Working Life Barometer in the Baltic Countries 2002 (pdf) - mol.fi

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Trade union representation at the workplaces follows the same trend as does
trade union membership. The trade union movement is more frequently represented
at the workplaces in Latvia than those in the other Baltic countries. In
Latvia, however, as in Lithuania, trade union representation is declining. In
Estonia, on the other hand, the trade unions are slightly better represented than
three years ago. In all the Baltic countries, the trade union movement is considerably
more prominent in public-sector than in private-sector workplaces 2 .
The percentages shown in the figure, however, reveal how large a proportion
of the wage earners knew about the existence of a trade union at their workplace.
Such awareness is not necessarily linked to membership on the part of
the respondent.
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
TRADE UNION IS REPRESENTED IN WORKPLACE
33%
27%
27%
23%
22%
Latvia Lithuania Estonia
1998 33% 27% 22%
2002 27% 23% 25%
2 On the basis of the workers' answers, the trade union movement is represented in Latvia at almost
half (49 %) of the public-sector workplaces. In the private sector, the representation is 12 %. The
situation in Estonia is very similar to that in Latvia. The trade unions are represented at 47 % of Estonia's
public-sector workplaces and 13 % of those in the private sector. In Lithuania, the private-sector
representation is at the same level as in the other two countries (12 %), but in the public sector it is
clear that the trade unions are less commonly represented than in Latvia and Estonia. Only just over
one-third (37 %) of Lithuania's public-sector employees said that the trade union movement was represented
at their workplace.
25%