Trade unions, employers’ organisations and public institutions play a key role in the governance of the employment relationship, working conditions and industrial relations structures. They are interlocking parts in a multilevel system of governance that includes the European, national, sectoral, regional (provincial or local) and company levels. This section looks into the main actors and institutions and their role in the United Kingdom.
Public authorities involved in regulating working life
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) is the main body, established by statute, involved in conciliation and arbitration in the UK. It is overseen by an independent council and its task is to improve industrial relations. It is involved in both individual and collective conciliation. In 2013 the introduction of compulsory early conciliation as a prerequisite for making an employment tribunal claim increased Acas’s involvement with individual cases.
The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) is a tribunal non-departmental government body, sponsored by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS). Its role is to resolve collective disputes in England, Scotland and Wales either by voluntary agreement, or if necessary, by a legal decision. For example, the CAC may rule on trade union recognition, establishing consultative committees or collective bargaining processes.
The position of Certification Officer (CO) was established in 1975. Although the Certification Officer is a wholly independent statutory office, Acas is responsible for providing its finance, staff and support services. The Certification Officer has responsibility for a range of functions including the maintenance of lists of trade unions and employers’ associations; the determination of complaints from union members against their unions relating to alleged breaches of statutory duties and some types of union rules; determining union independence; ensuring that annual returns are made; the supervision of mergers, as well as of political fund ballots ; and, finally, the investigation of alleged financial irregularities. The recent Trade Union Act has meant a change in the formerly neutral role of the CO, conferring new powers on the CO, which can now launch its own investigations into a wide range of union internal affairs, such as administration, finances, elections and ballots. The CO will have the power to impose enforcement orders and fines on unions of up £20,000. Moreover, it will be funded by a levy on unions. . The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the national independent watchdog for work- related health, safety and illness. It acts in the public interest to reduce work-related death and serious injury across Great Britain’s workplaces. The HSE is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Representativeness
The issue of representativeness is largely unregulated in the UK. Formal ‘representativeness’ criteria for trade unions and employer bodies are generally not used. Representation is conducted largely on a voluntary basis, and is most commonly conducted at the workplace level.
The TUC represents approximately 5.5 million members in 48 affiliated unions (TUC, 2019). However, the TUC does not conclude or have the power to conclude collective agreements at any level (there are further trade union members of unions that are not affiliated to the TUC).
Similarly, the CBI has no role in collective bargaining. In a few sectors, such as construction, employers’ organisations are involved in sectoral-level collective bargaining, but this is unusual. Due to the largely decentralised nature of employment relations in the UK, employer organisations do not have a particularly prominent role in the country’s industrial relations.
More information on representativeness of the main social partner organisations can be found in Eurofound’s sectoral representativeness studies.
Trade unions
About trade union representation
Any worker or employee can join a trade union. In practice, employees or workers can join any union, which may or may not be recognised at their place of employment. As noted, the practice of recognition is largely voluntary.
Trade union membership is voluntary; the closed shop has been illegal in the UK since the Employment Act of 1990. The latest data available from BEIS/ONS shows that total union membership stood at around 6.2 million in 2017 (BEIS, 2018), with the level of union members increasing slightly by 19,000 over the year from 2016 (a 0.3% increase).
Alongside the marginal rise in trade union membership levels, there was a sharper increase in the number of UK employees between 2016 and 2017. As a result, the proportion of employees who were trade union members fell to 23.2% in 2017, from 23.5% in 2016 (and down from 24.7% in 2015).
Since 1995, trade union density has decreased quite markedly. Over this period, the proportion of employees who were trade union members in the UK has decreased 9.2 percentage points, from 32.4% in 1995.
Union membership levels and density vary considerably by sector. BEIS/ONS figures for 2017 indicate union membership levels of 2.7 million in the private sector, an increase of 70,000 since 2016. Union density in the private sector stood at 13.5% in 2017, a slight increase from 13.4% in 2016, following a fall from 13.9% in 2015. In the public sector, union membership levels fell by 209,000 to 3.5 million in 2017, with density falling from 52.7% in 2016 to 51.8% in 2017 (BEIS, 2018). The changes were statistically significant.
