WHY HAVE UNIONS WITNESSED A DECLINE IN MEMBERSHIP IN RECENT YEARS? ITRODUCTION WHAT ARE UNIONS? UNIONS ARE INFLUENTIAL AND BROADLY BASED ORGANIZATIONS WHICH REPRESENT IT"S MEMBERS, WHO ARE USUALLY EMPLOYEE"S.
THEY HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG IN AUSTRALIA AND EXPERIENCED MIXED RESPONSES FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC AS WELL AS EMPLOYER"S. OBJECTIVES OF A UNION: THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF A UNION IS TO PROVIDE OR IMPROVE THE WELL-BEING OF IT"S MEMBER"S. IT WAS FORMED TO COUNER THE SUPERIOR ECONOMIC POWER OF EMPLOYER"S. IT"S MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTION IS TO MAXIMISE WAGES AND SALARIES SUBJECT TO CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT CONSTAINTS AND TO RAISE THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH WORK IS DONE. WHY DO EMPLOYEE"S JOIN UNONS? AN EMPLOYEE CAN BE MOTIVATED BY INSTUMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS, IDEOLOGICAL BELIEFS OR SIMPLY COMPULSION, BUT THERE SEEMS TO BE 3 MAJOR FACTORS THAT LEAD EMPLOYEES TO BE UNIONIZED: DISSATISFACTION WITH THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE JOB DESIRE TO INFLUENCETHOSE ASPECTS OF THE WORK ENVIRONMENT THROUGH UNION ORIENTATED MEANS BELIEF THAT BENEFITS OF UNIONISM OUTWEIGH EXPECTED COSTS MOST COMMONLY, EMPLOYEE"S JOIN BECAUSE OF THEIR COMMITTMENT TO THE VALUES OR PRINCIPLES OF UNIONISM. (INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS- A CONTEMPORARY ANALYSIS, DEERY S.
, PLOWMAN D., WALSH J. P 7.16) WHY ARE UNIONS WITNESSING DECLINE? THERE ARE MANY POSSIBLE REASONS TO SUGGEST THE DECLINE IN MEMBERSHIP BUT 3 FACTORS STAND OUT: 1.
) CHANGING COMPOSITION OF EMPLOYMENT - PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR MOST OF THE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH THAT OCCURED IN THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY IN THE 80"S AND 90"S WAS CONFINED TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR WHOSE UNION DENSITY RATE OF 25 % WAS CONSIDERABLY LOWER THAN THAT OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR WHICH WAS 56 %. IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT PUBLIC ENPLOYMENT FELL ALMOST 8 %. - STUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE MIX OF INDUSTRIES, SECTORS AND OCCUPATIONS. A CONTINUING DECLINE IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR TO OTHER SECTORS IN THE INDUSTRY. THE PROLIFERATION OF NON REGULAR FORMS OF EMPLOYMENT, PARTICULARLY CASUAL JOBS AND SELF-EMPLOYMENTAT THE EXPENSE OF TRADITONAL FULL TIME JOBS. BUT UNIONS ARE SEEMED TO BE BLAMED FOR THE LOW LEVEL REPRESENTATION OF CASUALS.
UNIONS DO NOT RECRUIT CASUALS AS ASSIDUOUSLY AS FULL TIMERS, BECAUSE UF THE HIGH ORGANIZATIONAL COSTS INVOLVED. - SIZE OF THE FIRMS 70 % OF SMALL WORKPLACES WITH 5-19 EMPLOYEE"S HAD NO UNION MEMBER"S COMPARED WITH ONLY 4 % OF LARGE WORKPLACES WITH 500 OR MORE EMPLOYEE"S. MOREOVER, 67 % OF ALL WORKPLACES IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR HAD NO UNION MEMBERS COMPARED WITH LESS THAN 1 % IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR. - CHANGES IN THE GENDER COMPOSITION OF THE WORKPLACE FEMALE UNIONIZATION RATES HAVE BEEN CONSIDERABLY LOWER THAN MALES, DESPITE THE INCREASING NUMBER OF WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE OVER THE PAST DECADE.
