ABOUT a third of UK workers are in a union.

According to a report by the Trade Unions Congress (TUC), based on Government figures, 30 per cent of workers are union members.

In the North-East, 39 per cent of employees are union members, the second highest regional total in the UK.

The figures show that the proportion of women in the workforce who are union members has grown.

The report says professional employees, such as teachers, doctors, scientists and engineers are most likely to be union members. Half of all professional employees are in a union, compared to just ten per cent in sales-related jobs.

The figures were released on the day that a TUC conference was being held on Tyneside.

The conference, in Newcastle, focused on the problems facing women, black workers and workers with disabilities in trying to gain access to education, learning and skills.

The conference was the launch pad for the TUC's report Tackling Barriers to Skills and Learning.

Some of its finding were:

l Women in the North-East are seven per cent less likely to engage in workplace learning than their counterparts in other parts of the UK

l Workers from ethnic minorities in the region are more likely to have no qualifications at all (26 per cent)

Paul Nowak, regional secretary for the Northern TUC, said: "Utilising the talents and potential of all our people, in all our communities, is a basic prerequisite for the economic and social regeneration of the North-East."