The Union of the Future and the Future of Unions

Reports the results of a repeat survey on the financial performance and management of TUC affiliated unions. Data are available for 1989 and 1993, covering income, expenditure, the management of investments and wealth. Unions remain in a precarious financial position, dependent on subscription revenue and, moreover, on the threatened check‐off mechanism to deliver it. The management of expenditure remains a critical issue, since the net worth of many unions remains small. Financial management is becoming more important and more sophisticated. Unions continue to centralize resource management, but many of these changes remain constrained by the political nature of financial management within voluntary organizations.