ABSTRACT
What is common knowledge regarding union membership? A quick read of several elementary textbooks indicates not only a declining U.S. union mem bership since the 1950s, but also diminishing union membership in the United Kingdom (UK) beginning in the late 1970s.1 However, these trends in Ameri can and British unionism were not necessarily typical worldwide.2 As shall be illustrated very shortly, although the rate of union membership was dete riorating in a number of countries, such as Canada, France, Spain, Chile, and Kenya, it was increasing in Norway and Sweden, as well as a number of developing countries (e.g., Mexico, Korea, and Taiwan). So not all coun tries mirror the U.S. and UK decline in union membership.3
