A Trade Union View

Abstract

Trade union membership in Britain is not a minority taste — as is sometimes suggested. There are now over 12 million members in unions affiliated to the Trades Union Congress representing well over 60 per cent of the eligible work-force. The number of members is rising and when this is viewed against the background of considerable media hostility, it represents a remarkable achievement. When it is then also looked at in terms of the new membership this feeling is reinforced. White-collar workers in both the public and private sectors have provided the bulk of this increase with the more traditional craft- and industry-oriented unions losing ground. Many of these new members have no previous union experience and often no social reinforcement of family ties with unions. Clearly a need has been perceived by employees, and one of the major components of this need is protection against insecurity. Change, especially change out of one’s control, breeds insecurity and instability and over the past few years there has been a considerable amount of such change.