Members fail to take active part in union work

A survey of some 2,000 Danish trade union members conducted in early 2000 indicates that members are satisfied with the unions, but take little part in practical union work. The concerns expressed in connection with a major membership study in 1992, when many feared that the trade union movement faced serious problems ahead, seem to have been overcome, with new figures showing a slight increase in members' satisfaction with their trade union. The trade union movement's strong emphasis on services has thus turned out to be a two-edged sword. The members tend to see their trade union as a "service shop" and they like it.

Democracy is undergoing difficulties in the Danish trade unions. Fewer members than before participate actively in trade union activities, and those who do find that their voices are not sufficiently heard. The largest group of members is those who fail to turn up at union meetings at the workplace and primarily see their trade union as a "service shop". However, a large majority supports trade unions as a necessary institution.

These are the main findings of a study carried out in February-March 2000 by the Gallup polling institute and published by the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark, LO) in its newsletter of 6 April 2000. The study indicates that while 12% of LO members surveyed were shop stewards or employee representatives or held similar union posts in 1992, today this figure is 8%. In 1992, 44% of members had attended a union meeting at the workplace or in the trade union within the past 12 months; today this figure has dropped to 36%. The figures show clearly that there has been a marked fall in the members' interest in trade union activities.

In connection with the publication of the study, Hans Jensen, chair of LO, said that it is unacceptable that participation in trade union meetings continues to fall: "This is where the overall policy strategy of the trade union movement is discussed and where the content of the policy to protect our interests which the great majority of our members find necessary is laid down." He admits that the trade union movement is facing a serious democratic challenge. Participation in general assemblies and other trade union meetings has fallen by more than 50% over the past two decades. "This is a very serious problem", Mr Jensen added in his comments on the study. Out of the 1,904 employees interviewed in the survey, 753 were members of LO-affiliated unions.

Higher degree of satisfaction with trade unions

In spite of the depressing figures from a trade union point of view, the same study shows that the members generally express satisfaction with their trade union. Of the respondents, 79% said that they were fully or partly satisfied with their union, while 18% were dissatisfied to varying degrees. In spite of their failure to participate in union activities, as many as 84% declared that they have not considered resigning, though 15% have considered saving the membership fee. This high level of satisfaction, rather than the lack of interest in trade union activities, was stressed in the headline of the article on the survey in the LO newsletter, which stated: "Higher degree of satisfaction with trade unions among the members". The feared imminent breakdown of the trade union movement appears once again to have been postponed. This assumption is underpinned by the fact that 89% of respondents in the new survey, compared with 87% in 1992, are fully or partly agreed on the necessity of the trade union movement to protect the interests of employees.

Although this increase of two percentage points could be explained away as falling within the margin of error for a study of this type, it is of great importance that the concerns for the future of the trade union movement generated by the 1992 study can now been discarded, as the figures are at least stable. In 1992, it was the generation of young persons under the age of 30 years who were unhappy with trade unions. The present study indicates that this generation has not become more pleased with the trade union movement, but the following generation has done so. Young persons under the age of 30 are on the whole as satisfied with their trade union as older employees.

The priorities developed by the trade unions in recent years - against the background of the 1992 study - in the form of individual services and a higher degree of visibility and accessibility has turned out to be a success. Today, about two-thirds of the members surveyed could fully or partly endorse the following three statements: that the union offers good services to its members: that it is easy to contact the union; and that the union provides good information on its activities.

The study also indicates that support for the collective protection of interests is bigger among female members of LO than among male members. There is also a certain connection between educational/training background and views on the necessity of the trade union movement, as support is higher among those with the highest qualifications and skilled workers than among unskilled workers. Finally, support is higher among LO members employed in the public sector than among members employed in the private sector.

Commentary

Although the Gallup study seems to demonstrate the trade union movement's continued position as a solid social institution which is held in high esteem by the members, the falling interest in participation in union activities should still be seen as a signal of danger. The lack of involvement on the part of the members may - in the longer perspective - constitute a threat to the survival of the trade union movement.

It is true that, with the decentralisation of collective bargaining and of decision-making power from the central level to enterprise level which we have seen over the last two decades, it is no longer to the same degree the local trade unions, but activities at the workplace level, which are important. Here the members are more involved, but at the same time the shop stewards and employee representatives have problems because they find it difficult to live up to the higher demands following from the decentralisation process. This highlights the signals of danger which have developed even for a trade union movement as strong as Denmark's.

On top of this, there is a risk of an atomisation of the collective bargaining system. So far, the decentralisation process has been implemented in a way which has made it possible to maintain overall coordination (DK0002168F). It is thus more a matter of a centralised or organised decentralisation - and not a "disorganisation". The union organisations have maintained their strong position in the Danish collective bargaining model in spite of the decentralisation. In order to maintain this position it is a precondition that the connecting lines between the central level and the enterprise level are maintained and further developed; here the local trade unions form the decisive link. This is why it gives rise to special concerns that the members' interest in this link seems to be declining. (Carsten Jørgensen, FAOS)