An Index Measure of British Trade Union Density
| Published date | 01 July 1990 |
| Author | John Kelly,Rachel Bailey |
| Date | 01 July 1990 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1990.tb00367.x |
British Journal
of
Industrial Relations
28~2
July
1990 0007-1080
$3.00
An
Index
Measure
of
British
Trade
Union
Density
Rachel
Bailey*
and John Kellyt
As
trade union membership continues to decline in this country (Depart-
ment
of
Employment (DE) figures indicate an annual average decrease of
3
per cent between
1980
and
1987),
there is still considerable disagreement
over how union density can be most accurately measured. In this paper we
present results that are more representative
of
the ‘true’ level
of
union
density than those derived by other authors (e.g. Bain and Price
1980,1983).
Our starting point was to ask the question: what proportion
of
employees
in
employment (i.e. excluding the unemployed and the armed forces) are
union members? Arguments supporting the inclusion of the unemployed in
the denominator of the density equation are weak: few unemployed people
retain their union membership
on
losing work, and unions have made little
effort to recruit them (Kelly and Bailey
1989).
However, to establish an
accurate figure for union membership (the numerator) is a less straightfor-
ward matter. The membership figures supplied by the unions themselves
may be significantly inflated by the inclusion
of
a number
of
different
categories of people:
-
non-UK citizens;
-
retired people;
-
the unemployed;
-
the self-employed.
In addition, there may be errors arising from delays in recording changes in
the numbers joining and leaving.
Using a survey
of
TUC
unions conducted in
1988,
together with
employment data, we were able to rectify some
of
these potential
‘inaccuracies’ and to construct a time series for union density based
on
relatively ‘clean’ figures. The calculations needed to produce the correct
density figures shown
in
Table
1
(column
(4))
are outlined below.
First, figures used
for
actual and potential membership must be geo-
*Teaching
Assistant,
London School
of
Economics
tSenior Lecturer
in
Industrial Relations, London School
of
Economics
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