bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Public Opinion, Trade Unions and Mrs Thatcher
Authors: Marsh David 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis article builds upon the explanation of the rise in trade union popularity developed by P. K. Edwards and G. S. Bain in a previous volume of this journal. The Gallup Opinion Poll data indicate that, while the public have consistently thought unions to be a good thing, they have equally consistently opposed any political activity by unions and the unions' use of ‘unsavoury’ tactics. These are exactly the activities which the Thatcher trade union legislation has restricted. As such, it is suggested that the rise in popularity of unions in the second and third terms of the Thatcher government reflect, in part, the fact that the public thinks they have now got the type of unions they always wanted: unions with a constrained ability to bargain collectively with employers.
An Industrial Relations Approach to the Free Rider Problem: Young People and Trade Union Membership in the UK
Authors: Cregan Christina , Johnston Stewart 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis is an investigation into the reasons for young people's union membership decisions in the UK. It is carried out by an examination of a survey of London sixteen‐year‐old school‐leavers (1979–80). The data are used in two ways. First, there is a comparative examination of a similar study based on the Bain‐Elsheikh propensity‐opportunity model. Second, the data are re‐examined to identify different and distinct strands of motivation or action, intrinsically and externally determined. These are related to formal theories from different disciplines which are linked together by the establishment of a definition of a trade union as a group, institution and social movement. The theory is extended to develop hypotheses about membership behaviour in general.
Institutional Aspects of Youth Employment and Training Policy in Britain
Authors: Marsden David , Ryan Paul 
Published: January 2009

Public policy towards youth employment and training in Britain during the past decade has been dominated by two themes: the quest to reduce youth relative pay, as part of a wider deregulation of the labour market, in order to increase access to jobs and training: and the neglect of apprenticeship in favour of the Youth Training Scheme. This paper analyses these policies in an institutional framework informed by the results of a recent research project on youth activity in industry in major EC economies (Marsden and Ryan 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991).The policy debate in Britain has tended to focus upon the effectiveness of lower youth pay at improving youth access to jobs and training (Wells 1983; Jones 1985; Junankar and Neale 1987). We accept the efficacy of lower youth pay but question its institutional viability. Youth employment and training policies must be well grounded in labour market institutions in order to achieve success. We argue that neglect of the institutional context accounts for the lopsided and partial success resulting from current policies in Britain, and that the revitalization of apprenticeship, either as such or in the equivalent form of a strongly upgraded public training scheme, has a great deal to offer.We begin with an outline of the relevant institutions. We trace their implications for outcomes in the youth market, contrast the divergent institutional directions taken by West Germany and the UK, and finally assess contemporary British policy towards youth activity in general and apprenticeship in particular.
Trade Unions and Productivity: The German Evidence
Authors: Schnabel Claus 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper provides a brief review of the empirical evidence on union productivity effects in Germany. The influence of trade unions on productivity is the net effect of conflicting forces which can lead to higher or lower productivity. Although the German dual system of workers' representation via unions and works councils is quite favourable to the existence of productivity‐enhancing ‘voice’ effects, various empirical studies have not been able to detect significant positive net effects of these institutions on productivity.
Company or Trade Union: Which Wins Workers' Allegiance? A Study of Commitment in the UK Electronics Industry
Authors: Guest David E. , Dewe Philip 
Published: January 2009

AbstractA particular dimension of organisational commitment, namely identity of workers with the values and decisions of an organisation was explored with 716 employees in three electronics plants; 46 per cent belonged to trade unions. The study examined the extent, the causes and the consequences of dual allegiance to company and union, single allegiance to one or allegiance to neither. Less than 10 per cent displayed dual allegiance and a majority displayed allegiance to neither organisation. The best predictors of allegiance were perceptions of trade union performance and job satisfaction. Those showing dual allegiance also indicated lowest propensity to leave the company. These results, from a key sector of manufacturing industry, show little evidence of high employee involvement. The most typical response would appear to be: ‘a plague on both your houses’.
