bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Trade Union Tutors and their Students
Authors: Bright David , MacDermott Terry
Published: March 2008

There has been a steady growth in courses for shop stewards in the United Kingdom in the last decade, much of which is a direct consequence of the increased involvement of the TUC. This growth has been paralleled by two other developments, the first of which is the position of skills training as a central element in union education, while the second is the emergence of a group of tutors who are employed to teach almost exclusively on courses for shop stewards and other representatives.
Developing Consultation: Some Managerial Implications of the Health and Safety at Work Act
Authors: Gibson Martin , Kidd Jim
Published: March 2008

Whilst there are potential benefits to be gained from the consultative approach to the management of health and safety at work required by recent legislation, the actual implementation of such consultation is not without its problems. In particular the process of developing effective consultation may actually lead to conflict between participants. The process of implementation calls for careful management if the advantages of consultation are to be achieved.
Shop Stewards and Employee Involvement:
Authors: Armstrong Roger , Marchington Mick
Published: March 2008

In some form or another, the concept of employee involvement in management decision‐making has held an attraction for practitioners and academics alike for a very long time. The objectives which are set for it certainly vary from a desire for increased efficiency or prosperity on the one hand, through to more democratic relations within industry on the other. The favoured forms of involvement have also differed widely from better communication to worker directors, and to more recent “flavours of the month” such as quality circles. In principle, employee involvement as a broad concept has found many adherents.
Organisation Development & Industrial Relations:
Authors: Edmonstone John
Published: March 2008

The application of behavioural science insights to the problems of work organisations is often given the generic title of Organisation Development (abbreviated to OD). However, most accounts of OD interventions in the UK seem to describe events in the management levels of organisations (with the possible exception of job redesign exercises) and details of OD interventions in the industrial relations sphere are, at least in Britain, almost non‐existent. American accounts tend to treat management‐union relations purely as inter‐group problems and to ignore other aspects of the field. In this article an account is given of work undertaken by an internal OD unit within the UK National Health Service—in the area of joint consultation within a health authority—and some thoughts are offered on the most fruitful relationship between OD practice and the field of IR.
Employee Participation: The Pension Trustee Experience
Authors: Hyman J. , Schuller T.
Published: March 2008

No one today can doubt that pensions are big news. Whereas a few years ago those involved in pension matters were left to conduct their affairs away from the spotlight of public attention, in more recent times their activities have attracted substantial interest attended by official enquiries, increasing scrutiny and suggestions of regulation.
Race Relations in Industry: Problems and Prospects for Equal Opportunity
Authors: Knights David , Hitner Trevor
Published: March 2008

This article reports on some of the research findings of a two year study on equal opportunity commissioned by the Department of Employment. Although initially conceived as an investigation of “successfully” operating equal opportunity policies in private industry, the research data suggested that effective practice follows a different line of development. For, in practice, effective equal opportunity bore a closer relationship to everyday problem‐solving in organisations than to the adoption of formal policies abstracted from workplace issues and concerns. The success of equal opportunity policies and practices would appear to be contingent upon their direct relevance to workplace problems and the degree to which employees are involved in formulating and implementing them.
New Technology and Craftsmen's Skills in Great Britain and West Germany
Authors: Sorge Arndt , Hartmann Gert , Warner Malcolm , Nicholas Ian
Published: March 2008

Those who believe that the effects of micro‐electronics are due to the working of technical imperatives, or to the mechanisms of the capitalist system, are prone to neglect national differences. Our suggestion is that micro‐electronics, and specifically CNC, may have different con‐sequences and be used to different ends, according to the prevailing traditions within society. We expressly include, under such traditions, technical, organisational, and labour variables. We then conjecture that the stability of work traditions will not be changed by the incidence of micro‐electronics; it will only be expressed in new ways. We thus see the development and application of supposed‐ly “high technology” as constrained by an unchanging socio‐technical tradition.
The Labour Relations Practices of Foreign‐owned and Indigenous Firms
Authors: Hamill Jim
Published: March 2008

There are a number of important differences in the labour relations practices of American‐owned and indigenous firms operating in the UK. Such differences are due mainly to the introduction of home‐country practices by a considerable number of American‐owned firms. This was particularly evident in the areas of union recognition, employer association membership, management organisation for industrial relations purposes, wage payment systems and the level of wages and employee benefits.
Expectations and Attitudes:
Authors: Sykes A.J.M. , Lindsay Isobel
Published: March 2008

This article describes a study of the workers in two heavy engineering plants, in the Glasgow area, one belonging to a British company of a traditional type, the other to an American company. A comparison was made of the perceptions and expectations that the workforces held of their respective managements and the attitudes they held towards them.
Beyond the Eighties — The Management of Organisational Change
Authors: Chater Robin E.J.
Published: March 2008

