Diversity in trade union membership:a typology based on the study of aSpanish trade unionRamon Alós, Pere Jódar, Joel Martí,Antonio Martín Artiles and Luis Ortiz

ABSTRACT

While existing literature on the changing nature of trade union membership concen-trates on unidimensional differences between members, this article proposes a multi-dimensional typology, which considers demographic characteristics as well as labourmarket position and length of union membership. Our results allow the identificationof different member profiles; these are significantly associated to differences inemployment conditions, work participation, job satisfaction and union activism. Inthe last section of the article, we discuss the practical implications that these differentmember profiles may have for union policy and organisation.

1 INTRODUCTION

The important economic and company changes occurring during the closing decadesof the 20th century, together with their impact on the labour market and the labourprocess, have stimulated interest in the composition and internal diversity of tradeunion membership. While some studies relate union membership to labour marketdualisation or segmentation, others analyse its extension to women, white-collarworkers, technical staff, immigrants or other groups. The studies of the first type aregenerally qualitative, while the second tend to be quantitative but analyse member-ship from one dimension only.

Could a quantitative approach to union membership be taken further than aunidimensional analysis? Could a multidimensional approach contribute additionalinformation and throw more light on trade union organisations? Our article seeks togive a preliminary answer to these questions. To this end we explore the membershipheterogeneity of a Spanish trade union through a combination of multiple correspon-dence and cluster analysis (CA). This allows us to construct a typology of the

❒ Ramon Alós is tenure professor of Sociology, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain); Pere Jódaris tenure professor of Sociology, Pompeu Fabra University (Spain); Joel Martí is lecturer in Sociology,Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain); Antonio Martín Artiles is tenure professor of Sociology,Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain); and Luis Ortiz is lecturer in Sociology, Pompeu FabraUniversity (Spain). Correspondence should be addressed to Ramon Alós, Department of Sociology, EdificiB, Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra,Spain; email: ramon.dealos@uab.cat

Industrial Relations Journal 40:2, 100–121ISSN 0019-8692

© 2009 The Author(s)Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St.,Malden, MA 02148, USA.

membership. To check the validity of the typology obtained, we tested its associationto issues related to union membership such as employment conditions, work organ-isation, job satisfaction and union activism.

The article is organised as follows. First, we present the theoretical framework thatjustifies the proposed typology. Second, we explain the context of the study, the data,method and variables used to generate this typology. Third, the groups of unionmembers yielded by the analysis and their profiles are described. Finally, we presentthe results of testing the explanatory value of these groups in relation to differences inemployment conditions, work organisation, job satisfaction and union activism.

2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Workforces today are much more varied than they were in the past. Developedsocieties have undergone changes distancing themselves from the traditional Fordistmodel, known as the ‘3M’ (male, manual and manufacturing) which in its day formedthe standard type of workforce and was the base for trade union membership (Boyer,1986; Locke et al., 1995; Supiot, 2001; Tripier, 1991). There is increasing interest in thedegree to which trade unionism is adapting to these changes. To what extent areunions organising types of worker with an increasing weight within the workingpopulation—such as women, service workers, workers in small- and medium-sizedfirms, technical staff, atypical workers—workers, in other words, who are not limitedto the 3M Fordist model (Checchi and Visser, 2005; Ebbinghaus and Visser, 2000;Locke et al., 1995; Regini, 1988; Verma et al., 2002)? This is at present a vital questionfor trade unions and encompasses both the risk of dwindling to insignificance if theydo not extend their membership, and the need to manage this diversity if they succeedin recruiting in these new areas. Many authors have already identified this dilemma asone of the main challenges trade unions face this century (Hyman, 1997; 2004;Streeck, 2005; Streeck and Visser, 1998; Visser, 2002; Waddington and Hoffmann,2000). The question of membership—who joins and with what values andexpectations—is therefore a key issue as it is the members who, in the long run,determine the nature of the union and guarantee its functioning as an organisation.

Many institutionalist authors have concluded that union membership is concen-trated among workers in the core of the labour market (Doeringer and Piore, 1971;Edwards et al., 1975; Gordon et al., 1982; Osterman, 1984; Rubery and Wilkinson,1994). Peripheral segments of the labour market are characterised by more contingentemployment relationships which impede the formation of affinity groups. Lack of jobsecurity in these segments raises the cost of joining a trade union; this contrasts withthe situation enjoyed by workers in the primary segment of the labour market.

Similar conclusions are reached in the literature on insiders and outsiders (I-O),though from a different angle. While the institutionalist authors take a demand-sideapproach, the I-O perspective emphasises the supply-side including, among otherthings, the presence of trade unions. These intervene to protect some workers—theinsiders to the detriment of the outsiders—thereby exacerbating the division within thelabour market (Friedman and Friedman, 1980; Solow, 1990).1

1 In the 1990s, this question once again came to the fore in economic theory, including the Spanish case asan example. See Calmfors and Drifill (1988), Dolado and Bentolila (1993), Jimeno and Toharia (1993),Lindbeck and Snower (2001), Nickell and Wadhwani (1990) and more recently Polavieja (2003).