Trade union membership and trade union density
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Source |
Trade union density in terms of active employees | 25.8 | 25.4 | 25.1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | OECD/Visser (2014) |
Trade union membership in 1,000s | 6,538 | 6,445 | 6.458 million (ONS, 2018) | 6.5 million (ONS, 2018) | 6.216 million (ONS, 2018) | 6.235 million (ONS, 2018) | OECD/Visser (2014) |
Main trade union confederations and federations
As noted, trade union membership is significantly lower than it was at its 1979 peak. In response to falling numbers, there have been a number of union mergers over recent years, resulting in the formation of some large general unions.
The TUC website notes that there are now 48 trade unions affiliated to the TUC in the UK (down from 49 in 2018) (TUC, 2019). The annual report of the Certification Officer for trade unions and employers’ organisations for 2017–2018 notes that as at 31 March 2018, there were 146 trade union organisations (down from 150 in 2017 and compared with 226 in 2000 and 306 in 1990) (Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations, 2018).
Main trade union confederations and federations
Long name | Abbreviation | Members as of January 2017 | Involved in collective bargaining |
Trades Union Congress | TUC | 5,814,836 | No |
Note: Membership figures are as reported to the TUC for January 2016 and are taken from the TUC Directory 2016.
There have been no major changes in terms of representativeness. Union mergers were more common approximately 10 years ago, when larger general unions were formed in response to falling union numbers. There have been minor changes in whether or not unions choose to affiliate to the TUC.
Employers’ organisations
About employers’ representation
The TUC is paralleled on the employers’ side by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Like the TUC, the CBI has no mandate to collectively bargain and bind its affiliates. In general, the CBI represents companies in the private sector and is regarded by the government as its main interlocutor with business. Its membership comprises trade associations (around 140 currently) and individual companies (usually of medium and large size) as direct members – the CBI claims to represent around 190,000 businesses, employing nearly 7 million people, in the UK. Other employers’ organisations operating in the UK include the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Forum of Private Business (FPB). These organisations provide smaller businesses with a link to national and regional government and provide business advice and support. Current employer organisations that do engage in social and employment affairs include the Engineering Employers’ Federation (EEF) and the Local Government Association (LGA). Employer organisation density in the UK is estimated at around 30–40%. Compared with trade unions, the level of information regarding employers’ organisations is poor.
The annual report of the Certification Officer for trade unions and employers’ organisations for 2017–2018 notes that as at 31 March 2018, there were 91 employers’ associations, the same number as at the end of the previous reporting period (2016–2017).
Employers’ organisations – membership and density
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | Source |
Employers’ organisation density in terms of active employees | No data | No data | No data | No data | No data | Visser (2014) |
Employers’ organisation density in private sector establishments* | n.a. | 28% | n.a. | n.a | n.a | European Company Survey 2013 |
* Percentage of employees working in an establishment that is a member of any employer organisation that is involved in collective bargaining.
Main employers’ organisations and confederations
Long name | Abbreviation | Members | Year | Involved in collective bargaining |
Confederation of British Industry | CBI | Around 7 million in approximately 190,000 businesses | 2017 (CBI Annual Report and Accounts 2017) | No |
British Chambers of Commerce | BCC | Over 5 million employees organised across 52 chambers | Current – from the BCC website | No |
Tripartite and bipartite bodies and concertation
Owing to the UK voluntarist tradition, policy concertation has been uncommon and there are currently few formal mechanisms or forums for tripartite concertation in the country. From 1962, a tripartite National Economic Development Council existed, in which the government and UK social partners discussed economic policy, but this was abolished in 1992. In the late 1970s, consultation between the government, employers and trade unions was also growing in importance. However, the Thatcher government, which was elected in 1979, sought to eradicate any forms of corporatism. Since then, tripartism or corporatism has not been reintroduced on a comprehensive or formal basis.
The social partners’ report reduced tripartite engagement since the election of the coalition Conservative and Liberal Democrat government in 2010 (interviews were conducted with representatives of TUC and CBI in both 2016 and 2017 as part of Eurofound research on the ‘Role of social partners in the European Semester’). They continue to be consulted by the public authorities on the direction of public policy in the country on an ad hoc basis, but such consultations are usually bilateral. The social partners in effect receive de facto recognition of their position by the government through their involvement in various consultations with government departments.
