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Freelancers, rejuvenation and feminization: global trade union challenges

2022-05-05T16:22:11.136Z


Unions have to face new realities. Increasing recruitment of women and self-employed workers, difficulty in attracting young people: here are some global trade union trends, noted in a report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) published on Thursday. To discover YOUR COMMUNE - The results of the second round of the presidential election in your area Taxes 2022: all about your tax return Read alsoVery open game for the


Increasing recruitment of women and self-employed workers, difficulty in attracting young people: here are some global trade union trends, noted in a report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) published on Thursday.

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Rise in self-employed memberships

Between 2008 and 2019, the number of active and retired members of a union increased by 3.6% to reach 251 million in the 142 countries studied by the ILO.

This growth is entirely due to the increase in the membership of self-employed workers

”, explains the specialized agency of the United Nations.

The rate of affiliation of employees, the "

traditional pool of unions

", has on the contrary "

stagnant

".

However, the unionization of the self-employed remains embryonic: only 2.2% have joined an organization, or just over 16 million people compared to nearly 211 million employees.

Without giving a quantified impact, the ILO also stresses that “

the Covid-19 pandemic has seriously affected the capacity for action and the resilience of the social partners

”.

Read alsoSelf-employed workers: the real regime or the controlled declaration?

Women more unionized than men

For the first time, women are more likely to unionize than men: 17.7% of female workers were union members in 2019, men being only 16%.

A real break when women constituted a few decades ago "

a minority

" in the ranks of the trade unions.

"

Most organizations are paying more attention to women's demands and to reconciling professional and family life

", rejoices the ILO.

Study coordinator Susan Hayter links this feminization to the rise in the number of self-employed union members.

Many of these freelancers work in economic sectors where women are largely present

,” she told AFP.

More affiliated independents would therefore mean more unionized women.

But openness to women is not universal: in certain large countries such as China, India or South Africa, unions and networks composed solely of women have been created to compete with existing organizations, "

dominated by the men

”.

Read alsoUnskilled women increasingly exposed to atypical working hours

Dynamic Asia and Africa

In 2008, Europe hosted on its soil 44.2% of union members identified by the ILO worldwide.

Eleven years later, Asia-Pacific has dethroned it: 36.5% of affiliates are based in the region, compared to 35.5% for Europe, "

which has seen a massive decline in union membership

", observes Susan Hayter.

Another continent on the rise, Africa now represents 10% of union members, up three points over 11 years.

"

In Asia, Africa and Latin America, the unions are much more aimed at the informal sector

", which opens up a huge recruitment pool for them, notes Ms. Hayter.

The Arab States, on the other hand, contribute very little to swelling the ranks of trade unions: only 0.2% of global membership is registered in these countries.

Read alsoRenault signs a global agreement on the quality of life at work with the unions

Sharp fall in the youth membership rate

Recruiting young people is a prerequisite for any trade union renewal strategy

,” insists the ILO.

The Geneva organization has observed a sharp drop in the membership rate of this population over the past 30 to 40 years.

In 28 high-income countries, union density among the population aged 16 to 25 fell from 21% in 1995 to 11% in 2015

,” warns the ILO.

Low fertility rates and the persistent decline in the number of people entering the labor market under the age of 25 accentuate the trend in these countries.

Conversely, “

in many African countries, more than half of the population is under 25 years old.

Therefore, more than the recruitment of young people, “

the hot topics for the (local) trade unions are rather the lack of decent jobs and the emigration of young people

”, explains the ILO.

Read alsoMay 1: unions increasingly targeted by violence from young demonstrators

A stable rate of membership of employers' organizations

The rate of affiliation of companies to employers' or professional organizations seems "

relatively stable

" in recent years, despite the scarcity of available data, according to the ILO.

However, the disparities from one country to another are significant: in Austria, 100% of private sector employees work in a company affiliated to a professional organization, a rate which drops to 75% in France and Spain and to 15.1 % in South Korea.

As a result of the pandemic, a third of business organizations reported losing members in June 2020. More than eight out of ten organizations also suffered a drop in income in March and April 2020, at the start of the Covid pandemic. -19.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-05-05

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