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Another strand of literature analyses union membership on the basis of some of itsfeatures. Some authors stress socio-demographic factors. For example Kirton (2005),Kirton and Healy (1999), Machin (2004), Tomlinson (2005) and Yates (2006) considerthe extension of membership to women, while Ebbinghaus (2002), Gomez et al.(2002), Haynes et al. (2005) and Waddington and Kerr (2002) look at the inclusion ofyoung workers. Other authors focus on aspects relating to the job and the company.Heery et al. (2004), Llorente Sánchez (2007) and Voos (2000) look at the type of workcontract, while Dolvik and Waddington (2002), Fernández Macías (2003), Gallieet al. (1996), Machin (2004), Regalia (1990) and Waddington and Whitston (1997)focus on the job or industrial sector. Yet other authors such as Allvin and Sverke(2000), Bacon and Storey (1996), Madsen (1996) and Valkenburg and Zoll (1995)contrast individualism and collectivism among members.

Taken as a whole, this literature provides rich empirical evidence about trade unionmembership. Nevertheless, its approach is one-dimensional, seeing membership as asingle entity and not taking into account the possible existence of different groupswithin the union. This contrasts with the first block of studies which are interested inthe fit between membership and the complexities of the labour market, but which tendto be qualitative in nature.

Our aim here is to put both approaches together, but focusing only on unionmembership, not on the labour market. We are interested in exploring the extent towhich different groups can be recognised within a given trade union. We are awarethat unions in general, and the union we are studying in particular, have a member-ship biased against highly skilled workers and even more so against workers lackingjob security or with atypical employment contracts: workers (women, youth andimmigrant workers) with temporary contracts, young workers still in a process ofconsolidating their position in the labour market. Relative to their weight in theworking population as a whole, these groups are usually under-represented in therank-and-file of trade unions, but these studies show that membership is rapidlybecoming more diversified due precisely to the joining of qualified service workers,women and other groups.

The current study proposes a multidimensional typology of membership, whichallows an assessment of the weight these or other groups are acquiring within unions.With this aim in mind we have looked at variables—like socio-demographic, workand company factors—usually considered when researching in this area. We haveadded length of membership given that we are also interested in exploring the rela-tionship between the union and its members. We think the form this relationship cantake is conditioned in two ways: on the one hand, by the already mentioned factors ofdemographic profile, work situation and company characteristics which define dis-tinct motives for joining and becoming involved in the union; on the other hand, bythe development of the relationship between the member and the union itself, in whichcase length of membership is salient.

Statistical analysis is used to build this typology and to check its consistency. We donot intend to analyse the degree of correspondence between union membership andthe working population as a whole, but rather to show that distinct member profilesare shaped by a range of characteristics which cannot be reduced to a single dimensionand that these profiles are linked to different work situations, behaviour and attitudesamong the different membership groupings (Cregan, 2005). The immediate practicalresult of this argument is that unions should consider the implications of this multi-dimensionality for their organisation and in the development of strategies.

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3 DATA AND METHOD2

Our study was carried out in Catalonia, an autonomous region of Spain whose labourmarket and trade union characteristics largely mirror those in the rest of the country.The Spanish case is interesting because of the substantial segmentation of its labourmarket (Recio, 1999; Toharia and Malo, 2000). The rate of unemployment at the endof 2005 was just under 9 per cent, but the rate of temporary employment was 33 percent.3

Union density in Spain is approximately 15 per cent and collective bargainingcoverage is 81 per cent.4 Our analysis is focused on the main union in Spain andCatalonia, Comissions Obreres de Catalunya (Workers’ Commissions of Catalonia,CCOO-Catalonia). Like other European trade unions, the main base of CCOO-Catalonia is still the traditional Fordist worker, but recently, recruitment has alsoextended to service sector workers and women. The union has encountered moredifficulties in organising workers in small companies, those with temporary contractsand youth. These types of worker are more prevalent than before and, as a result, theunions now have to deal with this incipient diversity and represent a wider range ofworker profiles (Jódar et al., 2004). Our analysis attempts to identify these profiles.

The data were drawn from a survey involving a random sample of employed unionmembers. It consisted of 802 individuals, stratified by sex, age, industrial sector andyear of joining the union, and was taken from a population of 138,096 employedunion members in January 2003 (excluding the unemployed and retired population).Members of the sample were interviewed by phone between April and June 2003, witha preliminary contact being made by mail. The questionnaire covered socio-demographic information, working conditions, employment relations at the work-place and involvement in trade union activities.

Our method brings a holistic and structural approach to the study of unionmembership. Apart from its purely descriptive value, the construction of typologiesshould facilitate the explanation of different phenomena concerning union activity,over and above the individual variables traditionally used in this type of research. Thisapproach leads to an analysis divided into two phases:

1. Exploring the interrelation between structural characteristics of members and theidentification of different profiles in relation to these characteristics.

2. Association between the profiles identified and aspects like employment condi-tions, work participation, job satisfaction and union activism.

Two techniques are complementary in this type of approach: multiple correspondenceanalysis (MCA) and CA. Combining both is particularly useful for attaining ourobjectives because it allows for the study of membership diversity from a multi-dimensional point of view, rather than concentrating on particular dimensions of thesedifferences. While MCA permits the reduction of categorical variables into a morelimited set of dimensions, CA segments the population into homogeneous groupsaccording to their congruence within those dimensions.

