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INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
1997 PRESS RELEASES
ILO Highlights Global Challenge to Trade Unions
Tuesday 4 November 1997
(ILO/97/28)
GENEVA (ILO News) Trade-union membership dropped sharply during the last decade,
falling to less than 20 per cent of workers in 48 out of 92 countries surveyed, says the International
Labour Office in its annual study of the world's labour markets: World Labour Report 1997-98(Endnote 1), released today in Geneva.
The ILO report says that in 1995, roughly 164 million of the world's estimated workforce of 1.3
billion belonged to trade unions. In only 14 of the 92 countries surveyed, did the union membership rate
exceed 50 per cent of the national workforce. In all but about 20 countries, membership levels declined
during the last decade.
However, the ILO report also says that in spite of the negative trends, the drop in union numbers
has not translated into a corresponding drop in influence. In most countries, trade unions have managed
to consolidate their strength in core sectors, enlist constituents in emerging sectors and develop new
collective bargaining strategies, often on a global scale.
Presenting the study at a press conference in Geneva, ILO Director-General Michel Hansenne
suggested the results signalled a major turning point in industrial relations worldwide, but he dismissed
the notion of a world-wide decline in trade union power. "Numbers tell only part of the story", said Mr.
Hansenne, adding that:
"Where many observers around the world see only decline, I see increased democracy, greater
pragmatism and freedom for millions of workers to form representative organizations to engage in
collective bargaining with their employers and to participate in decisions affecting society and the
workplace."
The report shows that while much of the numerical decline is attributable to such economic
factors as reduced public-sector employment, heightened economic competition and a falling share of
manufacturing industries in total employment, the dramatic rise or fall of trade union membership is
linked to systemic changes in governance or major legislative overhauls in many countries and regions.
For example, in regional terms, the drop in union membership was sharpest in central and eastern
European countries, which saw an average decline of almost 36 per cent, much of which resulted from
the ending of quasi-obligatory union membership following the breakup of the former Soviet bloc.
Unionization rates in Estonia were down 71 per cent, in the Czech Republic by 50 per cent, in Poland
by 45 per cent, in Slovakia 40 per cent and Hungary 38 percent. Much of the decline in Germany's
unionization rate (20 per cent versus a 16 per cent average in the EU) is attributable to the drop in former
East Germany.
In contrast, the largest single increase in trade union membership came in South Africa, which
saw unionization rates leap by 130.8 per cent, with most of the increase coming in the post-apartheid era.
Some of the other countries which saw unionization rates increase were: Bangladesh (58 per cent),
Canada (10.7 per cent), Chile (89 per cent), Republic of Korea (61 per cent), the Philippines (69 per
cent), Spain (92 per cent), Thailand (77 per cent) and Zimbabwe (54 per cent).
The report also says that in some cases union membership is repressed for political or investment
considerations. Some governments have "adopted a restrictive policy with regard to recognising unions
in the hope of attracting foreign investment." In addition, restrictions of various kinds and officially
sanctioned, or ignored, anti-union activities remain pervasive in a large number of countries as reflected
by the numerous complaints filed each year and examined by the ILO's Committee on Freedom of
Association.
The report says that while unions in most countries have moved "towards a less adversarial and
more cooperative" approach, trade unions have shown themselves capable of wielding power in times
of crisis. In a number of recent industrial and political conflicts, notably in France, Germany and the
Republic of Korea, trade unions proved decisive in reaching settlements.
The international activities of trade unions have expanded greatly, leading in a number of high-profile cases multinational corporations (including Nike, The Gap and others) to adopt "codes of
conduct" for workers and subcontractors on a global scale. In many non-democratic developing
countries, notably Myanmar, Nigeria and Sudan, unions and workers' organizations continue to be in the
vanguard of democratic opposition and strong proponents of human rights. Innovative social structures,
such as the implementation of works councils in Europe and various "social pacts" (along the lines of
those implemented in Ireland and Italy which have boosted growth, restrained inflation and reduced
unemployment) owe much of their inspiration to trade unions.
In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, declines in union
membership (of respectively 25, 30 and 55 per cent) resulted partly from the weakening of legislation
protecting unions and changes to the institutional recognition accorded to workers' organizations.
Union membership in the United States declined by 21.1 per cent during the last decade, giving
the US one of the lowest levels of unionization among industrialized countries. Changes in the
composition of the workforce resulting from the introduction of new technologies figure prominently
among the causes of this trend.
In Israel, union membership during the period 1985-95 dropped by 76 per cent, mainly because
the Government removed health-care from unions and transferred it to the State.