In the final years of the twentieth century there is likely to be an increasing rate of change for all types of organisations. How will they respond to this?
Part‐time Working:
Authors: Rosser Mike , Mallier Tony
Published: March 2008

Over the last few years, the number of part‐time employees has increased considerably, and this presents a challenge for unions in particular because of the inferior circumstances in which these people are employed.
Industrial Conflict and the Nature of Labour Contracts
Authors: Enderwick Peter
Published: March 2008

It is the author's view that industrial conflict arises in the specification and interpretation of the labour contract, whether this be at shop floor or national level.
Positive Policies on Employee Involvement
Authors: Wilkinson Theon
Published: March 2008

By building upon the points at the end of Norman Tebbit's recent article, this article describes the joint IPM/IPA publications on employee involvement.
Understanding in Industry:
Authors: Allen P.T.
Published: March 2008

In recent years, social psychology has made an increasing contribution to studies in industrial contexts. The main focus of research discussed here is on how the different groups or sides in industry understand one another, and on the factors which affect that understanding.
Information Disclosure:
Authors: Owen David , Broad Geoffrey
Published: March 2008

A recent study illustrates that shop stewards are unambitious in their demand for and use of financial information in the negotiating arena. The TUC, however, is anxious to extend rights to information, consultation and representation in recognition of financial information as an important power resource.
Understanding the Theory and Practice of Management Control
Authors: Knights David , Roberts John
Published: March 2008

The central concern of this monograph is to generate an understanding of the processes of control in industrial relations. Traditionally, the literature has tended to merely reflect the instrumental interests of management and has thus been preoccupied with the problem of improving the techniques, rather than penetrating the social processes of control. The authors contend that this preoccupation has resulted in a neglect of examining the conditions and consequences of control for production.
Unions on the Board
Authors: Batstone Eric , Ferner Anthony , Terry Mike
Published: March 2008

In the mid to late 1970s, the deliberations of the Bullock Committee on industrial democracy led to a set of proposals for “worker directors” on the boards of large private companies. The proposals generated strong partisan reactions, and many of the current views of political parties, employers and trade unions were shaped during this period. Recently, the trade unions and the Labour Party have reaffirmed their commitment to the Bullock principles in their election programme pledges to develop the planning of industry through an extension of industrial democracy. By contrast, the continuing hostility of the Conservative Party and many employers to the extension of workers' participation through legislation has been shown by the coolness with which they have received the so‐called “Vredeling” proposals from the European Commission on workers' rights to consultation and company information.
The Recession and Industrial Relations:
Authors: Chadwick M.G.
Published: March 2008

With the current record levels of unemployment comes growing speculation that an era of industrial relations may be coming to an end. Patterns and trends which have been responsible for shaping the unique “style” of British industrial relations are now under pressure from the recent changes in both the political and economic environment.
Joint Consultation in Britain: Towards an Explanation
Authors: Joyce Paul , Woods Adrian
Published: March 2008

Joint consultation has had a checkered history during the last 50 years. Both in the Second World War and in the late 1940s, consultative committees were widespread in manufacturing companies. Many observers of the industrial relations scene at that time based their great optimism for post war industrial relations in Britain on the efficacy of joint consultation. Subsequently, joint consultation came to be regarded as a failure and as in a state of decline due to the growth of workplace bargaining. In the course of the last three or four years, the results of several surveys have been published which cast light on current arrangements and have led to claims of a renaissance in joint consultation.
Unofficial Action in White Collar Unions:
Authors: Kelly Michael P. , Martin Graeme , Pemble Robert J.
Published: March 2008

This article is concerned with a description of the way in which a small group of Civil Service trade unionists attempted to participate in the 1981 pay campaign by the British Civil Service trade unions. The problems faced by the group are analysed and the group members' experiences of their activity explored.
Industrial Relations and Ideology—An Alternative Approach
Authors: Oram S.A.J.
Published: March 2008

A general lack of agreement on the meaning of the term “industrial relations” has been acknowledged for some time. Moreover, although ideology is seen as a powerful influence on the behaviour of industrial relations practitioners, that is, those working or studying in the field, a general imprecision surrounds the current terminology. This article examines briefly the more well‐known understandings of what is meant by “industrial relations” and compares these with the views of some managers expressed in a recent research study. It proceeds to analyse ideologies normally referred to in the field of industrial relations. From this analysis, an alternative approach and framework is proposed for considering industrial relations ideology.
Where Women are Going
Authors: Cooper Cary L.
Published: March 2008

