The article is part of a larger study concerning unions in the OECD countries. Its main subject is the process of deunionization taking place in these countries, the most visible symptom of a union crisis. The study focuses on the evolution of unionization rates in the above-mentioned countries. Generally speaking, the seventies were very favourable to unions. During the following decade, however, there has been a decrease in the ratio and absolute number of unionized workers in most countries. Roughly, three union situations could be observed in these countries: (a) countries with strong unions, those with unionization rates over 50% and where the union losses were relatively small or non-existent, as in the Scandinavian countries; (b) countries with average levels of unionization, those with more than 30% and less that 50% of unionized workers, as Great-Britain, Italy and Germany, where the losses were relatively important, but the unions still kept a certain strength; and (c) countries with low unionization rates, less than 30%, such as Japan, United States, France, and the Netherlands. Unions in France and in the United States, where the process of deunionization started earlier, suffered the largest losses. In all countries, the private sector unions were more deeply affected than the public sector ones.
Unionism; Unionization rates; Deunionization; Unionism crisis; Unionization in the USA and countries of OECD