There is de facto tripartite representation in a series of agencies, and though the peak-level social partners are consulted about the nomination of employer and worker representatives on the boards of such bodies, they no longer have an automatic monopoly of the available seats.
For example, the social partners are represented on the Low Pay Commission (LPC), an independent UK body that issues recommendations for increases in the national minimum wage. The LPC board consists of nine members: three trade union representatives, three employers and three labour market relations experts.
The LPC receives a remit from government each year, which outlines the issues it is to consider. The LPC publishes its response in a report to government each October, which contains its recommendations on the future level of the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates, and related matters.
In considering the issues in the remit, the LPC completes detailed analysis of the evidence before making any recommendations. It takes an open and consultative approach to its work. The information it uses is gathered through wide-ranging research and consultations, including visits, discussions with businesses, workers, representative bodies, government and academics. In reporting to the government, the LPC explains the procedures it used, along with the reasons for its recommendations.
At the sectoral level, the UK social partners are involved in the sector skills councils (SSCs), which seek to improve the skills of workers in the UK. The SSCs are ‘employer-led’, although they actively involve trade unions, professional bodies and other key stakeholders in consultations over skill needs in particular sectors and how these will be best met.
The main issues for concertation are therefore skills and training and low pay.
Main tripartite and bipartite bodies
Name | Type | Level | Issues covered |
Low Pay Commission | Tripartite | National | Wages |
Workplace-level employee representation
The main workplace-level channel of employee representation in the UK is via the recognition of trade unions by employers for the purposes of collective bargaining. The most authoritative UK study of workplace-level structures is the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS).
According to the 2011 WERS, 22% of workplaces with five or more employees recognised at least one trade union. The incidence of union recognition is much higher in larger workplaces, and increased between the 2004 and 2011 WERS. In 2004, 44% of workplaces with 50 or more employees had union representation, and in 2011 this had increased to 50%. In addition, membership in the public sector was much higher in 2011; at 92%, compared with 12% for private sector services and 9% for private sector manufacturing. The extent of union recognition has declined continually from the early 1980s.
Another channel of employee representation in some workplaces is that of joint consultative committees (JCCs), which are sometimes known as works councils or employee forums. These are broadly concerned with consultation rather than negotiation. Although in some cases JCCs are an alternative to, or substitute for, union representation, they are also prevalent in workplaces that recognise unions. The WERS 2004 found that JCCs were present in 14% of workplaces with over 50 staff. This number fell to 13% in 2011. Again, JCCs were more common in public sector workplaces and in larger workplaces. The proportion of workplaces with JCCs has been falling since the late 1980s, but between 1998 and 2004 the decline was primarily evident in workplaces with fewer than 100 employees; among larger workplaces, the incidence of JCCs was broadly stable. Between 2004 and 2011 the number of workplaces employing between 100 and 249 people with an on-site joint consultative committee doubled from 9% to 18%, but there were no statistically significant changes for other workplaces.
The primary basis for both union recognition and the establishment of JCCs has traditionally been voluntary agreement. However, since 1999 in the case of trade union recognition and 2004 in the case of information and consultation (ICE) arrangements, legislation has existed in the UK enabling unions and employees, respectively, to use statutory procedures to seek the introduction of representation arrangements where they are not established voluntarily. In practice, though, the effect of the legislation may have been ‘legally prompted voluntarism’. Trade unions naturally prefer recognition rather than seats on JCCs, which may explain why trade union response to the ICE regulations has been somewhat ambivalent.
Regulation, composition and competences of the bodies
| Regulation | Composition | Competences of the body Involved in company level collective bargaining? | Thresholds/rules when they need to be/can be set up |
Joint consultative committees (JCCs) | Not usually. JCCs may be set up according to statutory procedures, but the vast majority are voluntary. The Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) regulations are part of the Employment Relations Act 2004. | JCCs must include representatives from management and employees. Employee representatives can be trade union representatives. | The issues covered in JCC consultation are determined by the committees themselves rather than specified by legislation. The key is that these are consultative arrangements. They are not collective bargaining forums, nor are they negotiating meetings. | Most JCCs are set up via voluntary agreement. Trigger mechanisms apply for statutory regulation, but in organisations of 50 or more employees, 10% of employees are required to start the statutory procedures. |