Around 193,000 new members: The service union ver.di saw a significant increase in members in 2023. However, ver.di boss Werneke does not see this as a long-term trend.
The service union ver.di says it has had “the most successful year to date” since it was founded in 2001. Around 193,000 new members joined ver.di in 2023, said ver.di boss Frank Werneke in Berlin. 152,000 would have had to be deleted from the members’ database – 118,000 because of resignation, otherwise because of death or switching to other unions or dismissals due to lack of contributions.
The number of members rose by 2.16 percent to almost 1.9 million. Ver.di is the second largest union in Germany behind IG Metall. Regionally, the percentage increase was particularly large in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia at 3.23 percent. Among those under 27, there was even an increase of 15.8 percent.
Major collective bargaining rounds in 2023 are crucial
“The last time there was a comparably positive membership development was in the mid-1980s,” said Werneke. The large and, from Ver.di’s point of view, successful collective bargaining rounds played a decisive role, for example at Deutsche Post, in the federal and local public services or at the states. “The economic situation and the growing shortage of skilled workers and workers are ensuring that people are increasingly giving up their reluctance and are ready to stand up for their demands,” said the union leader.
However, Werneke admitted that this is not a long-term trend reversal towards increasing membership numbers. Many ver.di members belonged to the baby boomer generation before retirement, while others repeatedly resigned when changing employers. By 2016, ver.di had over 2 million members.