Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

Table 3.8 Trade union density in the public and private sectors in selected EU countries, 2000-
2009
Public sector
(% employees)
Private sector
(% employees)
Public sector
(% national union
membership)
Public sector
%-point change
2000-09
Private sector
%-point change
2000-09
AT 53.0 33.0 40.0 -7.0 -6.0
BE n.a. n.a. 25.0 n.a. n.a.
DE 36.0 17.0 40.0 -6.0 -6.0
DK 83.0 62.0 40.0 -3.9 -9.6
EL 63.8 19.4 55.9 n.a. n.a.
ES n.a. n.a. 31.2 n.a. n.a.
FI 81.6 50.4 40.1 -7.4 -19.6
FR 15.0 4.5 57.0 -2.0 0.0
IE 66.6 21.1 54.2 10.6 -9.9
IT 50.0 32.2 n.a. n.a. n.a.
LU n.a. n.a. 30.7 n.a. n.a.
NL 38.0 15.0 51.0 -4.0 -4.0
NO 80.0 38.0 52.0 -2.0 -5.0
PT 45.0 37.0 n.a. n.a. n.a.
SE 84.0 65.0 49.0 -8.0 -9.0
UK 56.6 15.1 61.1 -3.7 -3.7
Source: ICTWSS (Database on Institutional Characteristics of Trade Unions, Wage Setting, State
Intervention and Social Pacts), http://www.uva-aias.net/208.
It must be mentioned however, that density rates are often lower in the countries not covered by
Table 3.8, because data are not available. According to a recent study (Bordogna 2007),
unionisation, at least in central government, is “quite often close to zero […] in most of the former
communist countries of central and eastern Europe”. This refers in particular to the three Baltic
countries (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia), where union membership was practically non-existent in
in 2006, and to the Czech Republic, Poland (3%) and Slovakia (10%). The exceptions are Hungary,
Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania, where union density was generally above 25% and exceeded 50%
in Romania.
Trade union structure
An indication of the fragmentation of trade union representation in the public sector can be derived
from the representativeness studies carried out by the European Foundation for the Improvement of
Living and Working Conditions. In recent years, a number of sectoral representativeness studies
have been published, including three on significant parts of the three sectors under review here:
public administration (2011), education (2011) and hospitals (2009). Table 3.9 indicates the number
of trade unions covered by the studies. All three studies include a high number of trade unions
(private sector studies usually include a far lower number of unions, often under 100 and rarely only
slightly above this threshold). The fragmentation of representation is particularly evident in public
administration and the health sector. It is also interesting to note that the representational domain of
the trade unions in both sectors is often ‘sectional’ (50% in public administration and 62% in
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