Trade union members and strikes, 2000

Of the main associations, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), the Confederation of Vocational Unions (YS) and the Federation of Norwegian Professional Organizations (AF) saw a decline in membership from the year before. LO had around 813 000 members at the end of 2000, a decline of around 15 000. YS and AF had a somewhat smaller decline in membership, with around 1 600 fewer members for both organizations compared with the year before. On the other hand, Academics increased their membership by around 8 300, or just over 7 per cent. Independent national unions had 190 000 members, an increase of 8 000 in the same period.

The four large main associations organized around 87 per cent of the members of nation-wide associations for wage earners against 88 per cent in 1999 and 91 per cent in 1998.

Employers' associations

Of the employers' associations, the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry organized 15 612 member companies with 422 300 employees in 2000. This is a slight decrease on last year. The Federation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises (HSH) increased the number of member enterprises from 9 523 in 1999 to 9 600 in 2000, while the number of employees in member enterprises remained stable at around 150 000.

About the statistical basis

The statistics cover employers' and nation-wide associations for wage earners that assist their members in wage agreements and wage negotiations and the main associations to which the individual organizations belong. Organizations that limit their activities to questions of a purely professional nature are not included in the statistics. The number of members of nation-wide associations for wage earners includes all registered members and includes nonworking students, pensioners etc. The statistics cover the number of members at 31 December 2000.

Tables:

• Table 1 Central organizations and other nationwide associations for wage earners. Members per 31 December
• Table 2 Employers' associations. Establishments and persons employed per 31 December