2 For detailed data and results not included in the article, please contact the authors.3 Source: EUROSTAT, UE Labour Force Survey.4 Source: http://www.eiro.eurofound.ie/2002/07/feature/tn0207104f.htm and http://www.eiro.eurofound.ie/2002/12/study/tn0212102s.htm.

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Our approach is both deductive and inductive. It is inductive as it unearths empiri-cal regularities from data and helps to build new concepts and theory (Benzécri, 1973);and deductive in that previous theory is the basis for selecting which variables are usedin the analysis. Thus, as opposed to eminently deductive methods typified by a prioriconstruction of causal models, this approach allows for a method characterised by adynamic research procedure involving the constant movement between, and mutualmodification of, theorising and empirical observation within the same analyticalprocess. Taking some previously defined and measured attributes as the point ofdeparture and from a study of their interrelations, a new conceptual entity—thetypology—is built up. Its interpretation should enable the generation of theory aboutthe relationship between the original concepts and those newly constructed. Thevalidity of the constructed typology is derived not only from the match between theempirical construct and the theoretical concepts which underpin it, but also from thereliability of the results after successive tests with multiple variables and typologyaggregation criteria (López Roldan, 1996).

The analysis consisted of the following steps.

3.1 Selection of active variables and reduction in dimensions

In order to construct the typology, we considered eight active variables, all of whichwere transformed to a nominal or ordinal scale if not measured at this level in the firstplace.5 Selection of active variables came from the theoretical framework previouslydefined.

Socio-demographic variablesSex, age (under 35, 35–49, 50 and over) and education (elementary or lower, middle,higher). These are fundamental variables in any analysis of the composition of unionmembership. We discarded a fourth one, ethnic origin, because of its low incidenceamong the membership of the trade union under study.

Job situationJob category (unskilled, skilled and technical) and seniority (less than three years,three to nine and over nine years).6

Company featuresType of company and sector (public sector, private industry, private skilled services,other services)7 and workforce size (fewer than six workers, 6 to 50 and over 50workers). These two variables, along with job situation, should indicate the member’sposition in the labour market.

Length of membershipLess than three years, three to nine and over nine years.

5 Considering that correspondence analysis is sensitive to the criteria used in coding categories, variationsin their definition were tested and no relevant differences were found in the results of the dimensions inquestion.6 As an indicator of job security, seniority was chosen instead of contract type. There was a high degree ofmatching between both variables (p < 0.000; Cramer’s V value of 0.425) and, given the small number ofmembers with temporary contracts (less than 5 per cent), seniority allows a greater range of heterogeneityto be observed in the population under study.7 The distinction between ‘skilled private services’ (we included insurance and banks, business services,transport and communications), and ‘unskilled services’ (i.e. hotels and catering, retailing, personal servicesand cleaning) was useful in the analysis of membership as it showed relevant differentiated characteristicsof employment.

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With the aim of reducing the active variables in a dimensional space, we appliedfactor analysis to our data. Among the different possible factor analysis techniques,we chose MCA because it allows categorical variables to be processed and trans-formed into a metric field (dimensions) without losing their qualitative nature.

From the variables chosen, MCA was used to extract three dimensions. Overall,these dimensions explain 96.7 per cent of the total variance. As can be seen in theAppendix (A1 and A2), the first dimension is basically chronological. It explains 44.9per cent of the information contained in the eight variables and structures the mem-bership according to age, length of membership and seniority. All these variables arestrongly associated. The second dimension, which explains 34.6 per cent of the vari-ance, reflects in part the type of economic sector and in part the level of skill. At oneextreme, we find the public sector and private sector skilled services, where unionmembers have a higher educational level, include technical staff and there is a preva-lence of women as well as of medium-sized workplaces. At the other extreme, we findthe rest: medium- and low-skilled, manufacturing industry, etc. The third dimensionexplains only 17.2 per cent of the total inertia and shows a clear division betweenunskilled workers, women (to a lesser extent) and employees in ‘other services’ on theone hand, and the rest of the membership on the other.

3.2 Hierarchical clustering

With the dimensions identified in the previous section, we calculated the squaredEuclidean distances between cases as a basis for carrying out a hierarchical conglom-erate analysis in order to classify the individuals into groups, which were internallyhomogeneous and as different as possible from each other. The group aggregationwas based on the Ward method in which a progressive ascending hierarchical clus-tering minimises the loss of inertia. The result was a new, nominal variable withexhaustive and exclusive categories.

The solution that accumulated the greatest internal homogeneity and the greatestdistance between groups was the four-cluster partition. Although one of these clustershad a rather small amount of members in it (n = 42), its exclusion from the analysisdid not affect in any significant way the make-up of the other three groups. Thegroups are identified in the following section and, following chi-squared tests, each ofthem was shown to have a statistically distinctive pattern.

4 RESULTS

The statistical analysis yields four groups whose main traits are the following (seeTable 1).

• Group 1: make up 46.5 per cent of the sample. They are mainly men, with highseniority, employed in private industry, working as machine operators or skilledadministrative staff in medium- to large-sized workplaces. More than half haveonly basic educational qualifications. It is the group with the longest unionmembership. This collection of traits corresponds to those of the traditional baseof the union; we therefore identify this group as traditional-core members.