THIS COULD BE BECAUSE OF: 1.) OCCUPATIONAL SEGMENTATION OF THE LABOUR MARKET - WOMEN ARE ASSIGNED TO LESS UNIONIZED OCCUPATIONS AND INDUSTRIES (PART TIME WORK, LOWER LABOUR FORCE ETC) 2.) SPECIFIC NEEDS OF WOMEN ARE NOT MET - WOMEN FEEL THAT KEY ISSUES RELATING TO THEM ARE NOT ADDRESSED WELL ENOUGH AND THUS UNFAVOUR UNION MEMBESHIP. WOMEN HAVE DIFFERENT TASTES AND PREFERENCES AND ARE NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY IN THE WORKPLACE.
2.) CASUAL EFFECTS OF THE BUSINESS CYCLE AND IN PARTICULAR TO UNEMPLOYMENT CHANGES IN THE OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF THE WORKPLACE, NOT SO MANY LAYERS OF MANAGEMENT, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY TO UNEMPLOYMENT. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN THE RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE 80"S AND 90"S WHICH HAD A NEGATIVE EFFECT.DURING PERIODS OF ECONOMIC STAGNATION, UNIONS HAVE TRADITIONALLY FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO RETAIN UNEMPLOYED WORKERS AS MEMBER"S. 3.
) THE ACCORD IN 1982 THE ACTU (AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS) AND THE LABOUR PARTY WERE CONSTRUCTING AN ALTERNATIVE TO NDEXATION AND THE AGREEMENT THEY REACHED WAS AN IMPORTANT REASON FOR LABOUR"S VICTORY IN 1983. THIS AGREEMENT WAS KNOWN AS THE ACCORDAND IT WAS FROM THIS TIME ON THAT A DECLINE IN UNION MEMBERSHIP HAS BECOME EVIDENT.THE ACCORD AGREEMENT PROVIDED A FEATURE OF HELP TO DEVELOP AND RESTUCTURE INDUSTRIES WHERE UNEMPLOYMENT WAS THE HEAVIEST, BUT IN RETURN, THE UNIONS HAD TO GIVE UP THIER RIGHT TO INDUSTRIAL ACTION. UNION RECRUITMENT DID NOT KEEP UP WITH THE EXPANSION OF SERVICE INDUSTRIES, AND DURING THE 80"S THE PROPORTION OF UNIONISTS WAS FALLING. "IN THE MID 80"S, THE UNIONS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO COMPLY WITH POLICIES THAT REPRESENT THE EXTRAPOLATION OF LABOURISM IN DIRECTIONS UNDREAMT OF BY UNIONS WHO FIRST GAVE THE TERM MEANING".
(AUSTRALIAN UNIONS: B.FORD & D.PLOWMAN) AUSTRALIAN UNIONS HAVE FACED AND ARE FACING WIDE RANGING CHANGES IN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MARKETS, AND THIS FACTOR CONTRIBUTES TO THE DECLINE IN MEMBERSHIP. THE FOLLOWING LABOUR MARKET CHANGES INFLUENCE THE STRUCTURE, POLICIES AND PROPERTIES OF UNIONS: A CONTINUING DECLINE IN THE PROPORTION OF EMPLOYEE"S IN AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURING SECTOR AN INCREASE IN THE PROPORTION OF EMPLOYEE"S IN INFOMATION AND SERVICE BASED ORGANIZATIONS A DECLINE IN ENTRY LEVEL EMPLOYMENT AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOW EDUCATED, LOW SKILLED PEOPLE A DECREASE IN TRADITIONAL PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AT ORGANIZATIONS IS RESTRUCTURED T FLATTTEN HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURES AUSTRALIA IS UNDERGOING POPULATION AGING, WHERE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE AGED SIXTY AND OVER ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE FROM 2 MILLION IN 1981 TO 3 MILLION IN 2001 AND TO 5 MILLION IN 2021. THE ABOVE CHANGES ILLUSTRATE THE GROWING CONCERN BY AUSTRALIAN UNIONISTS AND THEIR UNIONS.
