bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
British Coal Mining Strikes 1893–1940: Dimensions, Distribution and Persistence
Authors: Church Roy , Outram Quentin , Smith David N. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTStrikes in manufacturing are known to be highly concentrated in a small number of plants. This study extends the analysis of strike concentration to coal mining and is the first study of strike concentration with significant temporal scope. The authors show that strikes were also highly concentrated in coal mining; that the prevalence of recorded strike activity was far from complete; that there was a rapid turnover in the population of highly strikeprone collieries and places; and that persistent strike activity was rare. These results afford a new perspective on strike concentration, the research implications of which are drawn out in the final section.
The Effect of Unions on Productivity Growth, Investment and Employment: A Report on some Recent Work
Authors: Wadhwani Sushil 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTUsing two British microeconomic data sets, this paper reports the following. (1) Union firms experienced faster productivity growth during 1980–4, but there was no difference in performance in 1975–9, or 1985–6. So unions do not necessarily reduce productivity growth. It is also unlikely that the above pattern can be explained by changes in union legislation. (2) Unionism appears to have no significant effect on in vestment, once one allows for the effects of differential productivity growth. (3) Wages in union and non‐union firms are equally responsive to changes in the capital–labour ratio. (4) Contrary to what is often alleged, unionism per se does not reduce employment growth. Instead, the negative correlation observed in 1980–4 probably arises from a significant reform of working practices in unionized firms during 1980–4.
Bargaining Levels and Relative Earnings in Northern Ireland in 1987
Authors: Harris Richard I. D. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTIndividual level data is used to consider the effects of the union mark‐up on earnings in Northern Ireland and in particular to find out if a differential exists between bargaining groups as well as across covered and not covered workers. The results show that company (and to a lesser extent, UK industry‐wide) agreements have a much lower mark‐up than might be deduced by simply analysing mean wage levels across groups. This suggests that most of the differential is actually the result of a productivity advantage attached to (these) covered workers and not because of union power per se.
‘Them and Us’: Social Psychology and ‘The New Industrial Relations’
Authors: Kelly John , Kelly Caroline 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis article sets out to examine the impact of ‘new industrial relations’ techniques on worker attitudes to management and to worker‐management relations. We found 17 case studies of share schemes, profit‐sharing, quality circles and autonomous work‐groups which reported relevant evidence on worker attitudes. Although workers often welcome new industrial relations techniques, there is very little evidence of any impact on ‘them and us’ attitudes. Drawing on social‐psychological theories of attitude change, the persistence of ‘them and us’ attitudes can be explained by the ways in which new industrial relations techniques have been implemented and managed in organisations. Workers have often lacked choice over participation in new schemes; there has been a lack of trust between the parties involved, together with inequality in status and benefits and a lack of institutional support for the schemes among senior management. It is argued that these conditions explain the failure of new organisational initiatives to bring about changes in ‘them and us’ attitudes.
Trade Union Recognition and Employment Contraction. Britain, 1980–1984
Authors: Beaumont P. B. , Harris R. I. D. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractInformation contained in the two work‐place industrial relations surveys reveals that the proportion of employees, both manual and non‐manual, in private sector establishments which recognised trade unions declined in the period 1980‐84. The various pieces of analysis undertaken in this paper reveal that establishment closures and employment reduction concentrated among relatively large sized establishments were a major source of the observed decline in union organisation.
Determinants of Trade Union Membership in Australia
Authors: Deery Stephen , De Cieri Helen 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper uses Australian cross‐sectional data to examine the determinants of individual union membership. It analyses the separate effect of three groups of variables on the probability of unionisation: personal attributes, occupational and industry‐related characteristics, and social and attitudinal factors. While the personal attributes of an employee were found to have little effect on union status, the other two groups of variables added significantly to the explained variance in union membership. An important finding of the study was that certain attitudes, ideologies and social values were clearly associated with variations in union status.
Recent Developments in the German Apprenticeship System
Authors: Casey Bernard 
Published: January 2009