• Group 2: make up 28.1 per cent of the sample. They are mainly workers with ahigher educational level and the proportion of women is greater than average for

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the trade union. They enjoy high seniority, belong to intermediate age groups andwork as technical staff in public services or private skilled services. Some of thestudies mentioned earlier coincide in identifying this type of worker as a potentialsource of future union membership, outnumbering in time the traditional-coremembers within the union. We have therefore labelled them as emerging-coremembers.

• Group 3: this small group accounts for 5.2 per cent of the sample. They are mostlywomen with elementary or no education, of medium to advanced age, working aslow-skilled or unskilled workers in companies providing unskilled privateservices. Though this group cannot be called peripheral in terms of labour marketsegmentation theories, we have nevertheless opted to call them peripheral unionmembers as we understand them to be that part of the membership in the weakestposition both in the labour market and within the union organisation.

• Group 4: make up 20.3 per cent of the sample. A clear majority of this group ismade up of skilled operators or administrative staff. They are mainly young,male, with low seniority, working in industrial companies or unskilled privateservices in large workplaces. This group, though some of its members are not so

Table 1: Characteristics of union member typologies (distribution in % of the groupfor each level)

Group 1(n = 373)

Group 2(n = 225)

Group 3(n = 42)

Group 4(n = 162)

Total(n = 802)

<35 years of age 2 16 9 78 21.935–49 48 70 31 17 47.0>49 50 14 60 5 31.1Men 83 46 10 73 67.3Women 17 54 90 27 32.7Elementary education 55 3 88 19 34.5Middle-level 35 19 9 55 33.1Higher 11 78 3 26 32.4<3 years’ seniority 3 8 29 28 10.53–9 years 10 18 34 65 24.4>9 years 87 74 37 7 65.2Public sector 20 53 14 4 25.6Private industry 58 7 61 41.6Skilled private services 8 30 3 4 13.1Other private services 14 9 83 31 19.7<6 in workforce 6 13 37 10 9.56–50 24 47 38 28 32.3>50 70 40 26 62 58.2Unskilled 10 90 1 9.7Skilled 72 33 10 90 61.4Technical 18 67 8 29.8Member for 10 years or more 69 28 24 2 41.3Member for 3–9 years 24 52 48 41 36.5Member for less than 3 years 8 20 28 57 22.2

Note: The dominant features of each type are indicated in bold type.

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young, corresponds most to persons in the process of entering the labour market.For this reason we have called them peripheral-in-transition members.

The next step was to test the consistency of these four groups. In order to do this, weexamined some significant features of each group, considering four aspects that shapeemployment relations: employment conditions, work participation, job satisfactionand union activism.

Employment conditions were tested using variables such as employment stability,working hours, pay, training and promotion. Appendix A3 presents the main statis-tical results in this area. The fact that most of the members of the sample have apermanent job contract masks relevant differences in job security or employmentprospects. Traditional-core members are those with the greatest employment stabilityin both their type of contract (Table 2) and their lower job turnover (Table 3).Peripheral-in-transition members are the least stable in terms of employment: 14.9 percent of them are on temporary contracts and just over half of them have worked inthree or more companies in the last 10 years. Peripheral members are closer to thislatter group, whereas emerging-core members show rates of employment stabilitycloser to those of traditional-core members. Peripheral members and above allperipheral-in-transition include a large group of members who have a stable jobcontract, though often obtained in recent years as may be deduced from their lowseniority.

Traditional-core and peripheral members’ working hours tend to be highly concen-trated around 40 per week, whereas emerging-core members usually work less. Thislatter group tends to have fixed working hours; they do less overtime and have more

Table 2: Work contract, according to type of member (in %)

Traditionalcore

(n = 371)

Emergingcore

(n = 220)Peripheral

(n = 41)

Peripheral intransition(n = 161)

Total(n = 793)

Permanent 99.2** 95.9 90.2 85.1** 95.0Temporary 0.8** 4.1 9.8 14.9** 5.0

Note: All the contingency tables are accompanied by an indication of Haberman’s (1973)typified residuals.Based on these, *p � 0.05; **p � 0.01.

Table 3: Number of companies worked in during the last 10 years, according to typeof member (in %)

Traditionalcore

(n = 364)

Emergingcore

(n = 224)Peripheral

(n = 40)

Peripheral intransition(n = 157)

Total(n = 785)

One 87.9** 75.4** 40.0** 11.5** 66.6Two 7.1** 16.5 22.5 38.2** 16.8Three or more 4.9** 8.0** 37.5** 50.3** 16.6

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stable and regular holidays. Only 16 per cent of them state that their working time isirregular; the percentage is almost double for the other three groups. Peripheral-in-transition is the only group where the majority state they do overtime, normally paid.In contrast, over a third of emerging-core members are compensated with neithermoney nor time off for overtime (see Table 4).

With regard to the organisation of holidays, peripheral members depend most onthe unilateral decision of the employer. Traditional-core members more often mentionthe influence of the collective agreement, or state that they reach a personal agreementwith management. The latter procedure is observed in all groups, but is mentionedmost by emerging-core.

As regards pay, peripheral and peripheral-in-transition members show the lowestproportion of personal pay supplements, whereas emerging-core members show thegreatest, almost 70 per cent of the latter receiving them. This group and traditional-core members show the highest proportion receiving seniority pay. Extra pay forovertime or for working at weekends is received by over half of peripheral-in-transition, by fewer peripheral and traditional-core, and by very few emerging-core (seeTable 5).

