Trade Union Availability and Trade Union Membership in Britain*

The determinants of union availability and union membership are jointly estimated in a bivariate probit model, in which union availability at the workplace is regarded as a condition for the membership decision of an employee. A notable result concerns the impact of gender: being female significantly reduces the probability of having a recognized union to join, but has an insignificant impact on the likelihood of becoming a member when a union is available at work. The paper concludes also that the structural characteristics of jobs remain very important in the determination of union numbers.