(AUSTRALIAN UNIONS : B.FORD &D.PLOWMAN p309 ) ACCORDING TO THE AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, UNION MEMBERSHIP HAS DROPPED FROM 51% OF THE WORKPLACE IN 1976, TP 42% IN 1988 (AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: DEERY & PLOWMAN. 3rd ED p 227) THESE STATISTICS SHOW THAT UNION MEMBERSHIP DID NOT GROW PROPORTIONALLY TO THE WORKFORCE EXPANSION AS HAPPENED IN THE PAST.
THE ABS OBSERVED THAT UNION MEMBERSHIP HAS FALLEN ACROSS ALL AGE GROUPS, NEARLY ALL INDUSTRIES, AND IN BOTH, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR. ANOTHER DOWNFALL OF UNIONS IS THAT THAY TARGET WORKER AND IN THE PROCESS THEY NEGLECT THE "AGED" SECTION OF THE EMPLOYEE WORKFORCE. ON THE OTHER HAND YOUNG WORKERS SHOW VERY LITTLE INTEREST IN UNIONS IN THE INITIAL STAGES OF WORK. THEREFOR THE REAL CONCERN OF UNIONS SHOULD NOT BE UNION DENSITY AMONGST YOUNG WORKERS BUT RATHER THE BROADER MEMBERSHIP PROBLEM FACING UNIONS. THE DECLINE IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR PROVED TO BE A BIG BLOW TO UNIONS.
MOST OF THE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH WAS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, WHICH HAD LESS UNIONIZED MEMBERS THAN THE PUBLIC SECTOR. MANUFACTURING ENTERPRIZES (MORE THAN 100 EMPLOYEE"S) FELL BY 21% AND SMALL FIRMS (LESS THAN 100 EMPLOYEE"S) ROSE BY 13% IN AUSTRALIA IN THE PAST 20 YEARS. (INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: DEERY & PLOWMAN 3RD ED. p 228) IT IS ALSO ARGUED THAT IDEAS IN ASSOCIATION WITH "NEW IDEA" HAS HAD AN IMPACT ON UNION DENSITY BECAUSE OF THEIR INFLUENCES ON THE POLICIES OF GOVERNMENT. IN THE STATE OF QUEENSLAND, THE DECLINE IN UNION DENSITY HAS BEEN PARTICURLARLY ACUTE.
UNION DENSITY IN THIS AREA HAS FALLEN FROM 48.8% IN 1982 TO 45.6% IN 1986 AND FURTHER TO 39.2% IN 1988. THIS OCCURRENCE WAS DURING THE PERIOD OF LEGISLATIVE POLICIES DIRECTED AGAINST UNIONS (REGULATION). GOVERNMENTS DO NOT ONLY INFLUENCE UNIONS THROUGH LEGISLATION BUT RATHER AS THEIR ROLE AS EMPLOYER"S AS WELL.
(DECLINE IN UNION DENSITY: DAVID PEETZ) ANOTHER FACTOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE DECLINE IS EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE TOWARDS UNINOS. A NUMBER OF WRITERS HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THE DOWNWARD SHIFT IN COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR UNIONS ACROSS THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD. IN AUSTRALIA, PUBLIC OPINION POLLS SHOW THAT UNIONS ARE SEEN AS BEEN TO POWERFUL AND AS BEEN UNRESPONSIVE TO MEMBER"S NEEDS. SUCH PERCEPTIONS AND BELIEFS HAVE SUPPORTED THE DECLINE. A SURVEY CARRIED OUT BY McNAIR ANDERSON POLLING AGENCY AND SENTRY HOLDINGS SHOW THAT ONLY 6% OF THOSE SURVEYED HAVE CONFIDENCE IN UNIONS, AND MORE THAN 45% OF UNION MEMBER"S SURVEYED HAVE "HARDLY ANY" CONFIDENCE IN UNIONS LEADER"S. UNIONS WERE ALSO SEEMED TO BE BLAMED FOR BOTH, INFLATION AND STRIKES IN THE1980"S, THIS CAUSED BY WAGE DEMANDS AND UNION POPULARITY.
