§ Mr. Stanleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the size of the male and female force in the United Kingdom including those at present unemployed; and approximately how many of the work force are members of independent trade unions as defined in the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974.
§ Mr. John FraserAt March 1974 the estimated numbers of employees, employed and unemployed, in the United Kingdom were 14,080,000 males and 9,163,000 females. The figures are provisional.
It is not possible to give figures of members of independent trade unions as defined in the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 until these have been certified as independent trade unions by the certification officer whose appointment is proposed in Clause 7 of the Employment Protection Bill now before Parliament.
The latest available information about the total membership of organisations of workers was published in the November 1974 issue of the Department of Employment Gazette. At the end of 1973 the total membership was about 11,429,000. These figures relate to all organisations of workers which are known to include in their objects that of negotiating with employers with a view to regulating the wages and working conditions of their members and cover all such organisations known to the Department to have their head offices situated in the United Kingdom.