a twofold unsatisfied demand for organising? the opinion of youth representatives at the etuc level...

A twofold unsatisfied demand for organising? The opinion of youth representatives at the ETUC level and union confederations’ representing and recruitment efforts for youth

Annual TURI conference – 14 May 2011

2

Presentation overview

● Part I: young workers and unionisation● Some observations on unionisation● Explanations: attitudes versus labour market structures

● Part II: survey results● Structures for representing young union members● Perceived importance of organising campaigns● Responsiveness of the union confederation● Attracting and recruiting young workers

● Conclusion

kvandaele©etui.org (2011) A twofold unsatisfied demand for organising?

YOUNG WORKERS AND UNIONISATION

Literature research of empirical studies

4

Unionisation in Europe – general observations (1)


Chart 1.2: Union density, membership and non-membership, EU27, 2000-2008

27.826.9 26.5 26.4

25.725.1

24.423.8 23.4

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

100,000

110,000

120,000

130,000

140,000

150,000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

em

plo

ye

es

(in

th

ou

sa

nd

s)

151617181920212223242526272829303132333435

un

ion

de

ns

ity

(in

%)

union members non-members union density rate

5

Unionisation in Europe – general observations (2)


Chart 1.3: Union density by country.2000-2008

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

SE

DK FI

CY

BE

MT SI

LU

EU

15

RO IT IE

EU

27

AT

UK

EU

12

EL

PT

CZ

BG

DE

NL

SK

HU

LV

PL

ES

LT

FR

EE

% o

f em

plo

yed d

ependent labour f

orce

2000 2008

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Observations on union membership of young workers

● Lower unionisation among young workers than among their older counterparts● But ‘generation gap’ is not new

● Union membership has fallen more rapidly among the young

● More workers have never experienced union membership, particularly among the young (e.g. Germany and UK)

● Age is ‘a more important determinant of who joins trade unions now that it used to be’ (Machin 2004:430)

● ‘Most problematic group of workers to unionise’ across Europe (Pedersini 2010:13)


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Union density by age group


Chart 1.6: Union density by age group, mid 2000s

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

SE FI DK BE SI LU IE IT AT UK EL DE NL PL HU ES FR

15-34 35-54 55-64

kvandaele©etui.org (2011) A twofold unsatisfied demand for organising?8

Young workers and unionisation – Ireland (source: CSO)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1994 2001 2007

15-19

20-24

25-34

35-44


Young workers and unionisation – Sweden (source: Kjellberg 2009:484)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1990 1993 2000 2008

16-24

25-29

30-44

45-64


Young workers and unionisation – UK (source: BERR)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1995 2000 2005 2008

16-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

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Young workers and unionisation – explanations

● Lower unionisation among young workers means... ● Ageing of unions● Vulnerable to attacks on biased representation

○ Cf. Mobilisation potential of pension politics (e.g. governmental reforms with regards to early retirement schemes)

● Limiting generational renewal

● Explanations are diverse for lower unionisation are diverse


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Age-effects for lower unionisation rate among young workers

● Young workers are difficult to organise for various reasons

● Positive age-effects● The more experienced on the labour market, the more likely than one is a

union member● Older workers have more interest in job security and see union

membership as an implicit insurance against lay-off

● Concave age-effects ● Union membership is increasing at a decreasing rate (with a maximum in

mid- to late 40s) and possibly falling at the end● Various reasons why older workers leave the union (e.g. higher

employment protection, promoted to managerial jobs...)


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Cohort-effects for lower unionisation rate among young

● Unique experiences and socialisation of each cohort● Parental socialisation thesis● Attitudes of peers

● Today: lower identification with unions due to different socialisation than former generations

● Assumption: individualisation and decline of collective frames of reference > unions are ‘outmoded’ institutions

● Empirical evidence for individualisation assumption is not convincing● Engagement in other forms of political activity seems to go hand in hand with

unionism● Less favourable attitudes among youth towards unionism?


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Have young workers less favourable attitudes towards unions? (1)

● Australia: ‘significantly lower numbers of 18-24 year olds than older workers agree with statements that ‘Australia would be better off without unions’ and ‘unions in Australia don’t look after their members’ (Bearfield 2003:6)

● Canada: ‘Youths have a stronger preference than adults for unions in general, and most of that reflects the stronger desire of youths to have unions deal with workplace issues, than it reflects the exposure of youths to these issue’ (Gomez et al. 2002:539)

● Canada, UK and USA: ‘In accounting for the union density gap, we immediately see that there is greater frustrated demand for unionization on the part of youth compared to adults in all three countries’ (Bryson et al. 2005:164)

● New Zealand: ‘We find that younger New Zealand workers hold no less positive attitudes to trade unions in general than their older counterparts’ (Haynes et al. 2005:103)

● UK: ‘... young workers are more likely than older workers to believe that a union would make their workplace better, contrary to the result for all workers’ (Freeman & Diamond 2003:39)


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Have young workers less favourable attitudes towards unions? (2)

● Anglophone bias● Research on determinants of union membership● Particularly: research on organising (model) (absence of comparative

dimension)

● Non Anglo-Saxon countries● Belgium: ‘L’image du syndicat auprès des jeunes est plutôt bonne. Le fait d’être

syndiqué ou pas ne s’explique pas par une image du syndicat qui serait plutôt bonne ou plutôt mauvaise’ (Vendramin 2007:84)

● Netherlands: young workers have latent positive attitudes towards unions and do not believe that union membership is too expensive, but they have just not thought ‘in a serious way’ about being a union member themselves (Huiskamp and Smulders 2010: 205-206)

