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 | | Thursday, 6 September, 2001, 01:14 GMT 02:14 UK Union membership on the rise  Around one in three UK workers are now in a union Trade union membership has increased for the second year running, according to government figures. A rise of 46,000 during the past year has brought the number of workers in a trade union up to almost eight million, according to the Office for National Statistics. However there are still 1.5 million fewer members than in 1990. Research showed that around one in three workers in the UK is now a union member. Membership is strongest in the north east and Wales and lowest in eastern England.
Sectors with high union density include education, electricity, gas and water supply. The past few years have seen a steady fall in union density among manual workers as manufacturing jobs have been lost. But the formation of "superunions" through a series of recent mergers has created organisations with huge industrial clout. The Amalgamated Engineering & Electrical Union (AEEU) and the Manufacturing, Science & Finance Union (MSF) merged in April to create the UK's second biggest union after Unison, itself formed through merger.  Trades Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary, John Monks, said: "These figures show the decline through the 1980s and most of the 1990s has been halted." He added: "We remain an important force at the workplace and in society. "But we are running to stand still. "We still have much to do if we are not just to reverse the decline but to start to build significant new membership." Mr Monks concluded: "We must reach out to the many who have yet to see that unions are relevant to their job." | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Business stories now:  Links to more Business stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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