By the start of the 1980s, over 42 per cent of the total work‐force in the UK were women, with 52 per cent of all women between the ages of 16 and 60 working either part‐time or full‐time, the highest proportion of working women of any country in the EEC. Over 60 per cent of these women worked in three service industries: clerical and related; education, health and welfare, and catering, cleaning and other personal services, with clerical workers by far the biggest grouping. Women are not only concentrated in the low‐status industries, but at the bottom levels of these. For example, whereas women represent just under 75 per cent of all clerical and related workers, they account for only 19 per cent of office managers. Indeed, a recent report of the UK government's Manpower Services Commission (MSC) shows that in the UK only 20 per cent of all managers are women and if we exclude those women managers who work in clerical offices, wholesale/retail concerns and in hotels and catering, the figure drops to 10 per cent, with only eight per cent in general management posts.
White‐Collar Unionism in the Building Societies
Authors: Swabe A.I.R. , Price Patricia
Published: March 2008

The authors examine the lack of trade union membership in building societies. To form conclusions as to reasons for this lack of representation they look at the period from 1971. The emergence of staff associations and the employers' obvious reluctance to allow TUC union representation in their organisations are held to be responsible in part. The authors then discuss TUC unions' current strategies such as mergers with staff associations, and consider the possibilities for the future.
Trade Union Tutors, Shop Stewards and Industrial Relations
Authors: Bright David , McDermott Terry
Published: March 2008

Drawing upon data derived from a survey of industrial tutors the authors illustrate the different perspectives adopted by the tutors and stewards on their courses and assess the implications of these variations.
Industrial Relations in North East England
Authors: Sawbridge Derek , Bright David , Smith Robin
Published: March 2008

There is little tradition of regional studies in the field of industrial relations. Most of the existing work with a regional flavour is on comparative labour markets. The reason for the absence of structural or institutional studies is because of the obvious methodological problem of disaggregating purely regional influences from broader national factors—economic, political, social or legislative.
Management Strategies towards Young Female Workers
Authors: Russell Anthony
Published: March 2008

Using the methods of participant observation and interviews, the author has drawn up a list of management techniques that are employed for the control of young female workers. He concludes that there is insufficient evidence to support the need for such controls and feels that managements have absorbed stereotyped images of young people as irresponsible and operate the controls regardless.
Collective Bargaining in the Offshore Catering Industry
Authors: Buchan James M.
Published: March 2008

The process of industrial relations which has developed in the offshore catering industry is not significantly different from that evident in conventional onshore‐based unionised industries. Data obtained as part of a survey of industrial relations in the Grampian region (1982) covering five of the nine offshore catering companies in the Northern Sector of the North Sea, show that such companies operate in an atypical industrial environment represented by unusual work/lifestyle patterns. A two‐tier system has evolved to meet the communication requirements of a transient and scattered workforce: the management‐workforce relationship in offshore installations being informal, while the onshore relationship between management and trade union officials is far more formal. While the adoption of collective bargaining in this industry is a fairly recent happening, it can be readily explained in terms derived from “traditional” British industry.
Handling Redundancy Situations— An Exploratory Survey
Authors: Chell Elizabeth
Published: March 2008

A survey of how redundancy situations are handled and carried out among 80 organisations reached through the Manchester branch of the Institute of Personnel Management, has raised many questions, suggesting the urgent need for more in‐depth research. Managerial styles of handling redundancy vary, possibly reflecting the prevailing circumstances for the individual manager. The composition of the workforce, the overall company culture, and interpersonal/intergroup relationships between management and worker are all salient factors, as are aspects of personnel managers' make‐up, which can be roughly defined as “hard‐nosed pragmatic”, “realistic”, “contingency operational” or “idealistic”. It is hoped that further collaboration with industry, commerce and within the service and public sectors will be forthcoming.
Managing Labour Relations through the Recession
Authors: Edwards P.K.
Published: March 2008

Recent trends in industrial relations do not include a systematic attack on union organisation, according to evidence gathered during a survey of British manufacturing plants (base size: 250 full‐time employees) from the food, drink and tobacco, chemical, electrical engineering, textiles, paper printing and publishing sectors. Industrial relations remain important to senior managers as well as personnel managers. The apparent rise in a consultative approach suggests a move away from industrial relations in the traditional sense of bargaining with unions. Though labour relations remain important, this is in the wider sense of managing labour and securing workers' compliance with managerial aims. (First part of a two‐part article.)
Trade Unions, Management and Productivity
Authors: Sullivan Terry
Published: March 2008

