Unions making a comeback

After decades of union membership decline, numbers are now rising.

In 2018, union membership reached more than 374,000 members, the highest figure since 2010.

Since then numbers have continued to rise. Last year there were 393,406 union members or 17% of the overall work force.

Massey University management lecturer, and Healthy Work Group co-director, Zoe Port said numbers rose in part because the younger generation was taking a keen interest in workers’ rights.

While many young people grew up in a country without strong unions, global events such as the unionisation of Amazon and Starbucks workers had shown the importance of collective action, she said.

‘‘There is a perfect storm brewing for unions to gain ground. Covid brought essential work to the forefront, it caused people to consider what they were willing to sacrifice for their jobs, and now the cost of living crisis. All of this drives people towards collectivisation.’’

Into this environment entered fair pay agreements (FPAs), which would offer unions further opportunity to build, Port said.

‘‘For many people the fair pay agreements will be the first time they have interacted with a union. If unions play their cards right, there is real potential for growth.’’

FPAs would change employment law by setting minimum standards between workers and employers across an entire industry, whether there is a union or not.

Employers and Manufacturers Association manager of employment relations Paul Jarvie said businesses were concerned about rising union action, given costs were steadily increasing and not looking like they would reduce any time soon.

‘‘Wages come out of either profits, savings or debt. If you are paying wages out of the last two that is not a long-term plan.

‘‘It really is tough and there is some apprehension out there.’’

As 97% of employers ran businesses of 20 employees or fewer, many would not be in a position to increase wages in the current environment, he said.

Auckland University of Technology human resource management professor Jarrod Haar said conditions favouring unions would not last, because the global economic slowdown causing job losses in the US would eventually reach New Zealand.

By the middle of next year, union representation would prove its worth in an environment where businesses were cutting jobs.