Union membership losses only minor, says study

Press, 4 October 1984, Page 8

Union membership losses only minor, says study

Most trade unions have suffered only minor losses in membership because of voluntary unionism legislation, according to a study by two lecturers at the Industrial Relations Centre in Wellington. “Unions suffering the largest defections are those whose membership is predominantly female, scattered throughout numerous workplaces and with a large proportion of part-time workers,” said Messrs Raymond Harbridge and Pat Walsh in their report.

These unions were in a

small minority. Most other unions had suffered only minor losses in membership. The problem now facing the unions with the least defections was the recruitment of new members. “Workers, entering an industry for the first time and with no background of unionism are reported to be difficult, and in some cases impossible, to recruit to union ranks,” said Messrs Walsh and Harbridge. Their study found that in the six months from February this year, when the

voluntary unionism law was introduced, there were 36 separate disputes related to the law.

A total of 7396 workers were involved in 28 industrial stoppages, losing a total of 20,912 working days. About 60 per cent of the stoppages occurred in the Auckland area, and only 18 per cent in the South Island. All but four of the voluntary unionism stoppages occurred in companies whose total number of employees exceeded 100, with eight stoppages in companies employing over 2000 workers. A total of 58 workers were at the centre of the disputes, 45 of whom were men.

Forty-seven per cent of the disputes were resolved by the worker deciding to

rejoin the union while 14 per cent were resolved by the worker deciding to leave the job. In a small number of cases (less than five) the non-union worker was promoted to a junior management position out of reach of union coverage.

Most of the stoppages occurred between March and May. Very few took place in the last two months of the six-month survey, and the researchers said that this was partly because those wishing to resign did so as soon as they could and because after June the trade union . movement threw its weight behind the election campaign of the Labour Party. “Unions trod very carefully until the election in an effort not to prejudice the Labour Party’s electoral prospects,” said Messrs Harbridge and Walsh.