In London today for an event to launch the first findings from WERS.

Headlines for unions were that although the percentage of all workplaces with recognised unions fell since 1998, this decline was restricted to the smallest workplaces (those with less than 25 employees). In larger workplaces the rate of recognition has leveled off after having fallen continually throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

With half of all employees covered by union recognition, there is clearly lots of scope for unions to grow just by mopping up non-members in 'organised' workplaces. Evidence for this can be found in an article in today's Guardian, which reports that the TGWU has organised 14,000 new workers, mainly on the back of its 100% campaign to prioritise 'in-fill recruitment'.

Union officers and activists interested in finding out more about WERS can attend a TUC event being held on 26 July. I'm one of the speakers but please don't let that put you off!