Job Insecurity, Temporary Work and Trade Union Membership in Finland 1977-2003

Abstract

This chapter analyses the relations between perceived job insecurity, temporary work and trade union membership with representative data on Finnish employees in 1977, 1984, 1990, 1997 and 2003. It examines whether perceived job insecurity and temporary work increase or decrease trade union membership, and what possible interaction effect they have on unionisation. The chapter also examines the extent and antecedents of trade union membership. It investigates to what extent temporary work and perceived job insecurity predict the unionisation rate with the other antecedents, by using a logistic regression analysis. Perceived job insecurity was studied as the threat of losing one's job by some items in the working conditions surveys. The chapter explores the extent of perceived job insecurity both at the macro (societal) level and at the micro (individual) level. The prevalence of job insecurity at the macro level in connection with the unemployment rate between 1977 and 2003 is illustrated.