO
membership gives an improved insurance protection and possibilities to take
part in trade union training.
Diagram 3.1 Values of union membership. LO members 2011
Union core issues
Improved employment protecion
80
Opportunity to influence w ork environment
66
Improved w age development
63
Influence over ow n w ork
36
Support and help
Support during strike or lockout
78
Help during dispute w ith employer
77
Help in case of threat of unemployment
74
Possibility to criticize employer
71
Bonus
Opportunities to take part in union courses
83
Improved insurance protection
82
Possibility to influence politicians
30
Percent
0
20
3
40
60
80
100
Slow decrease turned into a boost
Between 1988 and 2006, the advantages of trade union membership tended
to be slightly negative within most areas. However, in 2011 a substantial
recovery has taken place among the LO members as regards the opinions of
the advantages of union membership, both in terms of wage development,
employment security and support during conflicts with the employer as well
as improved insurance protection.
Reasons not to join the union – cost, discontentment and indifference
Despite the great values that most people link to union membership almost
one third of workers have not joined the union. The main reasons are
discontentment, lack of interest and too expensive. Approximately 30
percent of non-union members state that these are the most important
reasons for not being unionized. The remaining 10 percent are less common
reasons such as work part time, temporary employment or political reasons
(see diagram 4.1).
Diagram 4.1 Reasons not to join the union
Non-union member workers 2011
Too expensive
31
Discontentment
11
Lack of interest
10
Can do better w ithout
9
Hesitating tow ards the benefits
9
Not asked
5
Political reasons or reasons of principle
3
Studies
3
Temporary employment
3
New job
2
No-one or few others have joined
2
Will soon retire
1
Lack of a union
1
Work part time
1
Other
8
Percent
0
10
20
4
30
40
Reasons to leave the union – discontentment and cost
Most of the former members of the union have left it because of
discontentment. Among workers this accounts for 31 percent of those who
have left the union, while 27 percent left the union because it was
considered to be too expensive, 15 percent left because they changed jobs
and 12 percent left the union because they believed they had no need for the
membership.
Compared to previous studies, the reason to leave the union because it is too
expensive has significantly increased, from 17 percent in 2006 to 27 percent
in 2011. Those who left due to discontentment have decreased respectively
(see diagram 5.2).
Diagram 5.2 Reasons to leave the union
Non-unionized workers 2011
Discontentment w ith the uion
31
Too expensive
27
Changed job
15
No use of the union
12
Became self-employed
3
Started to study
2
Will soon retire
1
Became unemployed
1
Other
7
0
10
20
30
40
Percent
57 percent may consider joining
Out of those who are non-union members, 57 percent answered yes to the
question whether they can consider joining the union, while 41 percent said
no and 2 percent did not know. The most positive to join the union are
adolescents, 82 percent of those between 18-24 years old can consider
becoming members (see diagram 6.1).
Compared to previous studies, the number of those who can consider
joining the union has increased from 47 percent in 2002 to 57 percent in
2011.
5
Diagram 6.1 Can consider to join the union
Non-unionized workers 2011
Yes
Maybe
No
Don't know
Total
Women
Men
18-24 years
25-29 years
30-39 years
40-49 years
50-64 years
Percent
0
20
40
60
80
100
Lower fees and improved terms of employment most common reasons to
join
The most common reasons for non-members to become union members are
a lower membership fees or if they get permanent employment or additional
working hours. Among workers, 24 percent state that a lower membership
fee is the most decisive factor, while 15 percent state that permanent
employment or more working hours that are most decisive. Adolescents are
more concerned about permanent employment as the reason for joining the
union while it is mainly middle-aged workers that are concerned with
membership fees (see diagram 6.3).
Other common reasons to join the union are dispute with the employer, risk
of unemployment or if the union changed their way of working.
6
Diagram 6.3 Decisive reasons to join the union
Non-unionized workers 2011
Low er fees
24
Permanent employment /additional w orking
hours
15
If the union changed their w ay of w orking
8
Dispute w ith employer
6
Risk of unemployment
4
If there existed a union
2
Other
16
No reasons / don't w ant to
15
Don't know
11
Percent
0
10
20
30
40
Membership of unemployment insurance– half the number of non-unionized
has not joined the insurance
Since the raised fees of unemployment insurance were introduced in 2007,
more and more people choose not to join the system. However, it is more
common among non-unionized workers. Among workers who are nonunionized, less than half (46 percent) have joined the unemployment
insurance. In contrast, among LO, TCO and SACO members almost all (9295 percent) are members of the unemployment insurance (see diagram 7.2).
Diagram 7.2 Members of unemployment insurance
Percent
100
95
92
92
84
80
66
60
46
40
20
0
LO
TCO
SACO
NonNonEmployees
unionized unionized
in total
blue-collar
w hitew orkers
collar
w orkers
7
Too expensive, minor risk of unemployment and indifference
Reasons not to join the unemployment insurance vary between blue-collar
workers and white-collar workers. 22 percent of blue-collar workers state
that the main reason not to join is that it is too expensive, while 19 percent
state that the risk of unemployment is low. These are followed by a number
of reasons such as indifference to join. However, this indifference is often
due to economic thinking – it is simply too expensive (see diagram 7.4).
For white-collar workers the fee does not seem to be a decisive reason for
not join the unemployment insurance, it comes in third place with only 9
percent. Most of white-collar workers state a low risk of unemployment (32
percent) or the fact that they will soon retire (14 percent).
Conclusions
The conclusion from the second part of the report series “Opinions on
Union and Work” and the questions about the view on union membership is
that the willingness to join the union is relatively high, as are the considered
values of union membership. However, more and more people choose not to
join either the union or the unemployment insurance mostly due to of the
too fees even though many say it is because of lack of interest.
Diagram 7.4 Reasons not to join the unemployment insurance
Blue collar workers
För dyrt
22
Liten risk bli arbetslös
19
Ointresse
8
Ej tillfrågad
8
Snart pension
4
Studerar
3
För låg ersättning
2
Missnöjd med a-kassa
2
Visstidsanställd
2
Har bytt jobb
2
Jobbar deltid
1
Annat
13
Vet ej
13
0
10
20
8
30
40 Percent
Rapporten kan hämtas som pdf-dokument på LOs hemsida eller
beställas från LO-distribution:
[email protected]
Telefax: 026-24 90 26
Februari 2012
isbn 978-91-566-2762-0
www.lo.se
på omslaget:
Marie-Louise Brännström, 48 år, Grafiska/GS-facket,
maskinoperatör vid Bong Ljungdahl AB i Nybro
foto: Lars Forsstedt