Training is highly concentrated in the emerging-core group, 86 per cent of whomhave participated in some work-related training course in the last three years, whereasless than 60 per cent of traditional-core and peripheral-in-transition, and less than 30per cent of peripheral members, have done so. Emerging-core members’ higher par-ticipation in training courses explains why this group has higher expectations ofpromotion: over 37 per cent of them compared with none for peripheral members,almost 10 per cent for peripheral-in-transition and 17 per cent of traditional-coremembers (see Table 6).

The more statistically significant variables in relation to work participation areautonomy, participation in working groups and other variables related to regulationof employment conditions (see A4 in the Appendix). Work autonomy is a proxy of theprevailing model of personnel management in the company: it allows the distinctionbetween high-trust and low-trust models of management (Gallie, 1991). In this sense,emerging-core members show a greater degree of autonomy, in clear contrast to theother three groups and particularly to peripheral and peripheral-in-transition (seeTable 7).

Unilateral decision by the company seems to be the dominant procedure regulatingemployment conditions. However, some differences are observed between groups.With regard to working hours, 90 per cent of peripheral and peripheral-in-transitionmembers declared that these are mainly decided by the company. Twenty-six per centof traditional-core members on the other hand attributed a clear regulating function to

Table 4: Total hours worked per week, according to type of member (in %)

Traditionalcore

(n = 368)

Emergingcore

(n = 224)Peripheral

(n = 41)

Peripheral intransition(n = 159)

Total(n = 792)

<39 hours 21.7** 52.2** 36.6 15.1** 29.840 hours 69.0** 39.3** 61.0 69.2** 60.2>40 hours 9.2 8.5 2.4 15.7** 10.0

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Tab

le5:

You

rpa

yin

clud

es..

.(in

%)

Tra

diti

onal

core

Em

ergi

ngco

reP

erip

hera

lP

erip

hera

lin

tran

siti

onT

otal

Fix

edin

divi

dual

supp

lem

ent

(ad

pers

onam

)50

.6(n

=35

6)67

.0**

(n=

218)

40.5

(n=

42)

33.5

**(n

=15

8)51

.2(n

=77

4)

Seni

orit

ypa

y79

.7**

(n=

369)

78.0

**(n

=22

3)50

.0**

(n=

42)

35.0

**(n

=16

0)68

.6(n

=79

4)P

aym

ents

for

over

tim

e,ex

tend

edw

orki

ngho

urs

orw

orki

ngon

Sund

ays

orpu

blic

holid

ays

35.3

(n=

365)

18.7

**(n

=22

5)35

.7(n

=42

)54

.9**

(n=

162)

34.6

(n=

794)

Tab

le6:

Tra

inin

gan

dpr

omot

ion,

acco

rdin

gto

type

ofm

embe

r(i

n%

)

Tra

diti

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dtr

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urse

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the

last

thre

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ars

59.4

**(n

=37

2)85

.8**

(n=

226)

26.8

**(n

=41

)56

.8*

(n=

162)

64.7

(n=

801)

Exp

ecta

tion

sof

prom

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nin

the

com

pany

17.4

(n=

322)

37.2

**(n

=18

0)0.

0**

(n=

39)

9.6*

*(n

=13

5)20

.1(n

=67

6)

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© 2009 The Author(s)Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009

collective bargaining. One out of 10 emerging-core members stated that their workinghours were agreed personally with management, indicating an area of individualisedbargaining. Members of this group are also the most consulted by management aboutmodification of work procedures. This explains their estimation of having significantinfluence over these latter, whereas peripheral members consider their capacity in thisarea to be nil and the other two groups consider it to be low (see Tables 8–10).

The survey permitted the determining of different groups’ job satisfaction in rela-tion to the following aspects: health and safety, training, work pace, treatmentby superiors, pay, hours of work, relationship with fellow workers and withmanagement.8 As shown in Appendix A5, all these variables show significant results,though the Cramer’s V values are moderate. Emerging-core members are thosewho express the greatest job satisfaction in practically all items, followed by

8 In the questionnaire the members had to state whether they were satisfied, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied,or dissatisfied with each of the variables considered.

Table 7: Degree of autonomy at work, according to type of member (in %)

Traditionalcore

(n = 371)

Emergingcore

(n = 223)Peripheral

(n = 42)

Peripheral intransition(n = 162)

Total(n = 798)

Follow strict orders 65.2** 30.0** 92.9** 82.7** 60.4Decide within strict

procedures14.8* 32.3** 7.1 9.9** 18.3

Decide based ongeneral orders

14.6 31.8** 0.0** 6.8** 17.0

High degree ofautonomy

5.4 5.8 0.0** 0.6** 4.3

Table 8: Who establishes the working hours, according to type of member (in %)

Traditionalcore

(n = 369)

Emergingcore

(n = 223)Peripheral

(n = 41)

Peripheral intransition(n = 160)

Total(n = 793)

Company 68.6** 81.6 92.7* 90.0** 77.8Collective bargaining 25.7** 8.1** 2.4* 6.9** 15.8Individual agreement 5.7 10.3** 4.9 3.1 6.4

Table 9: Members who think they will be consulted in cases of modification of workprocedures, according to type of member (in %)

Traditional core(n = 344)

Emerging core(n = 222)

Peripheral(n = 37)

Peripheral intransition (n = 144)

Total(n = 747)

56.1** 87.8** 32.4** 66.0 66.3

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traditional-core members. The level of satisfaction of peripheral-in-transition membersis considerably lower and that of the peripheral group lower still.

