Unions: Some win, some lose

UK unions are seeing significant membership changes, with some growing their memberships, while others decline.

Why it matters: Union membership trends reflect broader shifts in workforce dynamics and worker sentiment.

By the numbers… who is up:

• National Education Union: +39,268 members (total 498,384)
• GMB: +4,964 members
• Usdaw: +3,742 members
• CSP: +3,300 members
• Prospect: +2,754 members
• POA: +2,169 members

Others are down:

• Communication Workers Union: -14,766 members (total 172,354)
• University and College Union: -8,424 members
• RMT: -2,654 members
• NUJ: -1,195 members

Meanwhile: Dutch union membership is declining, especially among the over 55s. Five years ago, 31% of older workers were union members, but this has now dropped to 25%. 

Union membership in the public sector is around 25%, which would suggest that union membership in the private sector is considerably lower than 15%. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

We have published a Perspectives paper exploring the reasons for the decline of the European trade union movement.