Is France characterised by a particularly low trade union membership rate compared with other European countries? This is what the comparative literature on trade unions suggests. In this paper, we challenge this notion and trace a different history of the evolution of trade union membership rates in France. Indeed, current estimates are based on a double extrapolation using membership fee data from the two main trade unions – the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) and the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) – and the results of workplace elections. Drawing on surveys representative of the French population, notably opinion polls and international surveys, we estimate that the trade union membership rate was underestimated until the late 1970s.
Recounting union members
This paper presents a new historical time series on the trade union membership rate among employees in France, based on representative polls and surveys of the French population covering the period 1970 to 2018, as well as a back-calculation for the years 1949 to 1968.
Reference IPP Policy Brief No. 78
Presentation
Key Results
- According to representative surveys, in the 1970s the unionisation rate was reportedly not 20 per cent, but almost 40 per cent – a level similar to that of our European neighbours.
- Our data series is consistent with official estimates from the 1990s onwards. This means that the extent of de-unionisation in the 1980s was also significantly underestimated.
- We also provide an estimate of the unionisation rate between 1949 and 1969. Here too, our estimates are higher than those currently published.
Method and Data
Supplementary material: data from the graphs
Cyprien Batut
Ulysse Lojkine
Paolo Santini