AT A time when trade unions are under attack across the industrialised world, Irish unions have not only managed to maintain membership levels but actually increase them.
Despite all the concerns expressed about the dangers posed by atypical working and the influx of companies from the United States and Far East, which are not prepared to recognise unions, the latest figures from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions show the membership of its affiliates in the Republic actually grew by 4,000 during 1995. And 94 of the largest 100 employers in the Republic recognise unions.
A total of 9,600 new members joined unions in the Republic and only 600 left, bringing the total membership to 482,835, or 52 per cent of the workforce.
This puts Irish trade union density well above most of our neighbours. The UK has 32 per cent of the workforce unionised, Germany 35 per cent, the Netherlands 28 per cent, Spain 12 per cent and France 10 per cent.
Only Belgium has a comparable level of unionisation, at 52 per cent. One has to go to Scandinavia to find higher levels. Sweden has 82 per cent, Finland 72 per cent, Denmark 71 per cent and Norway 57 per cent. In Japan only 25 per cent of the workforce is unionised and in the US, 16 per cent.
One major reason for growth in Irish trade union membership is that unions have become "more women friendly". The biggest single increase in membership of any union last year was Mandate, which recruited 2,088 new members, of whom 1,508 were women.
This was largely as a result of the strike at Dunnes Stores. This year could tell a similar story. The membership of the Irish Nurses' Organisation has grown by almost 3,000 during the past couple of months of industrial unrest. Again the overwhelming majority of recruits are women.
They are signing up in the hope of winning better pay and conditions, but also to ensure they have Someone to look after their interests in the increasingly uncertain industrial climate.
The age profile of trade unions is also seen to be improving. Although the data is inadequate, there is a perception among senior trade unionists that the membership is becoming younger.
In the expanding area of professional and technical work, there is 61 per cent union membership. Women comprise 62 per cent of the workforce in professional and technical jobs.
Within the public sector there is virtually 100 per cent unionisation in many areas, and public sector workers now account for 55 per cent of all trade union membership in the Republic.
The figures give no cause for complacency. The increase of over 8,000 in trade union membership must be set against net jobs growth in the year ending April 1995 of 52,000. Over half of ICTU membership in the private sector is still located in the manufacturing area, where growth is much slower than other sectors of the economy.
And in Northern Ireland, where the situation reflects the more hostile industrial relations climate of the United Kingdom, union membership fell by 4,500 to 199,376.