Trade Union Membership Policy : the Key to Stronger Social Partnership

Abstract

The organising power of trade unions is the key to the future of social partnership. However, for several decades the organising power of German trade unions has been characterised by an eroding membership base, a fragmented membership structure and an enforcement crisis in collective bargaining policy. The article analyses the membership development in the unions of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and argues for a strategic approach to membership policy. 1