With regard to levels of satisfaction, that with the relationship to fellow workers isgenerally very high, that with working hours and the treatment by superiors is lowerand that with pay and the training received from the company is the lowest. However,the responses of the four types of member do not coincide in all cases. The differencebetween the groups is greatest in their satisfaction with training. Practically nil amongthe peripheral group who hardly receive any attention from their companies in thisarea, it is also low for peripheral-in-transition. Furthermore, peripheral members arethe only ones with a low degree of satisfaction regarding pay, though no other groupshows a high level of satisfaction with it (see Table 11).

Finally, Table 12 shows the asymmetry of these profiles in relation to the assump-tion of trade union responsibilities. Traditional-core members are three times morelikely than the peripheral group to assume these responsibilities. Emerging-coremembers, however, are situated in an intermediate position, which allows us tohypothesise that in the future, this group could take on a growing number of functionsand responsibilities within the union organisation, gaining weight in these areas incomparison with traditional-core members.

The associations discussed in this section generally show high levels of explanatorypower, often greater than that offered by each one of the variables used in theconstruction of the typology when taken singly. We can therefore acknowledge thesynthesising capacity of the model we developed.

5 CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION

Our study has allowed us to distinguish four groups among the CCOO-Cataloniatrade union members. The largest group, traditional-core, is made up mainly of men,employed in private industry, in medium- to large-sized workplaces, with high senior-ity, whose main occupations are machine operators and skilled administrative staff. Asecond group of members, emerging-core, is comprised of workers with high educa-tional level, working as technical staff in public services or private skilled servicecompanies. The proportion of women here is higher than average, and seniority is alsorelatively high. A third group, peripheral-in-transition, is composed of young maleworkers with low seniority, working in industrial or private unskilled service compa-nies and large workplaces. They are mainly skilled operators and administrative staff.Although not exactly located in the primary segment of the labour market, thesemembers have some expectations of promotion. Finally, there is a small group of

Table 10: Influence that members will have in case of introduction of new workprocedures, according to type of member (in %)

Traditionalcore

(n = 189)

Emergingcore

(n = 194)Peripheral

(n = 11)

Peripheral intransition(n = 94)

Total(n = 488)

A lot 13.8** 31.4** 0.0 10.6* 19.9A fair amount 46.6 55.2** 9.1* 25.5** 45.1Little or none 39.7 13.4** 90.9** 63.8** 35.0

111Diversity in trade union membership

© 2009 The Author(s)Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009

Tab

le11

:Jo

bsa

tisf

acti

on,a

ccor

ding

toty

peof

mem

ber

(in

%of

mem

bers

ofea

chty

peex

pres

sing

sati

sfac

tion

)

Tra

diti

onal

core

Em

ergi

ngco

reP

erip

hera

lP

erip

hera

lin

tran

siti

onT

otal

Hea

lth

and

safe

tyat

wor

k58

.9*

(n=

372)

54.4

(n=

226)

42.9

(n=

42)

45.7

*(n

=16

2)54

.1(n

=80

2)T

rain

ing

rece

ived

tope

rfor

mth

ew

ork

37.6

(n=

370)

42.2

**(n

=22

5)7.

1**

(n=

42)

23.6

**(n

=16

1)34

.5(n

=79

8)W

ork

pace

50.7

(n=

367)

55.1

*(n

=22

5)33

.3*

(n=

42)

42.9

(n=

163)

49.4

(n=

797)

Tre

atm

ent

bysu

peri

ors

62.1

(n=

369)

64.4

(n=

225)

35.7

**(n

=42

)59

.0(n

=16

1)60

.7(n

=79

7)P

ay35

.9(n

=37

0)40

.7(n

=22

6)11

.9**

(n=

42)

33.5

(n=

161)

35.5

(n=

799)

Hou

rsof

wor

k62

.6(n

=36

9)65

.5**

(n=

226)

43.9

*(n

=41

)50

.6**

(n=

162)

60.0

(n=

798)

Rel

atio

nsw

ith

fello

ww

orke

rs83

.9(n

=36

7)86

.6*

(n=

224)

61.9

**(n

=42

)75

.9*

(n=

162)

81.9

(n=

795)

Rel

atio

nsw

ith

man

agem

ent

46.3

(n=

365)

51.3

*(n

=22

4)39

.0(n

=41

)37

.3*

(n=

161)

45.5

(n=

791)

Tab

le12

:H

ave

orha

veha

dre

spon

sibi

litie

sw

ithi

nth

etr

ade

unio

nor

gani

sati

onor

asun

ion

rep

inth

eco

mpa

ny,a

ccor

ding

toty

peof

mem

ber

(in

%)

Tra

diti

onal

core

(n=

368)

Em

ergi

ngco

re(n

=22

5)P

erip

hera

l(n

=41

)P

erip

hera

lin

tran

siti

on(n

=16

0)T

otal

(n=

794)

37.2

**25

.812

.2*

11.9

**27

.6

112 Ramon Alós et al.

© 2009 The Author(s)Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009

peripheral members, mostly women with elementary or no education and with noexpectations of promotion, working as low-skilled or unskilled workers in companiesproviding unskilled private services.

