Collective agreement coverage

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Collective agreement coverage or union representation refers to the proportion of people in a country population whose terms and conditions at work are made by collective bargaining, between an employer and a trade union, rather than by individual contracts. This is invariably higher than the union membership rate, because collective agreements almost always protect non-members in a unionised workplace. This means that, rather than individuals who have weaker bargaining power representing themselves in negotiations, people organise to represent each other together when negotiating for better pay and conditions in their workplace. The number of people who are covered by collective agreements is higher than the number of union members (or the "union density" rate), and in many cases substantially higher, because when trade unions make collective agreements they aim to cover everyone at work, even those who have not necessarily joined for membership.

Causes[]

The causes of higher or lower collective bargaining coverage are widely debated. Common causes are often identified as including the following:

  • whether a jurisdiction encourages sectoral collective bargaining (higher coverage) or enterprise bargaining (lower coverage)
  • whether collective agreements to create a closed shop or allow automatic enrollment in union membership are lawful
  • whether laws on collective bargaining and strikes are more or less favourable
  • whether the government, for instance through a Ministry or Department of Labour, actively promotes collective agreement coverage with a power to impose terms if employers refuse to bargain with the workforce
  • whether a country enables collective agreements to be extended by government regulations to all workers when the coverage rate reaches a majority in a sector, or similar level

By country[]

See also: International comparisons of trade unions § Union density
Collective bargaining coverage in OECD countries[1]
Country Coverage (%) Year
 Australia 61.2 2018
 Austria 98.0 2019
 Belgium 96.0 2019
 Canada 31.3 2020
 Chile 20.4 2018
 Colombia 15.7 2016
 Czech Republic 34.7 2019
 Denmark 82.0 2018
 Estonia 6.1 2018
 Finland 88.8 2017
 France 98.0 2018
 Germany 54.0 2018
 Greece 14.2 2017
 Hungary 21.8 2019
 Iceland 90.0 2019
 Ireland 34.0 2017
 Israel 26.1 2012
 Italy 100.0 2019
 Japan 16.8 2019
 Korea 14.8 2018
 Lithuania 7.9 2019
 Latvia 27.1 2018
 Luxembourg 56.9 2018
 Mexico 10.4 2019
 Netherlands 75.6 2019
 New Zealand 18.6 2020
 Norway 69.0 2017
 Poland 13.4 2019
 Portugal 73.6 2018
 Slovak Republic 25.0 2016
 Slovenia 78.6 2017
 Spain 80.1 2018
 Sweden 88.0 2018
  Switzerland 45.0 2018
 Turkey 8.5 2019
 United Kingdom 26.9 2019
 United States 12.1 2020
OECD average[a] 32.1 2019
 Costa Rica[b] 10.3 2019
  1. ^ estimated value
  2. ^ non-OECD

Sweden[]

Collective agreement coverage in Sweden was in 2017 90% of all employees (in the private sector 83%, in the public sector 100%).[2][3] In 2017 union density was 69% (64% in the private sector, 79% in the public sector).

United States[]

In the United States in 2015 there were 14.8m union members, and 16.4m people covered by collective bargaining or union representation. Union membership was 7.4% in private sector, but 39% in the public sector. In the five largest states, California has 15.9% union membership, Texas 4.5%, Florida 6.8%, New York 24.7% (the highest in the country), and Illinois had 15.2%.[4]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ "Collective bargaining coverage". OECD.Stat. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  2. ^ Anders Kjellberg (2019) Kollektivavtalens täckningsgrad samt organisationsgraden hos arbetsgivarförbund och fackförbund, Department of Sociology, Lund University. Studies in Social Policy, Industrial Relations, Working Life and Mobility. Research Reports 2019:1, Appendix 3 (in English) Table F
  3. ^ Anders Kjellberg (2019) "Sweden: collective bargaining under the industry norm" Archived 2019-07-25 at the Wayback Machine, in Torsten Müller & Kurt Vandaele & Jeremy Waddington (eds.) Collective bargaining in Europe: towards an endgame, European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) Brussels 2019. Vol. III (pp. 583-604)
  4. ^ See Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘Union Members – 2015’ (28 January 2016)

References[]

  • Hamburger, 'The Extension of Collective Agreements to Cover Entire Trade and Industries' (1939) 40 International Labor Review 153
  • Methods of Collaboration between Public Authorities, Workers' Organizations, and Employers' Organizations (International Labour Conference, 1940) p. 112
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