ABSTRACT
Trade unions across the developed world face a crisis of membership, especially among the young. If unions are to recover their strength, they need to dramatically alter their membership profile to include more young workers. To meet this objective, trade unions in a number of countries have begun targeting university students as potential members. The study conducted for this chapter explores the factors that influence university students’ attitudes towards union membership. Specifically, it examines two questions: First, do experiences of union membership during student employment affect students’ intention to join a trade union following graduation? Second, does the duration, intensity and quality of student employment affect university students’ intention to join a trade union following graduation? The focus is on university students because across the developed world combining part-time employment with university study is now commonplace. Further, university students are a growing component of the youth workforce.
