Union members earn more money
It’s a fact. Union members earn higher wages than non-union workers.
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that in August 2014 the median weekly earnings for persons who were trade union members was $1,200 compared to $960 for employed persons who were not represented by unions.
But the number of persons belonging to a union fell to 1.6 million. The union membership rate has steadily declined from 40% to 15% from August 1992 to August 2014 (43% to 14% for males and 35% to 16% for females).
The fact that the vast majority of workers are not unionised means that they make less money than they could and that money goes to relatively rich company executives rather than the many poorer workers.
While union density is better in Australia Post the fact is there are non-union members even in Post. This means that Post is able to tilt the table so more dollars in lifetime earnings spills into its pocket. If you want to change that then talk to your work mates about joining the CWU.
The industries with the most union members include health, education, public safety, retail, construction, manufacturing, transport and warehousing according to the ABS.
Other interesting facts about union membership include:
- 51% were males;
- 91% had paid leave entitlements;
- 39% of public sector workers were union members, compared to only 10% of private sector workers;
- 94% of 15–19 year olds have never been a union member; and
- 23% of employed persons aged 55–59 years are currently union members and of those 85% have been for over five years.
