| dc.description.abstract | This study is concerned with the observation of the factors that contribute to the growth
of Trade Unions in both Kenya and Japan. Initially it was observed that the trade unions
have been declining in terms of membership in both countries. A study of the contributing factors was identified as a way of giving an insight into the problem. The factors that were given attention were the economic factors and the changing patterns of the labour force. The initial concern was to observe the intensity of the changes in the labour force composition. This was then used to establish whether the changes in the patterns are corresponding to the decline of the trade union movement. The patterns to be observed in the labour force were the growth rates of unemployment, patterns of employment by sex, the growth of casual employment (proportional to the decline of the regular employment) and the growth of employment in the private sector. »: The literature review identified each of the above factors as having some important influence on the trade union movement. Unemployment for instance was argued to posses the capacity to drain the trade unions of their political influence. Employment of
women affect the growth of trade unions in that not many women get involved in the trade union politics and hence as the proportion of women in the labour force increase and as that of men decreases, trade unions lose members. Likewise, not many casual or part-time employees join trade unions. Therefore the replacement of permanent employees by casual ones is likely to affect the trade union membership. The data collected verified that really there have been changes in the patterns of the labour force. The proportional of women in the labour force has grown considerably. In Kenya for instance, between 1984 and 2000 only, the labour
force grew from 19.7% to 27.5%. In Japan by the year 2000, women formed 41% of the people in wage employment. Similar patterns were observed in the casual employment and the private sector employment. It was concluded that the traditional patterns of employment were quickly being replaced by new interventions in the labour force. Men for instance, are no longer the dominating figure in the labour force.
A statistical analysis was then conducted to measure the relationship between the factors
mentioned and the rate of growth of the trade unions. The methods used were mainly
quantitative. It was observed that economic trends have effect on the trade union
membership only if the economy is not stable and does not form a source of security to
the workers by itself or when it has a sharp and unexpected growth or decrease in which
case the effect is positively proportional to the trade union movement. When the
economy is stable and well developed, it has a little or no relationship to the trade union
movement. In Kenya, there was a strong correlation coefficient between economic trends
and the trade union membership. This variable was however rejected by stepwise
regression as a predictor of the trade union movement. In Japan, it was rejected at both
the correlation and stepwise regression level. Others to be rejected were private sector
employment and casual employment. The variables that carried significant relationship
with the trade union movement were male employment, regular employment and public
sector employment in Kenya, and unemployment in Japan. Unemployment and female
employment in Japan had a converse relationship.
Finally, it was recommended that trade unions policy makers should be observative
enough to identify the various needs that new comers bring with them and then
incorporate these needs into their organizations so as to be able to increase their
membership. For instance, the incorporation of childcare, equal pay and home
management in their campaigns may attract more women in to the trade unions. | en |
