Unions begin recruitment effort

Unions want to attract more, younger members

Scotland's trade unions have set out on a three-year drive to boost membership and convince sceptics of the benefits of being in a union.

The campaign was launched at the Scottish TUC annual congress in Glasgow on Monday.

STUC statistics suggest that for every five workers who leave unions through retirement, only one worker under 20 is being recruited.

In response, the STUC intends to change its approach to promoting membership.

Between 1980 and 2000, membership of unions affiliated to the STUC dropped from nearly 1.1 million to fewer than 630,000 although the last two years have shown a "modest" increase, officials said.

Positive image

Trade union "density" - the proportion of the working age population belonging to a union - has also increased by 1% in the last year to 37%.

But the scale of the challenge facing the unions is shown by STUC research figures suggesting that for every five workers who leave unions through retirement, only one worker under 20 is being recruited.

The average age of a Scottish trade unionist is 47 and only one in five employees in the private sector is unionised.

This campaign is not about self-congratulation Bill Speirs

The same research also shows, however, that the young have favourable attitudes towards unions - 63% of workers under 30 said strong unions were needed to protect pay and conditions, compared to only 47% of the over 30s.

Statistics suggest a new workforce has emerged, one which is more white collar, with a higher percentage of females and run on short-term factors.

These factors have made it more difficult for unions to recruit.

The new campaign will set out to boost membership, increase inter-union co-operation, and promote a "positive" image of the work of unions through the media.

School visits

STUC general secretary Bill Speirs said: "This campaign is not about self-congratulation.

"We have been out and about all over Scotland asking members and non-members alike about what a trade union means to them.

"Some of the answers we liked, some of them we did not like.

"The Unions Work campaign will build upon our positive reputation amongst current members and send the message to non-members that they have nothing to lose and very much to gain from carrying a union card."

Campaign plans include school visits by trade unionists and promoting the role of unions as part of the Scottish Executive's enterprise education for schools.

STUC president Sandy Boyle told the opening session of the congress that he believed trade unions had "turned the corner".

"At long last we have become IT literate, communication and workplace organisation have improved dramatically.

"We must get even better at trumpeting our many successes in key areas like compensation for injury at the workplace and representation on discipline and grievance," he said.