THE ROLE OF MANAGEMENT WAS SEEN, AS BEEN ANOTHER DAMAGING FACTOR IN THE DECLINE. FIRSTLY JOB SATISFACTION, WEREBY BENEFITS ARE PROVIDED BY EMPOLYER"S TOGETHER WITH OPERATIONAL CO-OPERATION IN ORDER TO SATISFY EMPLOYEES. THE THEORY BEING THAT CONTENT EMPLOYEE"S NEED NOT BE UNIONIZED. SECONDLY, THE ROLE OF COMPANIES TO REMOVE THE REPRESENTATIONAL ROLE OF UNIONS.
EMPLOYEES WORK HARD TO CREATE A JOB ENVIRONMENT CONDUSIVE TO FLEXIBLE WORK AND MOREOVER REWARDS. ANOTHER MAJOR REASON FOR THE DECLINE IS THAT UNION, OVER TIME LOST THEIR CREDIBALITY. THEY FAILED IN FULFILLING THEIR PROMISES TO EMPLOYEES WHICH EVENTUALLY LED TO EMPLOYEES WITHDRAWING THEIR MEMBERSHIP AS THEY NOW FELT THAT UNIONS WERE INEDEQUATE.THE LOSS OF MEMBERSHIP WAS NOT ONLY THE LOSS OF PREVIOUS MEMBERS, BUT ALSO THE LOSS OF SEVERAL NEW EMPLOYEES CONSIDERING MEMBERSHIP. IT NOW BECOMES A VERY LARGE TASK TO REGAIN CREDIBALITY AND THUS RESTORE CONFIDENCE.
ALTHOUGH THESE ARE PERSPECTIVES OF MAJORITY OF THE CITIZENS, UNIIONS FOR A FACT HAS "SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED THE LIVING STANDARDS OF AUSTRALIANS." (AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: DEERY & PLOWMAN 3RD ed. 231). COMPARING TO OTHER COUNTRIES, AUSTRALIA HAS A LARGE NUMBER OF TRADE UNIONS INTERNATIONALLY, MOST OF WHICH IS SMALL AND HAS FEWER THAN 5000 MEMBER"S.
DESPITE DECLINING IN MEMBERSHIP, IT IS APPARENT THAT AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNIONISM REMAINED FAIRLY STABLE OVER THE PAST HALF DECADE. ALTHOUGH CHANGES HAVE OCCURRED IN THE NATURE OF THE ECONOMY, IN PRODUCTION AND EMPLOYMENT AND IN THE LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY, THE DISTRIBUTION OF AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNIONS HAS REMAINED LARGELY UNALTERED.THERE HAS BEEN A DECLINE IN UNION MEMBERSHIP IN AUSTRALIA, BUT COMPARING TO THE U.S.
A AND THE U.K, IT IS FAIRLY STABLE. IN THE RECENT LABOUR ORGANIZATION RESEARCH, IT IS INDICATED THAT UNION DENSITY HAS BEEN IN A SLUMP AND IS FALLING IN ALL BUT A HANDFUL OF COUNTRIES, THESE EXCEPTIONS BEING: SOUTH AFRICA, THE PHILIPPINES, SPAIN AND TURKEY. AUSTRALIA ON THE OTHERHAND IS AMONGST THOSE COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST STEEPLY DECLINING DENSITY, NAMELY: New Zealand, UNITED STATES, UNITED KINGDOM, FRANCE, GREECE, TAIWAN AND ISRAEL. UNIONIZATION IS LESS THAN 20% IN APPROXIMATELY 48 OF THE 92 COUNTRIES FOR WHICH THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION REPORTS DATA. (J.
