The union density or union membership rate conveys the number of

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

members who are employees as a percentage of the total number of employees in a given industry or country. This is normally lower than

collective agreement coverage Collective agreement coverage or union representation refers to the proportion of people in a country population whose terms and conditions at work are made by collective bargaining, between an employer and a trade union, rather than by individual ...

rate, which refers to all people whose terms of work are collectively negotiated. Trade unions bargain with employers to improve pay, conditions, and decision-making in workplaces; higher rates of union density within an industry or country will generally indicate higher levels of trade union

bargaining power Bargaining power is the relative ability of parties in an argumentative situation (such as bargaining, contract writing, or making an agreement) to exert influence over each other. If both parties are on an equal footing in a debate, then they w ...

, lower rates of density will indicate less bargaining power.

Causes

The causes of higher or lower union membership are widely debated. Common causes are often identified as including the following: *whether a jurisdiction encourages

sectoral collective bargaining Sectoral collective bargaining is an aim of trade unions or labor unions to reach a collective agreement that covers all workers in a sector of the economy. It contrasts to enterprise bargaining where agreements cover individual firms. Generally co ...

(higher coverage) or

enterprise bargaining Enterprise bargaining is an Australian term for a form of collective bargaining, in which wages and working conditions are negotiated at the level of the individual organisations, as distinct from sectoral collective bargaining across whole industr ...

(lower coverage) *whether collective agreements to create a

closed shop A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fr ...

or allow automatic enrollment in union membership are lawful *whether the government, for instance through a Ministry or

Department of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

, actively promotes collective agreement coverage with a power to impose terms if employers refuse to bargain with the workforce *whether a country enables collective agreements to be extended by government regulations to all workers when the coverage rate reaches a majority in a sector, or similar level *whether laws on collective bargaining and strikes are more or less favourable

By country

In the United States in 2015 there were 14.8m union members, and 16.4m people covered by collective bargaining or union representation. Union membership was 7.4% in private sector, but 39% in the public sector. In the five largest states,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

has 15.9% union membership,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

4.5%,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

6.8%, New York 24.7% (the highest in the country), and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

had 15.2%. In December 2021, 14.3% of the Australian workforce were union members; this was a decline of more than 5 percentage points since 2010 and nearly 10 percentage points since 2005. In Sweden union density was 68% in 2019. In all the Nordic countries with a

Ghent system The Ghent system is the name given to an arrangement in some countries whereby the main responsibility for welfare payments, especially unemployment benefits, is held by trade unions rather than a government agency. The system is named after the ci ...

—Sweden, Denmark and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

—union density is almost 70%. In all these countries union density has declined. In France while the overall union density is 8%, in companies over 50 employees this level reaches 43%. Us Bureau of Labour in 2010 notes a difference of median income of 200 dollars between union-members (917), and non-union members (717) without indicating if higher salaries link to more unionisation, or the reverse or in mutuality.

Notes

References

* * * * {{Cite journal , last = Schnabel , first = Claus , title = Union membership and density: Some (not so) stylized facts and challenges , journal =

European Journal of Industrial Relations ''European Journal of Industrial Relations'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers European industrial relations and their theoretical and practical implications. The journal was established in 1995 and is published by SAGE Pu ...

, volume = 19 , issue = 3 , pages = 255–272 , publisher =

Sage Sage or SAGE may refer to: Plants * ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb ** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family ** ''Salvia'', a large ...

, doi = 10.1177/0959680113493373 , date = September 2013 , s2cid = 14168949 , url = https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-fau/files/7690/Schnabel_union.pdf

External links

European Trade Union Institute

ILO Trade Union StatisticsOECD Statistics on Trade Union Density, since 1960 for some countries
Labour law Labor relations

Causes

By country

See also

Notes

References

External links