Tuesday, September 7, 2004

SPOTLIGHT: Labour Day

Unions in transition

CANADA’S labour movement has undergone dramatic shifts during the past several decades, the result of changes in the nation’s workforce demographics, labour laws and economic structure, according to a new report.

The report, released to coincide with Labour Day, pinpoints three key elements of transition in the nation’s labour movement: The impact of women is growing, the influence of international unions is waning and unions are taking on greater prominence in the public sector and services sector.

In addition, the study showed that unions have made little headway in the fast-growing information-technology industries or occupations.

Between 1997 and 2003, union membership in Canada rose from 2.8 million to just over 4 million. However, as in many other Western industrialized nations, growth did not kept pace with gains in employment.

As a result, the proportion of employees belonging to a union has declined over the years. In 1987, 34.2% of employees were members of a union. This proportion fell to 30.8% in 1997 and edged down to 30.3% in 2003.

More women

The biggest and most profound transformation in membership occurred in the mix of men and women. In 1977, women represented just 12% of total membership. By 2003, their share had quadrupled to 48%.

This strong growth was the result of several factors. These include the growing proportion of women in the paid workforce; their increased presence in the heavily unionized public sector; their movement into traditionally male-dominated and often heavily unionized sectors, such as construction; and the expansion of union activity into traditionally female dominated workplaces.

The unionization rate of women was less than one-quarter of their male counterparts in 1997. By 2003, they were virtually identical.

In 1997, some 10% of female workers were union members. By 2003, this had tripled to 30%. In contrast, the rate among men fell from 47% in 1997 to 31% in 2003.

Goods sector

Another transformation has been the declining share of membership in the goods sector, accompanied by an increase in the services sector.

This can be attributed primarily to a shift in economic structure. It has resulted in declines in the once heavily unionized, male-dominated, goods-producing industries, especially manufacturing, in favour of the services industries.

In 2003, the goods sector accounted for only one-quarter of total union membership, compared with roughly one-third in 1987.

In addition, the influence of public sector unions has also grown during the past two decades. In 2003, unions represented 72% of all public service employees, virtually the same proportion as in 1984.

However, during the same time, the rate of unionization in the private sector fell from 26% to only 18%.

International unions

Between 1962 and 1995, the nation’s labour movement underwent a dramatic and steady shift away from international unions to national unions.

In 1962, international unions accounted for about two-thirds of union membership in Canada. By 1995, this had fallen to 29%. In contrast, national union representation rose from 21% to 57%.

The decline of international unions resulted mainly from defections to competing national unions and breakaways to form new autonomous national unions. The most prominent example was the breakaway of the 136,000-strong Auto Workers Union Canadian membership in 1986.

You can read the entire report “The union movement in transition” online.

For more information, contact Ernest Akyeampong (613-951-4624), Labour and Household Surveys Analysis Division.

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© 2004, Statistics Canada.