Why do workers leave unions? Group differences between workers in CCOO-Catalonia

Abstract

This study analyses the characteristics of members leaving trade unions in Spainspecifically the Catalonia branch of Workers' Commissions (CCOO-Catalonia) -alongside their reasons for leaving using a variety of data sources. Our findings indicate higher union attrition among members in more precarious employment situations (i.e. temporary employment, low seniority). In general, union leavers confirm that their job situation is an important reason for leaving the union. We therefore conclude that efforts made by unions to support members in vulnerable labor market positions are important in order to reduce rates of union attrition.

La dinámica afiliativa sindical y las trayectorias de sus miembros

“…De forma resumida, distinguimos las trayectorias sindicales de unos trabajadoresafiliados-centrales, que constituyen el núcleo amplio de los miembros del sindicato; Hyman (2004) señala que, en sus filas, están los miembros que adquieren compromisos organizativos y de representación en los centros de trabajo; o sea, una afiliación estable en el tiempo, que se da de baja cuando alcanza la jubilación (Labbé y Croisat, 1992), también por reducciones de plantilla o cierre de empresa y, asimismo, por desacuerdo o insatisfacción con la política sindical. Frente a ellas se contraponen las trayectorias sindicales de los trabajadores periféricos que constituyen un segmento menor en términos cuantitativos en el conjunto afiliativo, y que no suelen adquirir compromisos, en su breve permanencia, dándose de baja por finalización de contrato, cambio de empresa, paro, o bien por no necesitar el servicio sindical que les impulsó a darse de alta (ver: Visser 2002, Lévesque et al, 2005Waddington, 2006;Jódar et al, 2011b); su tasa de afiliación es más reducida en contraste con la proporción de los miembros centrales.…”

Explaining leaving union membership by the degree of labour market attachment: Exploring the case of Germany

“…This demonstrates that 'workers who … have a smaller probability to join unions tend to coincide with those that have a higher probability to leave them once being members' (Vaona, 2010(Vaona, : 1093. Contrary to the Dutch findings, however, in the Catalonia branch of the Workers' Commissions (CCOO) most of the above-mentioned personal characteristics are associated with a high membership growth (Jódar et al, 2011). This finding might reflect differing recruitment strategies between Dutch and Spanish unions, with the latter being more focused on recruiting immigrant workers (Marino, 2012;Martínez Lucio, 2013).…”

Membership duration in a Spanish union: A survival analysis

“…The union should make an initial contact with its members before a pending due appears or before the self-arrangement of individual counseling appointments by members. Early contacts are even more important in small work centers with no union representatives, where peripheral worker members are employed, boasting low levels of activism (Jódar et al, 2011b) and high levels of union attrition (Jódar et al, 2011c). The implantation of transversal union delegates to deal with matters of work centers without union representatives, but with union members, can make the union visible and more accessible to their members.…”

“…On average, we find that after 12 months more than 10% of the membership left the union. The result suggests that there is a high turnover among recent joiners, most probably due to the change in the job situation or after the use of union services (Jódar et al, 2011b). The rest of the descriptive results are presented graphically as survival curves (i.e., survival probabilities in the y-axis over all observed duration intervals on the x-axis) by different categories.…”