Union membership running at only 5%

Trade union membership is lower in hotels and restaurants than in any other industry, according to a new survey.

The September issue of the Labour Market Trends survey, published by National Statistics, shows only 5% of hotel and restaurant workers belong to a union. The highest union representation is in the public administration sector, where the figure is 59%.

Dave Turnbull, London regional organiser at the Transport and General Workers' Union, was not surprised by the findings. He said: "The basic problem is hostility by employers towards the idea of trade unions.

"A lot of people we talk to in the industry are frightened to belong to trade unions because they are afraid of being victimised by employers with prejudices."

Martin Couchman, deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, disagreed. He said only 5% of hospitality workers belonged to unions because of the nature of the industry.

"Finding employees committed to a career in hospitality is a proven difficulty for the industry, which leaves much of its workforce as casual employees such as students, which unions just aren't interested in," he said.

Trade union membership in the UK rose across all industries by 46,000 to 7.9 million in the year to March.

Despite the rise, the proportion of employees in a union decreased slightly to 29.4%, from 29.5% the previous year. This was because the number of employees rose faster than the number of union members.

by Louise Bozec