ReWAGE has just published two reports examining the related topics of trade unions and employer organisations in the UK today. Between them they give a unique perspective on the background and evolution of both types of organisation and would be helpful reference points for policy makers or others working in related fields.

• Trade Unions in contemporary Britain re-examines trade unions – how they operate and their effects on their membership and wider society – by reviewing both new evidence and established opinions about them as organisations and forces for social change.
• A review of employer membership organisations in the UK examines the role of employer organisations in the UK economy, including their relevance to policy debate about labour market reform.

Professor Irena Grugulis, co-chair of ReWAGE and Professor of Work and Skills at the University of Leeds says:

“ReWAGE’s strengths are having ready access to the collective expertise of academics in the field of work and employment who maintain a deep knowledge of historical and current research and an ability to share that with wider audiences.

“These two papers are a case in point – between them they provide a good grounding in the work of trades unions and employers’ organisations and their continuing importance in increasing levels of employment, reducing inequality, and in reforming the labour market. The papers are a useful reference point for anyone who hasn’t studied these areas in depth but who might want to know more about the history and operation of both types of organisation in order to consider their potential to influence and support emerging thinking around policy or working practices.”

Trade Unions in contemporary Britain

Recent strike action across the UK has brought trade unions back into the spotlight – in a way that they have probably not been since the 1980s and 1990s when anti-union rhetoric from the Conservative Party was high and the Trade Union Act of 1984 was in the headlines.

Trade Unions in contemporary Britain examines five aspects of trade unions in the UK today –

• Membership and extent of union presence
• Democracy in unions
• What unions do for their members
• Unions’ impact on productivity and innovation
• Unions and strikes

It concludes that unions have an important role to play in increasing levels of employment and reducing inequality and that there is evidence to support both the social and economic benefits of unions and collective bargaining. However, the conditions necessary to secure these benefits are rare in the UK.

A summary of the report is also available.

A review of employer membership organisations in the UK

Collective membership organisations of employers continue to thrive in much of the UK economy, many British employers still display a willingness to associate and new types of issue-based employers’ organisations have emerged in recent years.

A review of employer membership organisations in the UK examines the role of employer organisations in the UK economy, using data gathered from an identified 447 functioning employers’ organisations to consider:

• The extent of collective employers’ organisation in the UK economy.
• The main types of employers’ organisations.
• The primary methods that employers’ organisations use to represent their members.
• The relevance of employers’ organisation to policy debate about labour market reform.

The paper breaks down the five types of employer organisations: industry-based, which have a stronghold in public services; location-based, which operate in a particular region, city or area; governance-based, which draw their membership from businesses with specific governance arrangements such as those that are co-operatives; issues-based, such as those that encourage responsible business practices; and finally general employers organisations, which draw their membership from across the economy, and seek to act as a general voice of business, developing policy and lobbying government on a broad range of topics.

It examines each type of employer organisation, their activities and their relevance to labour market reform – in particular their potential roles in deregulation, multi-employer bargaining and inclusive growth.

It concludes that employers’ organisations are often neglected institutional actors that rarely take centre-stage, but that they continue to have an important part to play in the continuing reform of the UK labour market.

A summary of the report is also available.