In the opening decades of the 21st century, the major changes for trade unions in the UK have been high unemployment, the growth in part-time, flexible, zero-hours contracts and a widening gap between secure full-time work and badly paid jobs. With the UK government’s recent package of workers’ rights branded a ‘New Deal for Working People’ – this could help to bring about change.

An important effect of this job divide is that during and after the 2008 financial crisis, some unions worked constructively with employers to negotiate a reduction in hours and pay for rank-and-file members rather than risk huge redundancies. For the expert, Tomlinson, this pragmatic approach to employment relations has become a defining feature of trade unionism across the private sector.

Trade union membership

Although trade unionism reached a low point in 2016 with 6.23 million members, the academic Jane Holgate points out by 2020 it had risen again to 6.35m million. The bulk of union membership today is concentrated in the public sector in marked contrast to four decades ago where union membership was high in the North East’s traditional heavy industries. Trade union membership since 2003 has become increasingly ”feminised” reflecting the expansion of service sector employment across Britain. Not only are most union members female, but women are slowly being elected as leaders such as Sharon Graham heading up the 1 million strong UNITE.

Casualisation

In the casualised sector of the regional economy, which includes thousands of workers employed in food delivery, taxi drivers and distance learning assessors who frequently work as ‘independent contractors’ or ‘associates’ rather than employees with legal rights (operating from ‘virtual platforms’ such as Deliveroo and Uber), trade union recognition is barely visible. Yet in the last decade there have been signs of collective action and rising unionisation.

James Bloodsworth in his book Hired notes that in 2016 Deliveroo tried to change the way their independent drivers in London were paid, from an hourly rate £7 with £1 delivery to a £3.75 fee-per-delivery piece wage that scrapped the hourly rate altogether. Although this was beneficial for the business in terms of increased profits it would have meant a pay cut for many drivers. Hundreds went on strike in protest, bringing disruption across the city.

The Independent Workers of Great Britain, set up in 2012, raised money through crowdfunding to support the strikers. Deliveroo compromised by agreeing to maintain the previous payment system for all existing workers, though new staff would still have to adopt the new piece-meal payment method.

It’s clear that in the ‘gig- economy’, traditional union tactics such as strikes can be effective, alongside new forms of organisation appropriate for such a highly individualistic and dispersed workforce. Yet despite this, Bloodworth argues that several working class coalfield communities in the north and elsewhere have been decimated by the move to ”soulless jobs” with no security, promotion or satisfaction.

Union power tends to become weaker during periods of high unemployment because members are worried for their jobs and are unwilling to take industrial action. The 21st century trend towards globalisation, ‘flexible production’ and ‘casualisation’ has further weakened traditional trade unionism. For the journalist Robert Taylor, multi-unionism has undermined unity, especially when the unions are faced with an inflexible employer, finding it hard to stick together. As Taylor argues, one of the biggest problems afflicting union-employer relations is not the solidarity of union power, but their fragmentation.

Since 2000, there have been several mergers of unions as they try to maintain their influence and organise in challenging economic times. Employment relations in 2024 is an established ”pattern of unequally balanced forces, where capital not labour dominates”. Given the relatively weakened status of the unions in relation to bosses, the collective strength offered by some of the larger unions like the GMB, UNITE and UNISON is unlikely to vanish altogether.

New labour reforms

The UK government’s labour reforms will help to strengthen individual and collective employment rights with a ban on ”exploitative” zero-hour contracts, improved sick pay from day one, the right to flexible working, ending fire and rehire and a move to a real living wage. To date, over 90 Newcastle employers are Real Living Wage organisations including the city council. Although the measures will not radically alter the employer-employee relationship, they will offer a greater degree of fairness and security at the workplace for working people.

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