Introduction

Some 40 years ago, the term ‘industrial relations’ was often, wrongly, conflated with trade unionism. Unions were so embedded in the collective systems and institutions that regulate the employment relationship that it was challenging to imagine a setting where unions were not a dominant actor. Today, the role and influence of unions is much reduced, especially outside the public sector. Union membership, density and bargaining coverage in the UK have all declined dramatically since the 1980s, and with that, their role in public life and influence over employment terms and conditions has waned. This chapter reflects on these changes, how unions have attempted to reverse the decline and their role in contemporary society. Central to the analysis presented is the argument that unions both shape the broader economic and social context, and are shaped by them. Capitalism and labour markets have changed partly because unions have lost influence. Equally important is that the challenges unions face have changed because the wider social and economic contexts have changed. This dynamic interplay means that the future of work and of unions is very difficult to predict.

The decline of union influence does not mean that unions have no role in the contemporary regulation of work. Unions represent 6.4 million workers in the UK (around 23 per cent of working people) (BEIS, 2022). Unions regulate terms and conditions of work through multiple mechanisms: bargaining collectively; lobbying for changes to policies and laws; supporting members when they have problems at work; and working to enforce agreements in workplaces. Collective bargaining is a crucial role and allows unions to negotiate the terms and conditions for large groups of workers rather than individuals, whether or not they are individually members of that union. Estimates vary as to how many workers have their terms and conditions set by collective bargaining. The Labour Force Survey suggests that it is around 29 per cent, but the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) estimates it at around 39 per cent (for an extensive discussion, see Waddington, 2019). Those headline figures hide significant differences between the public and private sectors. In the public sector, around 90 per cent of workers have collectively bargained terms and conditions, but this is only about 21 per cent of private sector workers (Waddington, 2019).