§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many members of trades unions currently there are; what percentage of the total employed population this represents; and what were the figures five years previously.
§ Mr. GummerThe latest available figures show that at the end of 1981 total trade union membership was 12,182,247, which was 56.93 per cent. of the total employed population of 21,398,000. For the five years previous to this the figures are:
Total trade* union membership (000s) Total employed population (000s) Percentage 1976 12,386 22,641 54.71 1977 12,846 22,702 56.58 1978 13,112 23,055 56.87 1979 13,447 23,154 58.08 1980 12,947 22,263 58.15 * Figures from the Department of Employment Gazette January 1983.