These types of union membership reflect the transition from the traditional Fordistlabour relationship to the current post-Fordist one. Although it cannot be said thatmembership faithfully reflects the segmentation of the labour market, this latternevertheless impacts to some extent on its make-up. From the analysis we have carriedout, it emerges that two groups, the most numerous ones, can be included in theprimary segments of the labour market: a traditional industrial group and an emergingservice one. The other two groups are closer to the secondary segments of the labourmarket, reflecting the distinctions between low-skilled peripheral workers (with somestability but very poor working conditions) and more skilled peripheral workers(probably in a process of long and uncertain transition to the primary segment).

In the second part of the article, we showed significant differences betweenmembers’ profiles with regard to working conditions, work participation, job satis-faction and union activism. As regards working conditions, our findings qualify theview according to which trade unions only represent insiders with high job security.Other elements, like seniority or job turnover, should be also borne in mind whenconsidering workers’ job security. Certainly, just 5 per cent of CCOO members inCatalonia are temporary workers. A more detailed view, however, reveals that not allthe remaining 95 per cent have the same stability of employment. Some of them havelittle seniority or a work history with high job turnover. This reduces the compensa-tion these workers are entitled to in the case of redundancy, and therefore, their jobsecurity. Moreover, there are clear differences in seniority and job turnover betweenthe four groups of union members identified.

As regards work organisation, emerging-core members profess to have moreautonomy than the other types of member. Unilateral regulation is the norm in workdesign and the regulation of working conditions, but collective bargaining is shown tobe especially important among traditional-core members, while individual agreementswith the company appear among emerging-core members. These latter are the oneswith the highest job satisfaction, especially with regard to the level of trainingreceived.

Trade unionism may therefore not be the main cause of labour segmentation, butit may reinforce it. Differences with regard to employability, employment and jobcontent may increase if, as the results show, the weaker groups have less involvementin trade union action and organisation and it is traditional-core members who, in themain, take on union responsibilities.

Although we observe that membership is heterogeneous, further research is neces-sary in at least three directions. First, after applying MCA to the study of trade unionmembership, we deem this method to be useful and worthy of further consideration.Second, a more thorough study of the relationship between union member profilesand labour market segmentation should be carried out. Up to what point is there acorrespondence between the employment conditions of the different member profilesand those of the segmented labour market? Third, to check the consistency of ourfindings from the analysis of only one case—that of the main trade union in theSpanish and Catalonian context—our methodological approach needs to be repeatedat other moments in time and applied to the study of other trade unions.

In any case, our results indicate that union membership is shifting towards the coreworkers of the new labour market: from traditional to emergent-core workers or, in

113Diversity in trade union membership

© 2009 The Author(s)Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009

other words, from manual industrial workers to non-manual service ones. Unionrecruitment is also extending to peripheral segments of the labour market which have,given their levels of education and qualification, possibilities of job security in thefuture. Just as in the years of Fordism, however, the union has difficulty in recruitingand organising secondary workers, and especially those in an atypical job situation.Given the prevalence of this latter type of worker in a labour market as polarised asthe Spanish one, it is particularly important to continue the search for those organ-isational mechanisms which will enable trade unions to include these new segmentsof the workforce within their ranks.

In these respects the trade union under study shows some interesting features. Anotable trait is the replacement of traditional-core by emerging-core within the unionleadership. According to data from the union’s membership register, its governingbodies are made up of members of whom 41 per cent have higher educational level;this compares with 13 per cent for the union as a whole (Alós et al., 2000). However,the figures for women, young workers and those with atypical job contacts are less.Among elected union officials and workplace reps, only 21 per cent are women and amere 13.5 per cent are under 35 years old. Immigrants, young workers, those withatypical job contracts and women are, in that order, the groups which show mostmembership turnover—of joining and then leaving.

With regard to the implications of our study, we wish to highlight two. The first, atheoretical one, is that the increasing diversity of trade union membership goesbeyond dichotomous divisions—male or female, young and old, blue-collar andwhite-collar—to form multidimensional clusters. Our analysis suggests that the diver-sity within each of these categories (women, youth, workers in the same industrialsector) is greater than that within each cluster. From the moment that the workingconditions and job satisfaction of, for example, a woman doctor have more incommon with those of a male teacher than with those of a cleaning lady, the divisionsof traditional trade union organisation according to sector and occupation, or demo-graphic characteristics such as age and sex, or even political and religious divides,could be becoming less salient than other divisions highlighted here.

