Vol. 517 No. 2
69 Ms Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the information or estimates, if any, available to her Department on the number or percentage of workers in the workforce who are not members of a trade union; the breakdown between different age groups; the breakdown between different sectors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9465/00]
My Department does not produce any statistics on the level of trade union membership in the State, other than to enumerate the memberships of trade unions which hold negotiating licences, from the membership returns these unions make under the relevant legislation.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions had a total membership of 523,700 workers at the end of 1999 across 46 affiliated unions.
The Central Statistics Office, however, has recorded information on trade union membership and the most recent figures, which are from the 1997 labour force survey are provided in the following tables:
Table 1
Trade Union Membership by Sector 1997
|
Sector |
Union Members |
Non Union Members |
Not Stated |
Total |
|
Thousands |
Thousands |
Thousands |
Thousands |
|
|
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing |
1.5 |
18.4 |
1.0 |
21.0 |
|
Building and Construction |
25.1 |
44.2 |
0.9 |
70.2 |
|
Other Production Industries |
127.2 |
142.4 |
3.3 |
272.9 |
|
Commerce, Insurance, Finance and Business Service |
65.7 |
160.3 |
13.9 |
239.9 |
|
Transport, Communication and Storage |
42.0 |
26.3 |
1.1 |
69.3 |
|
Professional Services |
121.1 |
94.6 |
5.7 |
221.3 |
|
Public Administration and Defence |
55.1 |
18.8 |
1.0 |
75.0 |
|
Other |
25.9 |
89.1 |
10.2 |
125.2 |
|
Total |
463.6 |
594.0 |
37.2 |
1,094.8 |
|
Age |
Union Members |
Non Union Members |
Not Stated |
Total |
|
Thousands |
Thousands |
Thousands |
Thousands |
|
|
15-24 |
61.8 |
150.7 |
21.1 |
233.6 |
|
25-34 |
136.9 |
197.2 |
5.4 |
339.6 |
|
35-44 |
137.4 |
121.5 |
4.8 |
263.7 |
|
45-54 |
87.7 |
83.8 |
4.1 |
175.6 |
|
55-64 |
38.1 |
34.3 |
1.3 |
73.7 |
|
65 + |
1.7 |
6.5 |
0.4 |
8.6 |
|
Total |
463.6 |
594.0 |
37.2 |
1,094.8 |
