The latest Government survey of union membership which has been issued since 1892 shows an increase of 192,000 in 2025 to 6.6m. Its a welcome if modest move in the right direction with the hope that the Employment Relations Act, despite some issues, will allow unions to organise to get more members.
This doesnt happen by magic. It requires sustained grassroots work by union members and activists to promote union membership and recruit their colleagues.
Interestingly in an area which has long been a concern union membership in the private sector increased by 76,000.
While the overall increase saw more men than women join a union last year in fact there are 3.7m women in membership compared to 2.9m men. Trade unionists and their wives anyone?
Of course union membership is a basic if important statistic. It depends on what benefits it brings in terms of improvements in wages and conditions and actually, despite what Reform and the Tories think, how much it improves workplace relations.
That said there remain bad employers and the more union members there are, the more effective industrial action will be to counter poor workplace practices.
Trade union membership, UK, 1995 to 2025: statistical bulletin – GOV.UK
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