AbstractAfter passing through a period of relative crisis in the first half of the 1980s, by the end of the decade the ‘dual system’ appeared once again capable of providing Germany with the highly skilled work force it needed to meet the challenges of the twenty‐first century. This paper reviews the changing nature of apprenticeships and apprentices that has taken place over the last decade and the responses of government, the training authorities and employers to the sharp decline in the number of young people entering the labour market in recent years. Particular attention is given to the process of reforming and updating training regulations — a major concern of the parties involved in training over the last two decades. Finally, the paper suggests that unification of the two Germanies makes the future of the youth labour market and the labour market for skilled workers very unclear.
Strategy and Circumstance: The Success of the NUJ's New Technology Policy
Authors: Noon Mike 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis article assesses the success of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in negotiating the introduction of computerised editorial systems (direct input) into provincial newspapers. It employs a quantitative and qualitative analysis to suggest that the NUJ has been exemplary in using the New Technology Agreement (NTA) as a bargaining tool in order to limit the negative effects of technological change and to secure notable benefits — particularly pay increases. This contrasts with other survey evidence which concludes that NTAs have fallen short of the TUC's original objectives in advocating their use. The success of the NUJ is attributed to an appropriate match between the union's new technology policy/strategy and the particular industrial circumstances. It may also explain the recent moves towards decollectivisation in the newspaper industry.
Sex Discrimination in Job‐Related Training
Authors: Green Francis 
Published: January 2009

AbstractWomen and men have unequal chances of obtaining training. Estimates of market discrimination in access to training are obtained using the 1984 Labour Force Survey. These show that young women suffer considerable discrimination, their chances of receiving training being reduced by a third or more, and their chances of receiving job‐specific training being reduced by one‐half or more, in comparison with young men. By contrast, older women either suffer much less discrimination or are even slightly favoured in comparison with older men.
Root Metaphor in Industrial Relations: A Reply to Tom Keenoy
Authors: Dunn Stephen 
Published: January 2009

AbstractWhere Keenoy takes liberties, I try to correct him. I did not say that the ‘old’ industrial relations has been superceded by the ‘new’. Nor did I suggest a Kuhnian paradigm shift. Nor did my argument hinge upon these things happening. Quite the opposite, in fact. The root metaphors are a problem precisely because little is scientifically decided between ‘old’ and ‘new’. Once such wrinkles have been ironed out, Keenoy and I seem to agree on a great deal. His conclusion, however, is more comforting than mine.
Determinants of Union Recognition and Employee Involvement: Evidence from London Docklands
Authors: Milner Simon , Richards Edward 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis article examines the determinants of union recognition and of employee involvement structures in London Dockland's workplaces, by means of multivariate analysis. The authors found that the respective dependent variables are significantly associated both with each other and with certain enterprise and establishment‐level characteristics. Significant independent variables include workplace size, ownership status, the presence of a personnel manager and the incidence of skill shortages.
Taiwan: An Exploration of Labour Relations in Transition
Authors: Kleingartner Archie , Peng Hsueh‐yu (Shara) 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper explores the emerging relations between workers and employers in Taiwan. The lifting of martial law in 1987 and other reforms have set in motion a basic restructuring of the industrial relations system. A union movement dominated by the interests of employers and the ruling political party has given workers little leverage in the employment relationship. Constrained collective bargaining plus consultation with employers offers the best long‐term prospect of providing a systematic basis for worker participation in the workplace and broader business and economic decision‐making.
Does Technological Change Affect Union Wage Bargaining Power?
Authors: Betcherman Gordon 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper uses data from a survey of Canadian establishments to consider the effects of computer‐based process technological change on wage bargaining power. The analysis finds that union wage differentials for blue‐collar workers as a whole were lower among firms that had introduced process computerization than among those that had not. The relationship between technological change and the union wage premium differed, however, for skilled and unskilled labour. The union wage effect was lower for skilled workers and higher for general manual occupations in the sub‐sample where process computerization had occurred. Explanations for these observed relationships appear to involve both economic and institutional components.
The ‘Skill‐oriented’ Strategies of German Trade Unions: Their Impact on Efficiency and Equality Objectives
Authors: Mahnkopf Birgit 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIn the present debate about options for the modernization of trade unions, the predominant argument being propounded is that trade unions and workers' representatives at plant level should take more ‘responsibility’ for the competitiveness of the firms. Among other things, they are advised to enter into ‘alliances’ with management at the level of qualification politics. This paper considers some important collective bargaining arrangements which the German trade unions have negotiated over the last few years in order to improve mutually beneficial further training decisions within German firms. The emphasis is on the potential of different agreements for achieving efficiency and equality objectives in the context of contemporary changes in production and restructuring processes.
Third among Equals: An Analysis of the 1989 Ambulance Dispute
Authors: Kerr Allan , Sachdev Sanjit 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis article traces the course of the 1989–90 ambulance dispute, reviews the unions' industrial, parliamentary and media strategies and evaluates the outcome. The decision by the ambulance unions to maintain an accident and emergency service throughout the dispute, to try to win public support and to use a single spokesperson were critical factors in determining the outcome.
Australian Experiments in Wage Policy
Authors: Hancock Keith , Isaac J. E. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIndustrial conciliation and arbitration have been pivotal in pay determination in Australia throughout the twentieth century. This paper examines how these institutions influence macroeconomic performance, paying special reference to their impact on cost inflation. It goes on to evaluate the contribution of the Accord (incomes policy) in the last decade. Consensus and participation within the institutional framework are shown to be essential for effective wage policy.
Recent Trends in British Trade Union Density: How Much of a Compositional Effect?
Authors: Green Francis 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe fall in aggregate trade union density in Britain between 1983 and 1989 is analysed. The influence of the changing composition of employment, according to gender, full‐time or part‐time status, establishment size, age, occupation, region and industry, is measured. The total effect of compositional change accounts for an estimated 30 per cent of the fall in aggregate density.
Integration Theory and European Labour Markets
Authors: Grahl John , League Paul 
Published: January 2009

