Unrepresentativeness of trade unions

Under agreements between employers and business agents of unions, one union may be recognized by the employers as representing the interests of all wage earners, whether union or non-union. The unionized worker already has the problem that his union may only be responsive to its national headquarters and to dealing with the employer directly, having little consultation with the local union members. The non-union member may be considered spoken-for by the recognized union, but has no possibility of voting in union decisions. Large numbers of non-union members may not be allowed to constitute themselves into a collective bargaining body. This lack of voice for non-union workers, clericals, or professionals is a cause of unnecessary strife between management and employees.

In the UK in 1994, only 21 percent of part-time workers were in unions compared with 37 percent of full-timers, while the proportion of women workers in unions fell in 1993 to 30 percent.