Annual Review Article 1990
Authors: Terry Michael 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis personal annual review examines recent events, particularly in the trade unions but also among employers, in the context of the changed environment of the last decade. It finds that unions have emerged both strengthened and weakened from their experiences, but that they have some reasons for optimism. Employers' policies remain uncertain, mixing change and stability, but perhaps some new patterns towards union recognition are emerging. Neither unions nor employers have been able to match actions to their grander designs. The latest piece of labour legislation — the Employment Act 1990 — has the potential greatly to alter both the particular and the general.
Personnel Management: The End of Orthodoxy?
Authors: Guest David E. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractWithin the broad field of British industrial relations, personnel/human resource management grew significantly as a focus of conceptual and empirical analysis during the 1980s. This paper reviews the central features of this development and considers the prospects and priorities for future research. It argues that human resource management now represents a new orthodoxy within the general subject area, partly replacing the traditional Donovan framework. Research exploring the application of human resource management is reviewed. This reveals that only modest innovation has occurred, often with little evidence of positive outcomes. Seeking an explanation for this limited impact, attention is focused on the nature and effectiveness of personnel management. The reasons why there might be a ‘problem’ of personnel management are considered. Finally, the sustainability of the new orthodoxy is called into question.
The Impact of Trade Unions on the Diffusion of Technology: The Case of NC Machine Tools
Authors: Taymaz Erol 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper reports the results from an econometric analysis of the impact of unionism on the diffusion of technology. It is found that the extent of unionism does not have any significant influence on the diffusion rate of NC machine tools in the US engineering industries in the period of 1979‐83.
Changes in Wage‐setting Arrangements and Trade Union Presence in the 1980s
Authors: Gregg Paul , Yates Anthony 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIn this paper we detail the results of a retrospective survey of changes in trade union and wage‐setting arrangements in the 1980s for a sample of 558 UK companies. Our key findings are as follows. (1) Complete derecognition of unions in a firm was rare even in firms with low trade union density. (2) Partial derecognition in multi‐plant firms was more common. Some 13 per cent of companies with recognized unions in 1984 had had at least partial derecognition by 1990. (3) Large falls in trade union density within a firm have also been rare, though small but observable declines have been commonplace. (4) The coverage of the closed shop has substantially declined, and this decline has been most marked in the last five years. Around one‐quarter of firms with recognized unions in 1990, however, still had closed‐shop arrangement for at least part of their work‐force. (5) There has been no clear decline in the prevalence of multi‐unionism or multiple bargaining units. (6) There has been a significant move away from national/industry‐wide bargaining, towards negotiations at the individual company or more often the establishment level. (7) In the absence of collective bargaining there have been clear moves away from wage‐setting by formal external links, such as wages councils and multi‐employer agreements, and even away from worker consultation towards more managerial discretion. (8) In deciding wage settlements, managers are increasingly influenced by company performance and less by multi‐employer wage settlements.
Privatization, Regulation and Industrial Relations
Authors: Ferner Anthony , Colling Trevor 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe article examines the consequences of privatization for the industrial relations of former public corporations. Three effects of privatization are explored: the ending of direct political control, the creation of a regulatory framework for the major utilities, and the replacing of a ‘political’ orientation by a ‘shareholder’ orientation in privatized companies. It is argued that each may have significant consequences for management strategies and industrial relations, although these may not be what either protagonists or opponents of privatization have anticipated.
Integration and Dealignment in Public Enterprise Industrial Relations: A Study of British Rail
Authors: Pendleton Andrew 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper considers whether a process of dealignment of workplace organizations from the national union and industrial relations system has occurred in British Rail. As a starting point, it is noted that workplace representatives have traditionally been closely integrated with other actors in the system. Integration has been based on the supply of bargaining resources by the national union and other bargaining institutions. If new management industrial relations policies have cut back the supply of these, it is possible that workplace organizations will dealign themselves from the national union. This hypothesis is considered using data obtained from a survey of train drivers' representatives. It is found that there is no evidence for dealignment and that in a significant minority of cases closer rather than weaker links are being forged.
Juridical Perceptions of the Relevance of Accounting Data in Wage Fixation
Authors: Clarke Frank , Craig Russell 
Published: January 2009

AbstractMajor Australian wage fixation tribunal cases since 1900 have considered the significance and admissibility of accounting data. There is no evident juridical, employer or trade union perception that data drawn from conventionally prepared (historic cost‐based) accounting reports are technically unserviceable for determining either capacity or incapacity to pay money wages. The implied acceptance of the serviceability of published accounting data in countries with a tradition of collective bargaining suggests that considerable damage may have occurred already. Reassessment is long overdue.
