Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

can also bring specific benefits in terms of a better capacity to protect individual interests through
the pressure union representatives can exert on a politically sensitive employer.
Second, union representation tends to be more segmented than in the private sector. This reflects,
on the one hand, the significant presence in the public sector of relatively strong professional
groups and identities, such as those involved in the medical professions, teachers and professors,
and higher functionaries. On the other hand, the absence of market constraints, the political
sensitivity of employment issues, and the relevant bargaining power that certain groups of public
employees hold, such as those of a particular contract type, can encourage the creation of a plurality
of professional trade unions, which in some cases may pursue particularistic objectives, that is the
improvement of the conditions of their specific constituency without considering the impacts of
their demands on other groups of workers or on the public at large.
Third, on the employer side, with particular reference to the bargaining table, there are political
entities and representatives (such as ministries and ministers) or independent agencies. Again, the
absence of market constraints makes political decisions crucial, for instance in terms of the
economic resources available for wage bargaining. However, there can be important differences
depending on whether the responsibility of negotiations and consultation with trade unions lies with
direct political representatives or administrative officers and managers (the ‘employers’ in practice)
or independent agencies. This latter solution increases the distance between the political sphere and
the regulation of public employment relations – and it is therefore often proposed in order to
emulate private sector conditions; however, this has some potential drawbacks linked to the loss of
direct knowledge of organisational features and day-to-day work issues and practices.
Trade union density
The issue of trade union density in the public sector was introduced in chapter 1 of this report.
Table 3.8 shows trade union density in the public and private sectors at the end of 2000s and, where
available, variations since the beginning of the decade. As the data illustrate, trade union density in
the public sector is systematically higher than in the private sector. The difference can be very wide,
as in the UK (57% vs. 15%), Greece (64% vs. 19%), and Ireland (67% vs. 21%). The difference is
particularly significant in some of the Nordic countries: in Norway it is more than 40 percentage
points (80% compared with 38%) and in Finland it is above 30 percentage points (82% compared
with 50%).
Further, the trend in the most recent decade seems to indicate a stronger capacity of public sector
unions to contrast the erosion of density. However, in this case there are several exceptions and the
difference is not always wide. The stronger position of the public sector is clearly evident in
Denmark, Finland (where private sector unionisation fell by nearly 20 percentage points in the
2000s) and Norway (two percentage points less in the public sector and five in the private sector).
Ireland even shows a positive trend in the public sector (+11 percentage points) and a negative trend
in the private sector (-10 percentage points). But in the other cases there is no substantial difference
(Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, and UK). France shows a decrease of public sector union
density which compares to stability in the private sector. However, this takes place in the context of
a very low density rate in the private sector (4.5%), so that it may be considered a sort of minimum
level, with limited scope for further decrease. The importance of the public sector for trade unions is
also apparent when looking at the share of members in total national union membership. It is
usually above one third of all union members, with a peak of 61% in the UK and other countries
where it exceeds 50% (Greece, France, Ireland, Netherlands and Norway).
135