A key to raising productivity may be to stimulate product market competition, and this will need a complementary policy of relatively low unit labour costs — best achieved through managers developing their social skills, abilities, knowledge and understanding of how the labour market works. Change could be assessed by a small internal project team, whose task is to outline both technical implementation, and industrial relations and managerial consequences of the new methods. Any “inertia” preventing productivity being raised must be identified and defeated. Initial responsibility lies with management, this method being perhaps the best to secure workforce co‐operation to raise Britain from being a low income, low productivity nation.
Redundancy Counselling for Manual Workers
Authors: Valencia Michael
Published: March 2008

As a result of industrial change it can be predicted that there will be a developing interest in redundancy advisory/counselling schemes; though a few have been initiated, they have been primarily for executives. The description of two projects, in which counselling was used by shop‐floor workers, argues the need for providing such assistance at all levels of the workforce, to make the process less painful and to reduce long‐term bitterness. An interesting development would be the involvement of public sector institutions — colleges, local authority departments — in industry, providing expertise and recruiting and managing teams of counsellors, whether on a long‐term basis, or short‐term to meet emergencies (e.g. major closures).
Managing through the Recession: The Plant and the Company
Authors: Edwards P.K.
Published: March 2008

In the previous issue of Employee Relations, the results of a survey of 229 large manufacturing plants were used to consider how labour relations have been changing recently. The survey also undertook a broader consideration of the management of labour relations. The results are outlined here.
Professional Engineers' Attitudes to Trade Unions
Authors: McLoughlin Ian
Published: March 2008

The unionisation of professional, scientific and technical employees has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Much of the debate has concerned the issue of whether unionism and professionalism are compatible. During the 1970s, established white‐collar unions and a new breed of “professionals‐only” unions sought to recruit in this area on the assumption that they were. However, the early 1980s saw a decline in the rate of recruitment and a fall in the membership of some “professionals‐only” unions. Subsequently, a period of consolidation and reorganisation has taken place, with the established white‐collar unions leading the way in devising new organisational arrangements. These entailed absorbing some of the “professionals‐only” unions into their ranks. How far, though, is trade union membership regarded as compatible with professional status by individual engineers?
Public Sector Industrial Relations: Recent Developments
Authors: Beaumont Phil , Leopold John
Published: March 2008

Increasingly public sector industrial relations have become the central concern of governments, practitioners and academics. The main purpose of this monograph is to review key developments in public sector industrial relations, particularly during the period of the Thatcher Government. The emphasis is on the public services, especially local government, the NHS and the civil service. In the first section we review trends in public sector employment (particularly in the light of Government policy to reduce it), wages (in a context of cash limits), and strikes and other forms of industrial action. In the second part we move from “outcomes” to consider recent developments in the structure, organisation and policy of the “actors” in public sector industrial relations. In particular, we examine union organisation, developments in personnel management, bargaining structure, wage determination machinery and procedures, dispute resolution and privatisation initiatives. Developments in these areas are set in the context of the traditional features which distinguish public sector industrial relations from other spheres. In many of the areas under consideration, trends and developments set in train by the post‐1979 Conservative Government are still in the process of being worked out. Overall public sector employment has fallen, but with considerable variation around the average. National wage disputes, with considerable numbers of working days lost, have characterised the public sector since 1979, but the frequency of industrial conflict should not be exaggerated. There are moves to decentralise union and management structures, but the consequences of this have yet to be realised. Pay, however, remains problematic for government, employing authorities and unions. Since 1981–2, public sector settlements have generally been below the rate of inflation, but above the cash limit. Thead hocpolicy of determining public sector pay by a mixture of review bodies, measures of comparability and market forces has created an overall picture of confusion. Establishing a fair and rational system of public sector pay remains a key task for any future government.
The “New Realism” in British Industrial Relations?
Authors: Hawkins Kevin
Published: March 2008

A historical review of British industrial relations, with close attention paid to more recent legislation, highlights the fact that, though the prospects for renewed growth in union membership are bleak, the experience of severe recession has focused the attention of union representatives and managers alike on the survival of the business unit in which they themselves are employed. The current trend in favour of decentralised bargaining arrangements in several major industries will reinforce this growing “enterprise consciousness”. However, real and lasting change in the climate of employer‐employee relations in British industry can only occur if employers are prepared to act; commitment to change will only be achieved through employee involvement in decision making, with the focus for such involvement being the workplace, not the boardroom.
Shop Steward Resistance in the Recession
Authors: Spencer Bruce
Published: March 2008

