Union Membership
I double checked the figures I used recently calculate the level of union membership in Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board (GGCHB) and, as I suspected at the time, it turns out I was being more than a little generous.
Because according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK's population at the end of March 2014 stood at 64.1 million while the latest figures for Scotland from the NRS (National Records for Scotland) show a total of 5.328 million.
So this means that Scotland's share of the UK population is 8.31% rather than 10% which I assumed for the purpose of calculating the Scottish RCN membership from a total of 410,000 members across the whole of the UK.
Which means than instead of 41,000 RCN members in Scotland the true figure is likely to be around 8.31% of 410,000 or 34,071 instead of 41,000, as per my original calculation.
In turn, 23% of 34,071 equals 7,836 as an adjusted figure for RCN members in GGCHB and adding this to the number of union members who pay their fees by check-off (13,770) gives an overall total of 21,606 union members in GGHB.
Following the same pattern as before 39,300 employees divided by 21,606 union members = 55% of the core workforce (39,300) or 41% of the total GGCHB workforce (52,482) which includes bank staff.
Now that really is a big surprise because it confirms that trade union membership in GGCHB stands a lot less than 50% of the total workforce.
Union Membership (16 October 2014)
I had a look at the RCN's (Royal College of Nursing) web site the other day for some information about the union's membership figures and here's what the RCN had to say.
Get a huge range of benefits when you join the RCN, including protection and support in the workplace, professional development and the opportunity to shape future health care.
Join the RCN today and become part of the UK's largest nursing union.
What we do
The RCN is the UK's largest union and professional body for nursing. We currently have over 410,000 members who are nurses, midwives, health care support workers and students from across a range of sectors and nursing disciplines.
We represent nurses and nursing and we lobby government and other professional bodies to make sure our views are heard where it counts. Your experiences will help to shape the development of future nursing policy both in the UK and internationally.
So, if the RCN has 410,000 members at UK level, I think it's fair to put their numbers in Scotland at around 41,000 which I'm sure is on the generous side.
Now the GGCHB (Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board) says that its provides health care services to over 1.2 million Scots or around 23% of Scotland's 5.32 million population as recorded by the National Records of Scotland in 2013.
23% of 41,000 = 9,430 and in my view represents a generous estimate of the RCN's membership in GGCHB and adding this figure to the number of union members who pay their fees by check-off (13770) gives a grand total of 23,200 union members in GGCHB.
In turn 39,300 employees divided by 23,200 union members = 59% of the core workforce (39,300) or 44% of the total GGCHB workforce (52,482) which includes bank staff.
Now that's a real surprise because it suggests that trade union membership in GGCHB stands at only 50% or so of the total workforce.
I sent an FoI request a little while back to Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board (GGCHB) about the number of trade union members who pay their membership fees by 'check-off' or Deduction at Source.
Now the reply that came back was very interesting, but before going on to look at some of these issues in more detail here are the original FoI enquiries and subsequent answers from GGCHB.
1. Please confirm the total number of employees employed by GGCHB?
NHSGGC employs 39,300 core staff. However we also employ ‘bank’ staff in nursing, admin and other staff groups. These staff may work on an ad hoc basis, or as and when required. Some bank staff may choose not to work for periods of time yet will still be registered on the staff bank. The total number of staff on the payroll including all bank staff is therefore 52,482.
2. Please confirm the total number of employees who pay union contributions through the 'check-off' system which is also known as 'Deduction at Source' (DAS)?
13770
3. Please confirm the total number of employees who use DAS to pay their union contributions to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN)?
NONE
4. Please confirm the total number of employees who use DAS to pay their union contributions to Unison?
11335
The first thing that struck me is that the level or 'density' of union membership looks to be much less than I expected because Unison, which always claims to be the largest union in the NHS, has only 11,335 members out of a total workforce of 39,300 or 52,482 if you count all bank staff.
So to put this in percentage terms Unison represents 29% of core staff in GGCHB or 22% of all staff including bank staff.
Now it could be that some of the bank staff pay just one union contribution as a member of core staff, but even so it probably means that Unison represents only around 25% or so of the GGCHB workforce.
The RCN have traditionally operated a direct debit system of collecting membership fees which explains why this 'nurses only' union (Royal College of Nursing) doesn't seem to use the check-off facilities in GGCHB.
But even if the RCN had the same number of members as Unison (which is a big 'if', if you ask me), then this would still leave an awful lot of NHS workers not being a member of any trade union at all.
Because the majority of NHS workers pay their union fees via DAS or checkoff and those 13,770 employees represent 35% of the core workforce or 26% of the total workforce including bank staff.
All of which suggest that the levels of union membership (across all the trade unions) must struggle to get much beyond 50% which comes as a real surprise to me, I have to say.
So I must go back to GGCHB with some follow up questions.
In turn 39,300 employees divided by 23,200 union members = 59% of the core workforce (39,300) or 44% of the total GGCHB workforce (52,482) which includes bank staff.
Now that's a real surprise because it suggests that trade union membership in GGCHB stands at only 50% or so of the total workforce.
Surprising Result (6 October 2014)
I sent an FoI request a little while back to Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board (GGCHB) about the number of trade union members who pay their membership fees by 'check-off' or Deduction at Source.
Now the reply that came back was very interesting, but before going on to look at some of these issues in more detail here are the original FoI enquiries and subsequent answers from GGCHB.
1. Please confirm the total number of employees employed by GGCHB?
NHSGGC employs 39,300 core staff. However we also employ ‘bank’ staff in nursing, admin and other staff groups. These staff may work on an ad hoc basis, or as and when required. Some bank staff may choose not to work for periods of time yet will still be registered on the staff bank. The total number of staff on the payroll including all bank staff is therefore 52,482.
2. Please confirm the total number of employees who pay union contributions through the 'check-off' system which is also known as 'Deduction at Source' (DAS)?
13770
3. Please confirm the total number of employees who use DAS to pay their union contributions to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN)?
NONE
4. Please confirm the total number of employees who use DAS to pay their union contributions to Unison?
11335
The first thing that struck me is that the level or 'density' of union membership looks to be much less than I expected because Unison, which always claims to be the largest union in the NHS, has only 11,335 members out of a total workforce of 39,300 or 52,482 if you count all bank staff.
So to put this in percentage terms Unison represents 29% of core staff in GGCHB or 22% of all staff including bank staff.
Now it could be that some of the bank staff pay just one union contribution as a member of core staff, but even so it probably means that Unison represents only around 25% or so of the GGCHB workforce.
The RCN have traditionally operated a direct debit system of collecting membership fees which explains why this 'nurses only' union (Royal College of Nursing) doesn't seem to use the check-off facilities in GGCHB.
But even if the RCN had the same number of members as Unison (which is a big 'if', if you ask me), then this would still leave an awful lot of NHS workers not being a member of any trade union at all.
Because the majority of NHS workers pay their union fees via DAS or checkoff and those 13,770 employees represent 35% of the core workforce or 26% of the total workforce including bank staff.
All of which suggest that the levels of union membership (across all the trade unions) must struggle to get much beyond 50% which comes as a real surprise to me, I have to say.
So I must go back to GGCHB with some follow up questions.
