◆ Can UK trades unions still influence workers’ wage rates?

The BBC reported that over two million public sector workers joined the national strike in November 2011 to protest against changes to pension benefits as part of government expenditure cuts. A similar strike took place at Unilever over the decision to end final-salary pension schemes. The government made concessions to the public sector workers as a result of the strike, suggesting that union power is not dead yet.

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Data Union membership 2000 2011 2015 Total (millions) 6.8 6.2 6.5 % in private sector 18.5 14.0 13.9 % in public sector 60.3 56.5 54.8 Union wage premium Private sector (%) 5.6 8.0 7.7 Public sector (%) 26.5 18.0 16.1