Membership of unions down 20,000

THE NUMBER of members of trade unions has fallen by about 20,000 over the past year.

Figures produced by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions yesterday show that, in the Republic, its affiliated unions had 579,578 members in 2011 as against 596,743 in 2010.

This represents a reduction in membership of just over 17,000 or nearly 3 per cent.

In Northern Ireland the membership of unions affiliated to Congress fell by 2,394 or just over 1 per cent over the past year from 220,105 to 217,711.

However Congress general secretary David Begg said the level of union membership as a share of the entire workforce at 38.3 per cent – which is known as the density rate – is increasing.

This showed the decline in union membership was occurring at a slower pace than the fall in employment, he said.