Trade unions look to younger workers to boost declining membership

Staff from McDonald's restaurants rally after voting in favour of industrial action amid concerns over zero-hour contracts. Picture: Philip Toscano/PA

The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is buoyed by a recent speech by Jeremy Corbyn as well as the success of its own initiative aimed at reaching out to the thousands of young Scots on zero hour contracts.

The Labour leader told delegates at the 2017 TUC conference that “if you want a job that pays a decent wage, that gives you a chance to get on in life, live independently, and enjoy your work, then join a trade union”.

But the support of Corbyn alone – a former union organiser – can’t reverse the steep decline in membership seen across western countries.

Striking local authority staff march through Edinburgh in 2008, but union membership continues to decline across Scotland. Picture: PA

According to the annual statistical bulletin produced by the UK government, union representation last year fell across the UK by the most in two decades – down to 23.5 per cent of all workers, and just 13.4 per cent of staff in the private sector.

In Scotland, membership fell by 73,000, but union density – the proportion of union members in the population of employees – continues to be higher in Scotland (29.3 per cent) than in the rest of the UK (23.5 per cent).

In 2015 the STUC launched Better than Zero – a campaign aimed at young hospitality staff “who are fed up of bosses who think they are beyond reproach”.

It has organised demonstrations outside workplaces found not to be paying the minimum wage, failing to offer sickness benefits or offering irregular working hours.

Promoted heavily on social media, it has led to around 20 calls per day – 6,000 a year – being made to the STUC to enquire about employment law and organising union representation.

“A rise in precarious work – particularly in the service sector – has been well documented,” STUC deputy general secretary Dave Moxham told The Scotsman.

“We’re seeing young people with solid educational backgrounds finding it very difficult to find permanent, middle-income jobs. They are spending far more of their 20s in precarious jobs, a reflection of an unfortunate change in the labour market.

“We want to do something about that – but at the same time we have to live in the situation that we are, and that means finding new ways to engage and have conversations. What we see is people making contact, then seeking formal routes to join trade unions or organise union recognition in their workplace. There is something different happening out there in the last few years, both in terms of the workplaces we’ve been able to reach and the level of activity of young people.

“Largely because of the changing nature of industry has seen more and more young people working in the private sector and in particular the service sector – which has always been difficult for unions to organise in because of high turn-over of staff.

“For the STUC, it’s been a pleasant surprise that more of our recent activities have attracted more young people from these sectors. It’s fair to say that until recently, trade unionism was viewed by young people as something their parents should do rather than themselves. It was somewhat old-fashioned. But unions have been working hard to update that image. Interest in Jeremy Corbyn among younger people has not been unhelpful in that regard.”

But on the wider membership issue, Moxham continued: “We haven’t noted any increase in  general trade union membership numbers – mainly as employment in unionised industries has been falling.”