AbstractStandard integration theory assumes that the law of the price holds within individual countries which can thus be treated as homogeneous units. Integration of two or more countries then amounts to removing the barriers to free exchange between them. Recently this conventional approach has been increasingly called into question. In the first place, as economic interpenetration grows, it becomes more important to recognize that national systems display many internal disparities and heterogeneities. Moreover, as recent advances in economic theory emphasize, transaction costs and lack of information prevent market agents from taking advantage of all profitable exchanges. As a result, most market situations cannot be seen as self‐clearing or capable of integrating spontaneously. Thus, institutional interventions and other co‐ordination mechanisms are required to promote economic adaptability. Viewed from this standpoint, the Social Charter and related initiatives can be seen as promoting orderly integration of the Community's labour market.
Behind the European Works Councils Directive: The European Commission's Legislative Strategy
Authors: Hall Mark 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe aim of the draft European works councils Directive is to bridge the gap between increasingly transnational corporate decision‐making and employees' nationally‐defined information and consultation rights. The proposal seeks to accommodate existing national systems of employee representation, but in the UK auxiliary measures would be needed to designate employee representatives in the absence of voluntary trade union recognition by employers. Although the Directive is strongly opposed by the UK government, the Maastricht social policy protocol has boosted its prospects of being adopted by the other 11 EC countries, with important repercussions for UK‐based multinationals.
Corporatism and the European Labour Market after 1992
Authors: Henley Andrew , Tsakalotos Euclid 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper addresses the question of the effect of labour market institutions on economic performance. It reviews evidence to show that the performances of highly centralized, or ‘corporatist’ economies, such as Sweden and Austria, have in the past been superior to those of the current EC members. It considers the implications of this for European labour markets given the process of European integration. It seems likely that Europe as a whole will gravitate to a weak form of corporatism which may be associated with poor economic performance. Therefore we contrast the prospects of a neo‐liberal deregulatory with a more corporatist strategy as the optimum response for the Europe Community of the 1990s.
Incomes Policy for Europe? or Will Pay Bargaining Destroy the Single European Market?
Authors: Marsden David 
Published: January 2009

AbstractWith European economic and monetary union, pay bargaining encounters a new set of constraints: devaluation is no longer available to compensate for inflation, and economic restructuring for the Single Market will place great strain on wage structures. The article analyses the problems posed to pay bargainers, and argues that, instead of pressing for more centralized bargaining, greater encouragement should be given to pay systems that favour more flexible use of labour and reduce the tendency to transmit inflationary pressures from one group to another. Joint regulation has a critical part to play in the effectiveness of these systems.
The State and Industrial Relations: Background to the Adoption of Compulsory Arbitation Law in Australia and Nigeria
Authors: Omaji Paul Omojo 
Published: January 2009

AbstractConventional wisdom maintains that industrial turmoil accounts largely for the enactment of the compulsory arbitration law, the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 and the Trade Disputes (Emergency Provisions) Decree 1968, in Australia and Nigeria respectively. Considering this view as patently inadequate, the paper investigates a broader background of this law in both countries and finds more critical factors at work. Important as the industrial turmoil was, this factor turned out to be merely a symptom of a more fundamental phenomenon, namely the lack of an institutionalized consensual collective bargaining system, arising largely from a similar form of interaction between the state and industrial relations in both countries.
Whither Solidarity? Transitions in Swedish Public‐Sector Pay Policy
Authors: Wise Lois Recascino 
Published: January 2009