● European Social Survey reports ‘largely positive attitudes towards unions of the respondents, irrespective of their age, and the persistence and even strengthening of this conviction among employees since the early 1980s’ (D’Art and Turner, 2008)


A twofold unsatisfied demand for organising?16

Alternative explanations (1)

● Labour market developments ● Labour market participation of young workers is falling due to (1) demographic

decline (but some exceptions) and (2) education levels have risen over the last decades

● Predominantly working in the private services sector● High incidence of unemployment amongst young workers – ‘a lost generation’

● Atypical forms of employment● Atypical employment contracts in often precarious conditions of work or unstable

employment situation ● Higher job mobility = (1) union membership benefits will be limited in time; (2) bad

experience at work? Dissatisfied young workers choose ‘exit’ over ‘voice’● Small workplaces (with inadequate or weak union representation)

kvandaele©etui.org (2011)


Alternative explanations (2)

● Union membership as an experience good● Difficult to see for non-union workers what would be the added value of union

membership● Importance of peers and family for information about pros and cons of unionisation

and of sampling unionisation

● Lower unionisation among young workers might also be the result of

● Insufficient organising efforts within unions● Weakly developed ‘organising culture’ within unions


SURVEY: AIM AND FOCUS


Starting point

● Unions are no longer considered passive recipients of their environment – believe that

● Unions should be more responsive to the needs of young workers (often working in non-traditional employment)

● Unions should encourage the involvement and participation in union affairs of (young) members

● Unions should enhance their organising efforts – to detach from their ‘institutional laurels’, especially in continental and Nordic Europe


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Aim of survey

● Aim survey: mapping and examining of representing and organising young workers across the ETUC national member organisations

● Focus on the level of the confederation● It is assumed the organising policy of confederations is of significance for

‘boosting and shaping recruitment activity at the workplace’ (Heery et al. 2003:56)

○ e.g. organising fund

● Questionnaire (in November 2008-February 2009) => members of the ETUC Youth Committee representing the youth structures of the ETUC national member organisations

● Assumption: aggregated view or opinion of ‘youth representatives’



Focus on the level of the confederation

● Focus on the confederation does not mean that rank-and-file activism and member participation play no role at all in union renewal efforts, either to the contrary

● Yet for organsing issues, member activism seems to less critical since the link with union renewal is ‘neither clear nor consistent’ (Booth et al. 2010:76)

● Authority of confederations over their affiliates differs

● Some confederations are active in specific economic sectors

● No universal logic● Unions have different identities and objectives…● …and operate in different national institutionalised contexts…● …and use a wide range of organising techniques

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Survey response

● 44 responses (of 29 different countries)

● Return rate of 53.7% covering 71.4% of overall ETUC membership

● Anglophone and continental Europe are a bit over-represented

● Characteristics respondents● 50% women● Average age: 30.4 years; ● Experience: 4.0 years (most of them are paid officers)


STRUCTURES FOR REPRESENTING YOUNG UNION MEMBERS

Survey results

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Forms of youth structures (39 out of 44)

Seperate national organisation

National department

Regional youth committees

Full-time officer(s) at confederation level

Comittees at branch or sectoral level

National youth committee

0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0%

13.2%

21.1%

39.5%

52.6%

52.6%

65.8%


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Overview of staff within the youth structures

yourname © etui (year) A twofold unsatisfied demand for organising?

● 61.3% (N=19) of youth structures have a budget; no budget is particularly the case in CEE countries

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Evaluation of budget and staff

● Sufficient?● Budget: 52.8% (N=19) disagrees (strongly); 16.7% (N=6)

agrees● Staff: 66.7% (N=24) disagrees (strongly); 8.3% (N=3) agrees

(strongly)


THE PERCEIVED IMPORTANCE OF ORGANISING CAMPAIGNS TARGETED AT YOUNG WORKERS

Survey results

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Policy priorities of youth structures



Channels for joining a union


RESPONSIVENESS OF THE CONFEDERATIONS

Survey results

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Number of young union members within national executive committee or council


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Specific representation and responsiveness of the confederations

● Specific representation for young union members: 61.9% (N=26); while 13 of them have the right to vote, 9 have the right to speak and 3 have only observer status


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Depth of a formal organising policy at confederation level


ATTRACTING AND RECRUITING YOUNG WORKERS

Survey results

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Arrangement of union membership fee and advice

● 38.6% (N=17) have not introduced a lower subscription fee● No need for a youth-focused price strategy? Weighted average level of young

workers○ Without arrangement: 20.6%○ With arrangement: 12.6%

● 79.1% (N=34) provides advice to young workers regardless of union status


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Raising awareness about unions outside the workplace (1)


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Activities for attracting young workers


CONCLUSION

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Conclusion

● Young people do not disagree in principle with unions and have in general a more positive attitude towards unions

● Demand for and belief in organising campaigns among respondents

● Structures for youth representation are widespread, especially youth committees, but dissatisfaction with budget and staff

● Responsiveness of confederation is perceived as positive but● Except on organising issues ● Limited possibilities for representing young union members in executive but● A formal, more systematic and pro-active recruitment policy targeted at young workers is rather

undeveloped

● Room for improvement: underused channels and activities for raising awareness and attracting young workers


40 kvandaele©etui.org (2011) A twofold unsatisfied demand for organising?

‘It needs to become an urgent priority … for unions to feel more assured of an optimistic future and for

young people to feel that they can play a part in that potential resurgence’ (Byford 2009:238)

a twofold unsatisfied demand for organising? the opinion of youth representatives at the etuc level...

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twofold unsatisfied

young workers conclusion

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lower unionisation rate