Influence
There are currently 55 trade unions with membership of Congress, representing about 600,000 members in the Republic of Ireland. Trade union members represent 35.1% of the Republic's workforce. This is a significant decline since the 55.3% recorded in 1980 and the 38.5% reported in 2003. In the Republic, over 60% of union members are in the public sector. Currently, over 1.4m of the Republic's taxpaying workforce are not members of unions.
These figures are questionable as the total workforce in Ireland is between 1.6 and 1.7 million (taking current unemployment levels into account). That workforce also includes some 400,000 self-employed and managers who have no entitlement to join a trade union. So, if Congress has in excess of 600,000 members in the Republic, how can there possibly be 1.4m who are not members. In addition, the majority of trade union members in Ireland are private sector workers (approx 45/55 split), while union density levels ranging from 34-38% compare very favourably with continental Europe, where they average 21-22%. In countries such as France and Spain they fall far lower.
Read more about this topic: Irish Congress Of Trade Unions
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