The Trade Union movement is in serious decline. According to CSO data, the proportion of workers who are union members has declined from 45% to 33% in 10 years. In 1994 there were 432,000 trade union members, now there are 518,000. But the labour force has grown by over half a million and a 19.2% rise in the total number of union members means a 12% drop in the proportion in union membership of the potentially eligible workforce. It's a surprise to learn that the numbers added to the labour force in recent years are roughly the same as that of the trade union membership in the country. Trade unions have been in decline all over Europe but, looking at some comparative data, Ireland has slipped far down the league table of union density at a time when no other country's labour force grew to such an extent. The question is does any of this matter?
The answer is of course it does for those who place ourselves firmly on the latter side of the Boston or Berlin dichotomy. If you're in favour of the Americanization of the economy then all is well. It's also clear that trade unionists are much more likely to be found in the public sector. Union members in the public sector are also much more likely to be in favour of Social Partnership, particularly as their union leaders are much less critical of the process than those representing private sector workers. The real problem is in finding a position that lies between such uncritical acceptance of Social Partnership and a so-called return to 'traditional' militancy and free collective bargaining. I discussed some of these issues a couple of years ago in a paper called "Mixed Signals: SIPTU, Social Partnership and Competitive Corporatism" available here.
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