AbstractAs part of a drive for efficiency and decentralization in government operations, Sweden is implementing a new system of pay administration in the public sector that is marked by a clear movement away from centralized wage negotiation and fixed salary increases towards more flexible and individualized pay rates. Despite rhetoric about performance and efficiency, the changes appear to be focused mainly on expanding wage differentials among occupational groups and offering market premiums to recruit and retain valued employees. Although the new pay system has not been integrated into a general management approach, it offers considerable challenge to the norms and values of solidarity that have traditionally been held so strongly in Sweden.
Union Exclusion and the Decollectivization of Industrial Relations in Contemporary Britain
Authors: Smith Paul , Morton Gary 
Published: January 2009

AbstractA major focus of the Conservative government's employment policy since 1979 has been the reduction of union power within the labour market, the employment relationship and as representatives of a separate ‘labour interest’ in society ' union exclusion. The principal impact of the legislative changes is to deny workers access to resources of collective power, thereby commensurately increasing employers' discretion to determine the terms of the employment relationship. When forming new subsidiaries and establishments, or purchasing non‐union subsidiaries, employers have been able to resist unionization and recognition except on their own terms, but comparatively few have terminated existing union recognition agreements, preferring to marginalize the role of unions through the adoption of partial exclusion policies ' joint consultation, direct communication, performance‐related pay, and the fragmentation of common employment and bargaining.
Co‐operation or Control? Capital Restructuring and Labour Relations on the Docks
Authors: Turnbull Peter , Weston Syd 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe abolition of the National Dock Labour Scheme in July 1989 resulted in a massive restructuring of Britain's ports which in many respects has mirror‐imaged that of the rest of the economy over the previous decade. In this context, the growth of small firms in the port transport industry since 1989, and in particular the emergence of workers' co‐operatives, can only be explained as a process through which capital has sought to regain or strengthen control over the labour process and offset the (highly variable) costs of fluctuating labour demand. The result has been increased productivity and control for the port authorities that own Britain's ports.
From Donovan to … Wherever
Authors: Dunn Stephen 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe Donovan Report is twenty‐five years old. Since publication it has been at the centre of debate about industrial relations in the UK. Though much criticized, it laid down the pattern of decentralized collective bargaining which is prevalent today in the unionized private sector. Re‐reading the Report, three things stand out: its defence of abstentionist law, its failure to explain how voluntary reform would work, and its fixed ideas about the shape such reform should take. These are discussed. The focus is particularly on management, especially whether the reforms acted as a drag on management's ability to change in the 1980sThis is the fifth Royal Commission, we are reminded in the opening paragraph, to have been appointed during the last hundred years to enquire into industrial relations. One of the few predictions which can be made with any confidence, after reading the thousand or more paragraphs which follow, is that it will not be the last. For the Commission has failed ….
The Contraction of Collective Bargaining in Britain
Authors: Brown William 
Published: January 2009

AbstractCollective bargaining has been transformed since the Donovan Commission reported. Their prescription for reform has been fulfilled by both the decline in multi‐employer agreements and the greater control exercised by the single‐employer agreements that have displaced them. It has, however, been confounded by the substantial contraction in the coverage of collective agreements, the narrowing in the scope of bargaining, the decline in the depth of union involvement and the erosion of unions' organizational security. In so far as this has been caused by the recent reversal of government policy towards collective bargaining, it cannot be assumed to be permanent.
In Search of HRM
Authors: Sisson Keith 
Published: January 2009

AbstractHRM has been the industrial relations issue of the 1980s and early 1990s. Although it has very few direct references to HRM, WIRS3 sheds considerable light on a number of the debates involved. Not only does it suggest that some of the ideas and practices associated with HRM appear to be taking root; its most striking, and paradoxical, findings are that these fragments of HRM are to be found in union rather than non‐union workplaces. These findings have considerable implications for policy and practice as well as for future WIRSs.
Procedures and Third Parties
Authors: Kessler Sid 
Published: January 2009

AbstractProcedural reform, with the help of third‐party intervention, was at the heart of the Donovan Commission's recommendations. This paper looks at what happened since then, and why. In the 1970s considerable progress was made, although this was hidden from public perception by a number of economic and industrial relations traumas. In the 1980s, with the swing in the balance of power to employers, change was often imposed, rather than negotiated, and the role of third parties diminished. The proportion of workplaces recognizing unions and the proportion of employees covered by collective bargaining was much reduced. Formal procedures remained in place, but this hid major changes in the conduct of workplace industrial relations.