In spite of the recession and its attendant threats to workforce size and union power, a well‐organised union can still influence management and company plans. Though management still have a range of policy options, the point of trade union resistance is to force management into accepting options more favourable to workforce interests. A case study outlining a type of factory‐based union organisation which has survived the recession through successfully contesting managerial decisions, draws the conclusion that the central element of such activity's success is that it must be moulded to a broader, less insular, more political view of trade union activity. The evidence supports the argument that steward organisations have largely maintained their position of the 1970s. Union membership and support remains a crucial issue in maintaining union power, and shop stewards must continue to re‐examine ways of involving and informing their members.
Managing the Process of Negotiation
Authors: Fells R.E.
Published: March 2008

There is a growing literature on negotiation, much of which is directed towards negotiations which take place in the industrial relations context. However, negotiation is a practical activity and there is a need to bridge the gap between the thoeretical framework of the negotiation process and the appropriate application of particular negotiating techniques. One approach is to present an explanatory framework in terms of the motivation of one's negotiating opponent, usually relying on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. These authors then present a series of semi‐anecdotal descriptions of tactics to employ. Such an approach does not fully present any underlying principles to be grasped by negotiators, nor does it form a basis for the training of negotiating techniques.
Profit‐sharing and Employee Share Ownership: An Initial Assessment
Authors: Ramsay Harvie , Leopold John W. , Hyman Jeff
Published: March 2008

I point out also that there are 1,800,000 more owner‐occupiers since 1979 — a policy fought tooth and nail by the Labour Party; that there has been a dramatic extension of share ownership as with British Telecom and an increase in the number of employee share option schemes.
Managing Deadlocks in Negotiation
Authors: Fells Ray
Published: March 2008

An earlier article in this journal outlined a model of the process of negotiation with particular reference to negotiation in the industrial relations context. The model suggests that negotiations go through five phases or patterns of negotiating activity as the negotiators move through to a settlement. On the basis of the model, it is possible to identify several implications for negotiators, and, in particular, to make the point that the two parties must jointly manage their progress through the negotiations. Within the negotiation process there are three potential deadlocks which could emerge to obstruct this progress if the negotiations were not properly and jointly managed. This article develops the concept of deadlocks in negotiation more fully, and attempts to identify the implications for negotiators by suggesting how deadlocks might be identified and overcome.
Dispute Resolution in “Essential Services”:
Authors: Goodman John , Chattin Joe
Published: March 2008

In its handling of public sector pay, the present British Government appears to have given higher priority to the minimisation of public expenditure than to the avoidance of disputes. It has on several occasions “taken” (or not deterred other public sector employers from “taking”) lengthy stoppages rather than agree to refer pay disputes to arbitration, largely on two grounds; first, that additional money to finance any enhanced award was not available, and, secondly, that to do so would be to abdicate responsibility for a major element of public expenditure. Further, it has sought the removal from public sector disputes procedures of provisions allowing either party unilateral access to arbitral bodies, though by no means entirely successfully as the gas industry and other examples illustrate. On the other hand, its policy of tight cash limits, external borrowing limits, rate‐capping and other measures have had a substantial effect on reducing the levels of public sector pay settlements. Paradoxically, however, the two public services widely regarded internationally as amongst the “most essential”, the police and fire services, have both benefited from now relatively well‐entrenched formulae which have generated pay increases for these groups significantly above most other public sector groups. The new national agreement on ambulance staff appears to offer similar prospects for another group of “essential” workers.
The Rhetoric of Power: The Case of Bettavalve Placid, Part 1
Authors: Kirkbride Paul
Published: March 2008

Power forms part of the everyday common‐sense language and conceptual framework used by experts and laymen alike to describe industrial relations processes and phenomena. Yet, despite the obvious centrality and importance of power to the study of industrial relations, it may be argued that the concept represents a major lacuna in the theoretical development of the discipline. Thus, there is relatively little literature in industrial relations which focuses directly on the concept. From a study of this literature, and the much more voluminous and extensive work on power in other disciplines (notably sociology, economics and political science), one can discern two almost exclusive central foci. Firstly, there is one school of thought which conceptualises power as an outcome or the result of some other process. From this perspective, the power of social actors can only be ascertained by an analysis of their effects on outcomes or observable events. The second school sees power as a material resource which can be possessed, stored and deployed to achieve the goals of the actor. Whilst both these approaches throw valuable light on some aspects of power, it may be suggested that the predominance of these constrained perspectives has resulted in the relative neglect of other important aspects of power.
Conflict in the Construction Industry
Authors: Marsh Ray
Published: March 2008

