What It Will Take for BRITISH UNIONS to Prosper in the 21st Century

Abstract

At its peak in 1979, British union membership was thirteen million, and over half the workforce was unionized. In the subsequent two decades— under the Margaret Thatcher and John Major governments—membership hemorrhaged to just over seven million. While the situation has stabilized since Tony Blair’s government took office in 1997, less than 20 percent of privatesector workers are now unionized.Plummeting membership is easily explained. Jobs were eliminated in manufacturing and in the public sector, the bedrock of union strength, while employment grew rapidly in the largely nonunion service sector. Unions were also weakened by government action, especially legislation outlawing union shops and constraining strikes.As a result of these developments, there has been a huge growth in the fraction of workers who have never been union members. In 1980, only a quarter of British employees had never been a member. Today, half the workforce has never been in a union.