008. December 2021
Where do trade unions stand now?
Trade union membership worldwide has been going down over time, despite a number of bright spots in certain African or Latin American countries where membership increased. Different factors come into play in this overall decrease: Think of the shift from manufacturing to service jobs, the outsourcing of unionized jobs, the informalization of the economy and the changing employment relationship, and automation.
In fact, trade union membership is lower for people in non-standard or precarious types of employment, such as temporary and own-account workers or workers in the informal and gig economy.
Furthermore, legal restrictions and violations of trade union rights, such as the right to organize and to bargain collectively, are widespread. This affects trade unions’ ability to organize, to represent and to service workers. Not surprisingly, trade union membership is lower there where there are violations of trade union rights.
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