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According to the latest figures from the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB), the combined membership level of its affiliated trade unions declined by 0.1% in 2012. Compared to previous years this meant that the overall consolidation continued. Four out of eight affiliates, among them the metalworkers’ union IG Metall the largest DGB union, increased membership in 2012. Others, most notably the rail- and the construction workers, only managed to slow a downward trend.
According to the latest figures from the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB), the combined membership level of its eight affiliated trade unions declined by just 0.1% in 2012. This was below the decline of 2011 when membership fell by 0.6% and 2010 when a decline of 1.1% was registered.
The overall development was positively influenced by the fact that the German metalworkers’ union (IG Metall) managed for the second consecutive year to stabilise its membership levels and to record growth of 0.8%.
The second largest affiliate, the United Services Union (ver.di), managed to further minimise its membership losses in 2012, but was not able to prevent a small decline.
An examination of the details shows significant differences in membership developments between the DGB affiliates.
As indicated in Table 1, IG Metall remained the strongest DGB affiliate with 2.3 million members. As in 2011, its positive membership development in 2012 is the combined result of a favourable economic background with growth in overall employment in the metalworking industry. It is also a result of significant efforts by the union.
To increase membership, the union had to recruit 123,000 new members in 2012. A promising development is that the union managed to increase its membership among employees below the age of 27 by 4.5%. The union also continued to expand its workplace presence by establishing new works councils in companies where there was no employee representation previously.
It continued to organise temporary agency workers around its campaign for equal pay for those on fixed-term and temporary contracts, and in its 2012 bargaining round was successful in establishing supplements for temporary agency workers in metal manufacturing (DE1206019I).
The second largest union, ver.di, is happy that it managed to further slow down its decline. It has said that its development of active membership was positive in 2012. However, turnover among pensioners and unemployed members could not be fully compensated for despite the enrollment of 119,000 new members – 12,000 up on the previous year. At the same time, however, the annual number of leavers reached its lowest level since the establishment of ver.di in 2001. The union remains particularly successful in the healthcare sector which is now its strongest membership base.
As in 2011, five out of 13 trade groups within the union recorded an overall positive membership development. However, other trade groups had trouble maintaining membership levels, most notably in the distributive trades.
The Mining, Chemicals and Energy Industrial Union (IG BCE) recorded a small loss of 0.5% – exactly the same rate of decline as in 2011.
The Trade Union for Building, Forestry, Agriculture and the Environment (IG BAU) continued its efforts to stabilise its membership in construction, but has found it tough in the adverse economic environment. It consolidated its losses somewhat, but a decline of 2.6% of its overall membership meant, as in 2011, the second largest loss of a DGB affiliate.
The most significant losses were faced by the Railway and Transport Union (EVG), although the union did better than in 2011.
The Trade Union of Food, Beverages, Tobacco, Hotel and Catering and Allied Workers (NGG), which stabilised its membership levels in 2011, added membership, as in 2010. This is all the more remarkable given the fragmented structure of its organising territory, characterised by a large number of bargaining areas and a dominance of small workplaces.
The German Union of Education (GEW) and the German Police Union (GdP) also grew.
GEW recorded its fifth consecutive year of membership growth. This success can be attributed, among other factors, to the growing strike activities of the union among teachers. One important issue driving union membership is the fact that in many federal states teachers are no longer employed as public civil servants but as public employees. This has resulted in considerably smaller net incomes for many in the profession.
GdP is now in its fourth year of membership growth. The police union is able to organise its activities in a stable employment environment, but faces competition from other occupational unions.
| Trade union | Total no. of members 2012 | Overall change 2012–2011 (%) | Overall change 2011–2010 (%) | Women as % of total 2012 | Women as % of total 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IG Metall | 2,263,707 | +0.8 | +0.3 | 17.6 | 17.6 |
| Ver.di | 2,061,198 | -0.5 | -1.1 | 50.9 | 50.7 |
| IG BCE | 668,982 | -0.5 | -0.5 | 20.2 | 20.0 |
| IG BAU | 297,763 | -2.6 | -2.8 | 22.6 | 21.7 |
| GEW | 266,542 | +1.3 | +1.1 | 70.5 | 70.2 |
| EVG | 213,566 | -3.2 | -5.1 | 21.2 | 21.2 |
| NGG | 206,203 | +0.3 | 0.00 | 41.3 | 41.0 |
| GdP | 173,223 | +0.9 | +0.7 | 22.9 | 22.6 |
| Total DGB | 6,151,184 | -0.1 | -0.6 | 32.7 | 32.5 |
Source: DGB, own calculation
The overall share of women within the DGB-affiliated trade unions slightly improved. About a third of all members are now women. GEW remains ahead with more than 70% of their membership being women. Ver.di’s membership is almost evenly split between men and women with the latter being in a slight majority. It is followed by NGG where about 40% of members are women.
IG Metall remains the union with the smallest share of women among its members. This reflects the employment structure in the unions’ strongholds amongst blue-collar workers in metal manufacturing.
A promising development for the DGB is that the overall share of young members aged 27 years and under increased again as shown in Table 2. The comparatively low share of young members remained a concern at ver.di in 2012, but this is partly to do with the fact that in comparison with IG Metall it has fewer large companies within its organising territory which regularly employ substantial numbers of apprentices.
EVG figures are somewhat blurred by the fact that almost half of the membership are pensioners. The low level of young members in GEW is influenced by the fact that most employees in education enter employment following completion of a university degree.
The share of young members in GdP continues to grow. It has the largest share of young members and is obviously quite successful in convincing employees to join as soon as they enter the police service.
| Trade union | Young men 2012 | Young women 2012 | Young members total 2012 | Young members as % of total membership 2012 | Young members as % of total membership 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IG Metall | 190,155 | 32,903 | 223,058 | 9.9 | 9.5 |
| ver.di | 56,894 | 51,852 | 108,746 | 5.3 | 5.0 |
| IG BCE | 56,877 | 13,879 | 70,756 | 10.6 | 10.3 |
| IG BAU | 24,105 | 2,768 | 26,873 | 9.0 | 9.3 |
| GEW | 2,527 | 9,437 | 11,964 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| EVG | 9,240 | 2,347 | 11,587 | 5.4 | 4.9 |
| NGG | n.a. | n.a. | 20,599 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| GdP | 15,915 | 7,956 | 23,871 | 13.8 | 12.7 |
| Total DGB | - | - | 497,454 | 8.1 | 7.8 |
Source: DGB; own calculation
The 0.1% loss in overall membership of DGB affiliates raises hopes that the confederation can turn the tide in the foreseeable future. Whether these hopes will be fulfilled is dependent not least on future economic development. It will also be related to the success of DGB affiliates in reaching out to new constituencies.
With regard to the total economy, the organising situation remained difficult in 2012. The large number of small establishments in particular in the new expanding private service industries is a severe hurdle. The difficulties in establishing a union presence in small businesses is demonstrated by the fact that only 10% of all establishments eligible for a works council have such a body (DE1005029I).
Heiner Dribbusch, Institute of Economic and Social Research, WSI