The second, more practical, implication which follows on from the first is that,inasmuch as the membership heterogeneity is reflected in these clusters, the tradeunions need to consider how to take these diverse realities on board in terms ofrecruitment and keeping new members, of policy and taking action, of internalrepresentation structures. Without doubt this is today one of the main ongoingdebates within the unions, currently undergoing widespread mergers and reorganisa-tion (Frege and Kelly, 2003; Streeck and Visser, 1998; Waddington, 2007). Ouranalysis leads us to suggest that trade unions should possibly look towards havingmore flexible and varied organisation, combining the traditional industrial andsectorial structures with others which cut across them. This is also important forinternal democracy, for representing these new areas of membership and for decidingon the most suitable demands and strategies. Membership heterogeneity can be apoint of departure for defining different union strategies tailored to diverse situationsand needs within the labour market. While some groups of members put moreemphasis on salary, others express more concern over work autonomy; while for somejob security is not a problem, for others it is and their main concern may be how tobreak out of a cycle of insecure jobs. In this sense, it is a matter of practical researchand political agenda to establish the ways in which these interests, revealed by theprofiles of union membership uncovered here, may be institutionalised and integrated

114 Ramon Alós et al.

© 2009 The Author(s)Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009

in the organisation of the union. It is also a matter of research to establish how thesenew organisational features would fit together with the old, traditional sector federa-tions and territorial unions. The answer to these questions will determine whethertrade unions play a role in reinforcing labour market segmentation, or whether theyare social agents capable of integrating distinct situations and interests into theirstrategies.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the editor’s useful guidance and helpfulcomments on earlier drafts of the article, also other anonymous referees for theiruseful remarks. Furthermore, the authors thank Robin M. White for languageediting.

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APPENDIX

A1. Representation of dimensions 1 and 2

<35yrs

35-49 yrs

>49 yrsMan

Woman

Elementaryed.

Higher ed.

0-3yrs sen.

3-9yrs sen.

Public s.

Priv. ind.

Private skilledserv.

Otherserv.

<6 wkrs.

6-50wkrs.

>50 wkrs.

Skilled

<3yrs in TU

3-9yrs in TU

>9 yrs in TU

TRADITIONALCORE

PERIPHERAL IN TRANSITION

>9 yrs sen.

Mediumed.

Tech.

Dimension 1.

Dimension 2.

PERIPHERAL

Unskilled

EMERGINGCORE

118 Ramon Alós et al.

© 2009 The Author(s)Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009

A2. Representation of dimensions 1 and 3

>35yrs

35-49 yrs

>49 yrs

Man

WomanElementaryed.

Mediumed.

Higher ed.

0-3yrs sen.

3-9yrs sen.

Public s.

Priv. ind.

Private skilledserv.

Otherserv.

<6 wkrs

6-50wkrs.

>5 wkrs.

Unskilled

SkilledTech.

0-3yrs in TU

3-9yrs in TU

>9 yrs in TUEMERGING

CORE

PERIPHERAL IN TRANSITION

>9 yrs sen.

PERIPHERAL

Dimension 1.

Dimension 3.

TRADITIONALCORE

NB: The representation of categories and groups within the dimensions is approxi-mate in order to facilitate visual clarity.

119Diversity in trade union membership

© 2009 The Author(s)Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009

A3. Cramer’s V values of variables referring to working conditions

Variables referring to employment stability:No. of companies worked in during the last 10 years (one / two / three

or more)0.455***

Type of contract (permanent / temporary) 0.248***Variables referring to working time:Hours worked last week, including overtime (<40 / 40 / >40 hours) 0.238***Flexible time of starting and stopping work (yes / no) 0.110**Type of working hours (fixed / irregular) 0.150***Do overtime (yes / no) 0.195***Compensation for overtime (none / money / time off / time and money) 0.162***Organisation of holidays (same period every year / fixed part and

variable part / varies every year / other)0.107***

Variables referring to pay: the pay includes . . .A fixed personal supplement (yes / no) 0.237***Seniority payments (yes / no) 0.390***Payments for overtime, extended working time or working on Sundays

and public holidays (yes / no)0.263***

Variables referring to training and promotion:Participation in a work-related training course in the last three years

(yes / no)0.314***

Expectations of promotion in the company (no / not interested / yes /don’t know)

0.164***

A4. Cramer’s V values of variables referring to work organisation and participation

Variables referring to work organisation:Autonomy at work (follow strict orders / decide based on strict

procedures / decide based on general orders / wide autonomy)0.249***

Take part in teamwork (yes / no) 0.237***Variables referring to participation in and decisions about working conditions:Who establishes working hours (employer / collective bargaining /

individual agreement)0.197***

Who decides on compensation for overtime (employer / collectivebargaining / individual agreement)

0.206***

Who decides the assignation of holidays (employer / collectivebargaining / individual agreement)

0.155***

Think they will be consulted in case of modification of work procedures(yes / no)

0.329***

Influence on new work procedures (a lot / a fair amount / little or none) 0.316***Who decides on participation in training courses (employer / collective

bargaining / individual agreement)0.157***

Who decides on promotion (employer / collective bargaining) 0.196**How the company informs (directly / indirectly / both / it does not

inform)0.151***

How pay is set (collective agreement / company agreement / employerdecision / individual agreement)

0.086**

120 Ramon Alós et al.

© 2009 The Author(s)Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009

A5. Cramer’s V values of variables referring to satisfaction in relation to . . .

Health and safety at work 0.102**Work-related training 0.194***Work pace 0.103***Treatment by superiors 0.109***Pay 0.111***Working time 0.103***Relations with fellow workers 0.115***Relations with management 0.096**

A6. Cramer’s V values of variables referring to union involvement

Have or have had trade union responsibilities 0.230**

Note: *p � 0.10; **p � 0.05; ***p � 0.01 for chi-square test.

121Diversity in trade union membership

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