A previous article has examined industrial relations on large construction sites indicating the ad hoc nature of construction labour policies. The high level of industrial conflict on British sites was attributed to the fragmented wage and bargaining structures together with poor managerial control at site level. (see Table I). This, it was suggested, produced a high degree of insecurity amongst the workforce which tended to undermine the peaceful resolution of many disputes.
Self‐employment or Self‐exploitation: The Case of Franchising
Authors: Eaton Jack
Published: March 2008

Business format franchising has vast job creation potential. A 1984 survey commissioned by the British Franchise Association predicted that at least 280,000 jobs will be created in the next five years in the UK as a result of franchising. Reasons for its growth include the lack of theoretical work involved, “being your own boss”, and the potential for large profit margins. In this context, the British government's insistence that real jobs can only come from creating marketable goods and services is somewhat exasperating. However most franchises are fast‐food outlets, the market for which is now beginning to look saturated.
The Rhetoric of Power, Part II: The Case of Bettavalve Placid
Authors: Kirkbride Paul S.
Published: March 2008

Power cannot be studied simply by observing the outcomes of contested decision making or by focusing on the possession of physical or structural resources, as an outline of some of the power processes at Bettavalve Placid suggests. Power exists and is mobilised even when “nothing happens” in the normal sense. To fully understand the processes of power in organisations generally and in industrial relations in particular, the use of ideology, legitimising principles and rhetoric and the ways in which these are used continually to reinforce and reproduce structures of power and domination need to be studied. It is demonstrated how the unitarist ideology of the Bettavalve Placid management was continually reinforced by the use of various legitimising principles and articulated via certain rhetorics.
2. Continuity and Change in the Programme of the Industrial Relations Research Unit
Authors: Sisson Keith
Published: March 2008

The past two years have seen considerable changes in the organisation of the Industrial Relations Research Unit (IRRU) at the University of Warwick as well as its personnel. It is now a Designated Research Centre (DRC) for which the university is responsible, as opposed to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The unit now comprises members of the DRC and of the industrial relations teaching staff of the school. An overview of the main research projects being undertaken during the first phase of the eight‐year term of the DRC is given. These can be divided into three broad areas: those concerned with managing industrial relations; trade unions and collective bargaining; and the law and industrial relations. Some of the thinking behind these projects is given. It is argued that continuity is as important as change in the work of the unit, in particular in the value placed on theoretical developments and interdisciplinary research. There is no reason why new areas of investigation cannot be accommodated within additional definitions of industrial relations
5. Management Opposition to Union Organisation: Researching the Indicators
Authors: Beaumont Phil
Published: March 2008

The general opinion in Britain at present is that the unions are not facing significant changes in management attitudes towards the institution of unionism. This view has been devised from surveys of relatively large‐sized plants in the manufacturing sector, an area of traditionally high levels of unionisation. It is argued that researchers in the UK may be looking in the wrong place or for the wrong signs in drawing this conclusion. Researchers may have been looking for substantial changes in management‐union relations rather than less obvious changes in terms of the power of existing institutions or of sustained opposition to new recognition agreements. Material relating to voluntary conciliation claims for recognition between 1976 and 1985 is examined, which shows a halving in the number of claims. Three recent studies in new towns all point to the high percentage of non‐union firms. A fall in union density can occur due to external contingencies, even in the absence of explicit management strategies of opposition to union organisation.
7. Profit‐sharing and Share Ownership Schemes in Britain
Authors: Poole Michael
Published: March 2008

Profit‐sharing and employee share ownership schemes have attracted great interest in the 1980s. The findings of the first phase of a Department of Employment study which involved a large‐scale investigation of British companies is reported. Details on the operation, coverage and type of scheme which had been adopted were gathered for 822 firms and extended interviews were conducted with a further 303 firms. A highly varied rate of adoption of schemes in different industrial sectors and with diverse economic and industrial relations experiences is revealed. If further advances in profit‐sharing and share ownership are considered to be worthwhile, policy initiatives should be centred on the medium and smaller companies in Britain. Considerable efforts outside the financial sector are necessary to effect any marked acceleration of profit‐sharing and share ownership. If future developments are envisaged senior management of the main types of enterprise are a vital target group. Foreign‐based companies should also be encouraged to embark on profit‐sharing or share ownership. If the advancement of more specific Inland Revenue APS schemes is to become general policy, information and advice for companies outside the financial sector is needed.
Wages Councils—Are they an Anachronism?
Authors: Joyce Paul , Woods Adrian , Hayes Michael
Published: March 2008