In some industrialised countries, the total number of unionised workers decreased only slightly,
but the percentage of wage and salary earners in the workforce dipped more sharply. This suggests that
large numbers of new entrants to the labour market are not being unionised and that the relative
numerical importance of unionised labour is decreasing as a percentage of the workforce in most
countries.
For example, in Japan, the number of unionised workers decreased by only about 1%, but the
decline of union density was 16% during the last decade; unionised workers now account for only about
one-quarter of the Japanese workforce.
The number of unionised workers remained steady in Italy, but the percentage of unionised
workers in the labour force decreased by 7% to 44% of the total since the mid-1980s.
The ILO Director-General acknowledged that the decline in overall numbers underscored the
fact that "economic openness means coming to terms with change," but insisted that "evidence abounds
that the extent of countries' involvement in globalisation is in no way limited by the existence of strong
trade unions." In fact, "the benefits of globalisation are likely to be stronger when the social partners are
capable of assuring wage earners of a reasonable measure of security in the face of change."
While stressing the vital economic function of trade unions during industrial restructuring, he
said that "trade unions continue to play an important role as vehicles of democracy and advocates of
social justice, notably by reaching out to women, minorities, consumer groups, the unemployed and the
growing numbers of working poor in countries round the world."
Trade Union Membership (1995)
Region
|
No. of union members |
Sub-Saharan Africa
North Africa and Middle East
North America
Central America
South America
Oceania
East and South-East Asia
South Asia
Northern Europe
Western Europe
Southern Europe
Central and Eastern Europe
|
10,027,000
7,338,000
20,489,000
11,042,000
22,431,000
2,802,000
23,930,000
10,445,000
7,527,000
23,749,000
10,174,000
13,993,000
|
Total |
163,947,000 |
Pressure to Adapt
The report surveys a vastly different landscape of industrial relations emerging in the global
economy, driven more by capital mobility, new methods of production and communication and
innovative approaches to human resource development than by traditional collective labour relationships,
which it says "are becoming increasingly unstuck."
The report foresees an era of reduced government intervention in economies, greater autonomy
for enterprises and increased competition for jobs and investment. It says that coping with the potentially
negative social fallout from these trends will be a major challenge for governments, employers and
workers alike.
The report highlights the increasing mobility of capital, which means that for enterprises
previously limited by national horizons, a variety of options beckon in the global competition for plant
and investment, "exit routes really do exist, and they may well increase in years to come."
Since companies now have greater options on locating production, the report says "the cost of
labour is back on the table; wages, once taken out of competition (by national or industry-wide collective
agreements) are now back in the competitive sphere."
The impact is likely to be greatest on low-paid, low-skilled labour, thus widening social
inequalities. The ILO warns that trade competition and capital mobility risk "dividing the workforce"
by seeking out and bidding up the wages of highly skilled workers at the expense of the less-skilled, who
used to be protected from wage competition.
Employers also face new challenges as a result of reduced government intervention and increased
competition:
"In reducing the autonomy of national macroeconomic policy, globalisation enhances a firm's
role as the primary engine of wealth and job creation", the report says. However the same forces "erode
the shelter in which firms used to operate." Enterprises have responded by transforming how they
organise work and production and, in the process "industrial relations structures have come under
pressure to adapt."
The most immediate casualties of efforts to promote flexibility and "lean" production have been
managers, whose ranks have been dramatically reduced. In the US, for example, "18.6 per cent of all
positions phased out since 1988 came from middle management, although middle managers account for
only 5-8 per cent of the workforce." In large UK companies, the average number of management layers
went from seven to less than five in recent years.
Responsibility has increasingly devolved to the shop floor, with such new methods of
organisation as cross-functional teams and multi-skilling, replacing the traditional system of highly
segmented jobs and rigid job descriptions that prevailed as recently as the 1980s in the most developed
industrial economies.
The ILO report says that "while these new methods offer certain advantages to workers in the
form of greater autonomy, responsibility and decisions-making power, the benefits have frequently been
offset by higher unemployment, reduced employment security, limited career prospects and a growing
number of peripheral workers on casual, temporary or part-time contracts."
Meanwhile, existing industrial relations structures have, in many cases, been augmented or
circumvented by new ones, known generically as Human Resource Management (HRM) policies, which
deal with such workplace issues as teamwork, training, payment systems and personnel systems, many
of which were previously dealt with by collective agreements.
The ILO report says that in unionised enterprises, the use of HRM policies can be interpreted
two ways: "either the union facilitates the introduction of these methods, or they are used to counter the
influence of unions." In continental Europe and Japan, the transition has done little to disrupt existing
labour-management relationships, in contrast to the UK and US where "in the context of a traditionally
adversarial collective bargaining culture, this relationship has been more confrontational."
