According to the latest figures from the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB), membership of its affiliated trade unions dropped by 264,000 in 2000 to stand at 7.77 million.
According to figures released in early 2001, total membership of the unions affiliated to the German Federation of Trade Unions (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB) sank to 7.77 million in 2000, a decline of 264,000 compared with 1999. While the pace of the decline has slowed - membership fell by 274,000 from 1998 to 1999 - unions are troubled by the fact that total membership has fallen below the level prior to German unification in 1990. As the table below indicates, some public sector unions such as the Education and Science Union (Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft, GEW) and the Police Union (Gewerkschaft der Polizei, GdP) have successfully limited membership decline while the Construction, Agriculture and Environment Union (Industriegewerkschaft Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt, IG BAU) in particular has experienced a rapid loss of membership.
Despite these rather disappointing figures, Klaus Wiesehügel, the national president of IG BAU, sees a better future for his union. In a recent statement, Mr Wiesehügel emphasised IG BAU's substantial efforts to recruit new members. In 1998, the union initiated a new membership organising programme which was further extended in 2000. This programme enabled the union to recruit 31,750 new members in 2000, an increase of 7% compared with 1999. However, even this success was not sufficient to offset the negative impact of the decline of employment in the construction industry. Due to massive job cuts, the union lost more members than it was able to replace by new recruits.
Membership of DGB-affiliated unions 1999-2000
| Metalworkers' Union (IG Metall, IGM) | 2,834,861 | 2,763,485* | -2.5 |
| Public Services, Transport and Traffic Union (Gewerkschaft Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr, ÖTV) | 1,526,891 | 1,476,708 | -3.3 |
| Mining, Chemicals and Energy Union (IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie, IG BCE) | 922,783 | 891,587 | -3.4 |
| Construction, Agriculture and Environment Union (IG BAU) | 585,359 | 539,744 | -7.8 |
| Postal Union (Deutsche Postgewerkschaft, DPG) | 457,475 | 445,968 | -2.5 |
| Commerce, Banking and Insurance Union (Gewerkschaft Handel, Banken und Versicherungen, HBV) | 457,720 | 440,638 | -3.7 |
| Railway Workers' Union (Transnet, formerly GdED) | 338,106 | 320,264 | -5.3 |
| Education and Science Union (GEW) | 273,787 | 270,264 | -1.3 |
| Food, Beverages and Catering Union (Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten, NGG) | 270,016 | 260,638 | -3.5 |
| Police Union (GdP) | 190,617 | 188,142 | -1.3 |
| Media Union (IG Medien) | 179,072 | 175,044 | -2.2 |
Source: DGB, preliminary data.
* The figure includes 132,865 members of the Timber and Plastics Workers' Union ( Gewerkschaft Holz und Kunststoff , GHK ), which merged with IG Metall in 2000.