In July 1985 the government decided in favour of major reform of wages councils. It restricted their scope to setting minimum hourly and overtime rates of pay and removed people under 21 completely from their coverage. This raises questions about the functions of wages councils within the British industrial relations system. There is a need to adopt an industrial relations perspective on wages councils. Contemporary debate on the continued usefulness of wages councils is biased against them by virtue of failing to recognise that they exist not only to protect workers from low pay, but also represent state attempts to create collective bargaining and industrial democracy in situations where the capacity of workers for collective organisation has been too low to support voluntary developments. All these different identities of wages councils need to be understood and combined to achieve a comprehensive conception of their actual significance. There is a need for more research based on appropriate methodologies, studying the wages council sector itself and for studies to measure the effects of wages councils on efficiency and productivity.
Why Nothing Much has Changed:
Authors: MacInnes John
Published: March 2008

Despite high unemployment, a collapse in manufacturing output and employment, a government‐engineered fall in international competitiveness that has resulted in an unprecedented deficit in non‐oil trade and zero net growth in the Gross Domestic Product between 1979 and 1983, the basic features of British workplace industrial relations remain unchanged. The economic changes wrought by the recession since 1979 in Scotland and the UK and the resurgence of older traditions in industrial relations are described.
New Technology and the Role of Supervisors
Authors: Burnes Bernard
Published: March 2008

Little consideration has been given to the role supervisors play in managing the introduction of new technology. Ignoring their role is shortsighted since supervisors can have a significant effect on the success of new systems. Drawing on research conducted in nine engineering companies, little awareness of forward planning in relation to the human dimensions of technical change is found. There is a crucial need for proper training of supervisors, although the exact approach will depend on the position occupied by them.
Advice — the Cinderella Service of ACAS?
Authors: Brough Ian
Published: March 2008

Two recent studies have asked clients for their views of the effectiveness of the advisory service of ACAS. Both found strong support for this service, although doubts are expressed as to whether an independent national survey managed to achieve a representative cross‐section of views given considerable non‐response to its questionnaire. ACAS proved to be especially important to small firms in a Scottish rural area, calling into question the decline in help by ACAS to this area of industry.
1. Who are Vulnerable Workers?
Authors: Leighton Patricia , Painter Richard W.
Published: March 2008

In recent years, various groups of workers have become causes célèbres through being identified by both academics and the media as vulnerable in some way or another. The spectre of child labour in family enterprises causing the children involved to miss school or fall asleep over their books, of homeworkers earning a pittance from boring, repetitive work, of major accidents or the onset of diseases at the workplace, as well as job losses on a massive scale, all indicate that the 1980s have brought or confirmed insecurity and other hardships for vast numbers of workers in the UK. For the purposes of this special edition of Employee Relations, vulnerability connotes disadvantage in the labour market more serious than that derived from simply being atypical or marginal.
2. The Statutory Floor of Employment Rights: A Bad Case of Subsidence?
Authors: Painter Richard W.
Published: March 2008

As we have indicated in the introductory section, the employment protection legislation was drafted principally with full‐time, permanent employees — so called “core workers”— in mind. The legislation of the mid‐70s which established the “statutory floor of employment rights” effectively excluded millions of workers from its protections because they were considered to be self‐employed, or failed to qualify through lack of continuity of employment. Indeed, it may well be argued that, if the policy behind the legislation was to protect those workers which collective bargaining could not reach, the groups who were excluded — the “peripheral workers” — were the ones in the greatest need of protection.
4. “It's Part of the Job”: Violence at Work
Authors: Painter Kate
Published: March 2008

In 1986, the issue of violence at work was thrust into the arena of public debate by the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh and the deaths of three social workers in the course of their duties. These atypical cases represent the extreme end of a continuum of violence and vulnerability, but they were sufficient to warrant the formation of a Government committee chaired by Lady Trumpington, parliamentary Under Secretary for Health. The aim of the committee is to develop a common approach to violence across the health, social services and social security fields.
6. Responses to Vulnerability: The Example of Job Sharing
Authors: Leighton Patricia
Published: March 2008

The foregoing sections have demonstrated and analysed the range and complexity of vulnerability in the labour market. Its source can be economic or legal, or can derive from characteristics of work or workers. Vulnerability is not a stagnant or even declining phenomenon. Indeed, we have argued that not only are considerably more workers disadvantaged than, say, two decades ago, but that such a situation is compounded by government policy, concepts of core and peripheral workers, and by forces which have created or highlighted unconsidered or new areas of vulnerability. It is arguable that even the much publicised “networkers” who may have relatively attractive terms of work can become isolated and demoralised by working solely at home, and thus suffer yet another form of vulnerability.
Statutory Recognition Provisions: Some Lessons for Britain from Abroad?
Authors: Beaumont P.B. , Townley B.
Published: March 2008