According to the ILO analysis, the architecture of future industrial relations will be largely
determined by how employers and workers resolve the tension between cooperation-based policies
underpinning most human resource strategies and traditional enterprise-based industrial relations
involving unions and collective bargaining. In ILO's view, the two need to be "complementary," without
undermining the role of trade unions, who frequently have to intervene when problems remain immune
to direct, cooperation-based solutions or involve social issues that go beyond the boundaries of the
enterprise.
New Strategies for Employers and Unions
The report says that in many cases decisions taken by unions have compounded the difficulties
they face and these need to be addressed. For example, loss of revenue caused by declining membership
has led to numerous mergers among unions seeking to streamline their operations. The larger unions
emerging from this process may have sometimes lost touch with their grass roots.
In addition, unions have usually remained focused on workers in mass production in very large
enterprises, thus ignoring the increasing numbers of workers employed in small and medium sized
enterprises (SMEs), in services or in unconventional employment circumstances, such as part-time,
informal and home workers. Employers organisations have made similar oversights, notably in failing
to organise SMEs or informal-sector employers.
To address these and other shortcomings, unions and employer organisations are developing new
strategies, including:
Provisions of new services For unions and employers alike this includes supplementary
social benefits, advisory services, development of professional communications programmes, job
networks etc..
Recruiting new members For unions this includes women, young people, workers in
SMEs, informal sector employees (i.e. those working outside the bounds of the formal economy, which
in some poor regions of the world could account for 80 per cent of all workers) and the unemployed. For
employers this means SMEs and informal sector employers.
Expansion of international cooperation In spite of legal barriers and cultural differences,
trade unions are increasingly developing their international ties, notably by participation in international
fora, confederations and by increased direct contacts of trade unionists with counterparts overseas,
notably those employed by multinational corporations. Employers organisations are seeking to create
integrated service networks offering training, legal advice and strategic planning to ever larger networks
of employers, especially SMEs, on a regional basis.
Forging new alliances Grass roots organisations, including NGOs and consumer groups
that share the same objectives and employer and trade union organisations are an increasingly important
resource in such complex international areas as human rights, trade policy, environment and
development.
Union membership
as a percentage of wage and salary earners
Trade Union Density
(1995)
|
Change in Trade Union Density
(1985-1995)
|
AFRICA
Egypt 38.8%
South Africa 40.9%
AMERICAS
Argentina 38.7%
Brazil 43.5%
Canada 37.4%
Cuba 70.2%
Mexico* 42.8%
United States 14.2%
Venezuela 17.1%
ASIA
Indonesia 3.4%
Japan 24.0%
Korea, Rep. of 12.7%
Malaysia 13.4%
Philippines 38.2%
Thailand 4.2%
OCEANIA
Australia 35.2%
New Zealand 24.3%
EUROPE
Austria 41.2%
Denmark 80.1%
Finland 79.3%
France 9.1%
Germany 28.9%
Greece 24.3%
Hungary 60.0%
Iceland 83.3%
Israel 23.0%
Italy 44.1%
Malta 65.1%
Netherlands 25.6%
Poland 33.8%
Portugal 25.6%
Spain 18.6%
Sweden 91.1%
Switzerland 22.5%
United Kingdom 32.9%
*Mexico: 1991
|
AFRICA
Egypt -9.1%
South Africa 130.8%
AMERICAS
Argentina -42.6%
Canada 1.8%
Costa Rica -43.0%
Cuba -29.8%
Mexico** -28.2%
United States -21.1%
Venezuela -42.6%
ASIA
Japan -16.7%
Korea, Rep. of 2.4%
Philippines 84.9%
Singapore -18.1%
Thailand -2.5%
OCEANIA
Australia -29.6%
New Zealand -55.1%
EUROPE
Austria -19.2%
Czech Rep. -44.3%
Denmark 2.3%
Finland 16.1%
France -37.2%
Germany -17.6%
Greece -33.8%
Hungary -25.3%
Iceland 6.3%
Israel -77.0%
Italy -7.4%
Malta 35.8%
Netherlands -11.0%
Norway 3.6%
Poland -42.5%
Portugal -50.2%
Spain 62.1%
Sweden 8.7%
Switzerland -21.7%
United Kingdom -27.7%
** Mexico: 1989-1991 |
Endnote 1:
World Labour Report 1997-98. Industrial Relations, Democracy and Social Stability. International
Labour Office, Geneva, 1997. ISBN 92-2-110331-5. Price: 45 Swiss francs.
For further information, please contact Bureau of Public Information (PRESSE) at:
Tel: +41.22.799.7940 or Fax: +41.22.799.8577.
Copyright © 1997 International Labour Organization (ILO)
webinfo@ilo.org
This page was created by BB. It was approved by KMK. It was last updated on 4 November 1997.
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