Flexible working practices and the trade unions

This article examines the problems that the expansion and spread of flexible working patterns have created for the trade unions. Drawing evidence from across Europe, but focusing on the UK, it is argued that the decline in unionism has a number of antecedents, of which an important factor is the change in the way people are employed. A number of examples of flexible working are examined and the implications of each for union membership and influence are outlined. The paper ends by exploring what the UK unions are doing, and could be doing, to address these issues.