I.R 1998) AUSTRALIAN UNION MEMBERSHIP FELL FROM 46%IN 1986 TO 31% IN 1996. UNION DENSITY IN AUSTRALIA FELL MOST RAPIDLY IN THE MINING AND MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. IT IS ALSO A FACT THAT THE ACTU"s TARGET OF 200 000 MEMBERS IN THE 2 YEARS ENDING JULY 1997 FAILED AND RATHER SUFFERED THE LOSS OF ABOUT 86 000 MEMBERS. (J.I.
R. 1998) DUE TO THE STEEP DECLINE IN UNION MEMBERSHIP IN THE 1980"s AND 1990"s, UNIONS WERE CONVINCED OF A NEED TO ESTABLISH A MORE CONSOLIDATED AND MORE EFFICIENT ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE. HOWEVER, THIS RESTRUCTURING HAS PROVEN TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN AN ELUSIVE GOAL. THERE IS LITTLE OR NO EVIDENCE TO INDICATE THAT UNION RECRUITMENT EFFORTS HAVE BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE BECAUSE YOUNG EMPLOYEES AND WOMEN HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY UNUNIONIZED. THIS BEING THE CASE, UNION RECRUITMENT IS A FUNDAMENTAL FACTOR IN THE FUTURE OF AUSTRALIAN UNIONS.
(CAM 1005 READING KIT:INSTITUTIONAL FOCUS OF THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP) FROM THE EVIDENCE PROVIDED, THIS DECLINE FROM THE 1890"s IN TRADE UNIONS IS A LONG TERM TREND. AS IN THE 1890"s, WHERE TRADE UNIONS SUFFERED AND WHERE ECONOMICPROSPERITY TURNED TO DEPRESSION AND THEREAFTER FROM 1901 UNTIL 1921 WHERE UNION MEMBERSHIP GREW FROM VIRTUALLY 0 TO MORE THAN HALF OF THE AUSTRALIAN WORKFORCE, AND AGAIN A SLUMP UNTIL 1924. AS RESTRUCTURING IS IMPORTANT AND VITAL TO UNION MOVEMENTS, IT IS TIME CONSUMING AND IS A PROCEDURE WHICH HAS TO BE SLOWLY PHASED IN, DUE TO THESE FACTORS IT IS REGARDEDAS LONG TERM AND CANNOT BE CORRECTED OVERNIGHT. TO CONCLUDE, WE HAVE LOOKED AT ALL THE REASONS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DECLINING UNION MEMBERS IN AUSTRALIA. IN SPECULATION IT CAN BE SEEN THAT WHEN THIS DECLINE STARTED, WHAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE DECLINE AND THE EFFECTS SUFFERED BY UNIONS BECAUSE OF THIS DECLINE. BY COMPARING AUSTRALIA"S MEMBERSHIP DECLINE TO THAT OF OTHER COUNTRIES FACED WITH THE SAME PROBLEMS, IT CAN BE SEEN THAT THE FALL OF MEMBERSHIP HAS BEEN MODERATE.
AS THIS PAPER OUTLINES, ALL THE VARIOS CAUSES CONTRIBUTING TO THESE PROBLEMS AND THE DIFFERENT SECTORS IN THE INDUSTRY FROM WHICH THESE PROBLEMS ORIGINATE, IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT UNIONS ARE FACED WITH A DIFFICULT TASK OF RESTRUCTURING, BUT AS IN THE PAST WHERE THERE HAS BEEN DECREASES AND INCREASES IN UNION MEMBERSHIP, TIME WILL SHOW THE UNPREDICTABLE SHIFTS IN UNION MEMBERSHIPS IN AUSTRALIA.
