Membership for 2012 was 59,000 higher at 6.455 million workers compared to 2011. However, it is still considerably below the level of 2007 before the Global Financial Crisis when the figure stood at 6.999 million and 7.020m in 2002. Nonetheless, given the scale of the recession in the private sector (especially in manufacturing, retail and finance) as well as the era of austerity in the public sector leading to huge job cuts and rising unemployment, even a small overall rise in union membership is a considerable achievement for unions. (Réf. 130357)
The breakdown between the public and private sectors for 2012 indicates that membership grew in the private sector from 2.509m in 2011 to 2.586m in 2012 while membership in the public sector steadied at 3.883m in 2012 (down from just 3.886 in 2011). This meant that union density in the private sector increased from 14.2% to 14.4% while in the public sector it fell from 56.6% in 2011 to 56.3% in 2012.
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