Statutory union recognition provisions operated in Britain for most of the last decade. More recently, there has been a renewed interest in them in the UK, leading to this review of experience in other countries to see if anything could be learnt from elsewhere. The position of the US and Canada is analysed. In addition, larger questions about the nature of comparative industrial relations research are raised.
Work, New Technologies and the Changing Form of Industrial Relations in France
Authors: Jenkins Alan
Published: March 2008

There is a deficiency of material on information technology (IT) based on the experiences of our neighbouring European countries. France is discussed, focusing, in particular, on the perception, implementation and diffusion of IT in the workplace. Certain factors are identified which are crucial in determining the mode of implementation, and the success or failure of technological change in the workplace, whether measured in behavioural or economic terms.
STRESS AT THE TOP: THE PRICE OF SUCCESS AMONG FRENCH CORPORATE PRESIDENTS
Authors: Stora Benjamin , Cooper Cary L.
Published: March 2008

Are top executives stronger and more resistant than the firm's managers they are leading? Is there a human cost in terms of psychic and psychosomatic trouble linked to the successful top manager? Until now, studies related to the top managers were confined to strictly neutral observations; observers did not dare talk about the mental equilibrium of the top executive under stress. It always was the “corporate strategy”, the “implementation of the strategy”, the “as if” approach to management which prevailed. “Organisations” were preferred to managers; in fact these taboos inhabited the corporate shrine. Top managers were individuals specifically to be protected from the “watchful eye” of academic organisational researchers.
EMPLOYMENT ADJUSTMENTS IN RECESSION: A WIRE INDUSTRY STUDY
Authors: Barrar Peter , Sullivan Terry
Published: March 2008

This article draws from “institutional” labour economics and mainstream industrial relations, but differs from the more usual uses of their ideas in a number of ways. For example, the observation we make, that wages and prices are “sticky” downwards and that labour markets respond to falls in demand by employment and quantity adjustments, is not new. Similarly, the idea that labour markets are different from “normal” commodity markets is not of recent origin Hence, while Clay and Hicks were making such observations and speculating on the labour relations consequences of them, Keynes was using the concept of wage rigidity (stickiness) as a central building block in his General Theory which dealt with the conditions for macro‐economic equilibrium.
THE EMPLOYMENT IMPLICATIONS OF GOVERNMENT POLICY: A CASE‐STUDY OF PUBLIC SECTOR CATERING
Authors: Kelliher Clare , McKenna Steve
Published: March 2008

The implications of government policy for public sector catering employees are considerable. Pay, conditions of service, hours of work, the effort‐bargain and staffing levels have all been altered to the general detriment of catering workers. There is now greater flexibility of working arrangements for these public sector workers, and managers find it easier to control industrial relations in this environment. Earlier results of research carried out to explore the impact of these changes are discussed and the situation assessed.
THE TRADITION OF WORKER PARTICIPATION IN THE NETHERLANDS
Authors: Steyger Elies
Published: March 2008

Collective labour relations within the EEC varies considerably, and it is intended here to explain the underlying attitudes to bargaining between unions and employers in the Netherlands. Forthcoming changes in collective labour law are explored, in particular, in relation to health and safety, since this will be markedly affected by new European Community regulations.
NIGERIA'S 1980–1982 INCOMES POLICY — PROBLEMS AND ISSUES
Authors: Johnnie P.B.
Published: March 2008

Having reviewed Nigeria's recent attempts at incomes policy, it is concluded that future policies need to be kept to a one‐year maximum in order to generate sufficient public support to guarantee success. Enforcement of incomes policies should also be guided strictly by the law, and guidelines should be vigorously pursued and upheld. Whether this will be achieved, however, is rather less certain.
Changing Structures of Labour Relations in New Zealand
Authors: Williams Alan
Published: March 2008

An attempt is made to assess changes that have occurred in the New Zealand industrial relations system over the last four years. The relationship between traditional modes of operational practice based on government intervention through the medium of statute law, and the perceptions of change held by employers and trade unions, in response to current legislative restructuring is examined. The analysis of change is located within the larger aims of the current administration, to increase economic efficiencies through the medium of de‐regulation of a range of traditional interventionalist institutions. In this context, current initiatives have to be examined against a range of governmental policies that are still in the process of evolution.
“JAPANISATION” AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN BRITAIN
Authors: McKenna Steve
Published: March 2008

In recent years, there has been much talk about the impact of Japanese labour relations practices on UK operations. Whilst there are an increasing number of Japanese companies now operating in this country, it is hard to establish whether their influence has extended beyond these particular workplaces. The term “Japanisation” is used warily, requiring careful scrutiny.