To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the levels of (1) collective bargaining coverage, and (2) trade union membership, in the UK; and what steps they are taking, if any, to increase those levels.
Answered on
25 May 2023
In the UK, collective bargaining is largely a matter for individual employers, their employees and their trade unions. Most collective bargaining in the UK takes place because employers have voluntarily agreed to recognise a trade union and bargain with it.
Where an employer refuses to recognise a union voluntarily, the union can apply to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for statutory union recognition. This will be granted so long as the union can demonstrate majority support in the workplace.
The latest Trade Union Membership Statistics publication shows that an estimated 6.4 million employees were trade union members in the United Kingdom at the end of 2021. Statistics from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings show an estimated 41% of employee jobs in the UK had their pay set with reference to a collective agreement in 2021.