Institutional Aspects of Youth Employment and Training Policy: Reply
Authors: Marsden David , Ryan Paul 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe central issue in dispute is the relative merit of occupational and internal labour markets for youth opportunities, and for skill retention and employee motivation in general. We stress the critical importance of ‘rate for job rules’ in ILMs in regulating youth entry in Western countries, and suggest some reasons consistent with our basic argument why ILMs may avoid these in Japan. ILMs in Europe and the USA have generally produced lower‐quality training and created serious problems for redeployment, without necessarily enhancing efficiency. We suggest that, under YTS, the transfer of government subsidy to trainees was more apparent than real.
Why Quality Circles Failed but Total Quality Management Might Succeed
Authors: Hill Stephen 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper examines how companies have sought to develop employee participation in the quest for business improvement, from the quality circle (QC) fad of the early and middle 1980s to total quality management (TQM) at the end of the decade. Thirteen companies provide evidence of the strategies adopted and support previous findings that circles collapsed as the result of inadequate organizational design which encouraged managerial recalcitrance. Moreover, TQM departs from traditional ‘cycles of control’ and looks likely to institutionalize participation on a permanent basis, and managerial employees as well as office and shop‐floor staff now have more opportunity to participate in decisions. TQM is not another passing fashion, because it can meet the interests of employees while providing top management with an effective way of organizing in the new times.
Labour Intensification, Work Injuries and the Measurement of Percentage Utilization of Labour (PUL)
Authors: Nichols Theo 
Published: January 2009

AbstractLabour intensification has often been assumed to be related to industrial safety, but surprisingly different views of this relationship have been held and systematic enquiry is lacking. A measure called the percentage utilization of labour (PUL) claims to monitor the intensity of labour in British manufacturing and therefore potentially affords the opportunity for a much more systematic investigation into the effects of labour intensity on industrial safety than has ever been possible before. This paper introduces the PUL measure and indicates why it might be thought particularly likely to register an increase in the 1980s. It then examines variation in PUL and in industrial injury rates in British manufacturing, both in the early part of the 1980s and over a longer period, in order to assess whether changes in PUL have tended to be associated with changes in safety. No consistent relationship is found. The evidence presented is reviewed, and the relationship between industrial injury rates, intensification of labour and the adequacy of the PUL measure for safety research is reconsidered.
Changes in Union Status, Increased Competition and Wage Growth in the 1980s
Authors: Gregg Paul , Machin Stephen 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper reports that unionized firms experienced lower average wage growth than their non‐union counterparts between 1984 and 1988. We attempt to evaluate the relative importance of two possible explanatory factors, the union‐related legislation of the 1980s, and increases in product market competition. While recognizing that these factors are intertwined, the results suggest the latter is of primary importance.
Union Influence on Local Union Leaders' Perceptions of Job Insecurity: An Empirical Test
Authors: Johnson Nancy Brown , Bobko Philip , Hartenian Linda S. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractAlthough recent studies have demonstrated that union workers value job security, little research exists about what causes these perceptions and how unions might affect them. In this study, a job insecurity measure is developed and analysed using a sample of union members. The results indicate that the relationships between union variables and individual perceptions of insecurity depend on the organizational level at which threats occur (e.g. arbitrary supervision or organizational decline). Furthermore, for higher source‐level threats, union members are often sensitive to the wage‐employment trade‐off in that, if they perceive their union to effectively raise wages, they have higher levels of job insecurity. However, work rules do not appear to have much effect on reducing job insecurity perceptions.
Annual Review Article 1991
Authors: Beaumont P. B. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper reviews a number of themes or subject areas in British industrial relations which attained a particular level of prominence in 1991. The leading themes covered are wage determination in the context of recession, public‐sector industrial relations, union recognition and derecognition developments, training, HRM competitive strategy and international joint ventures. Among the personal observations and comments made are that derecognition is far from being the most important indicator of management opposition to unions, that some criticisms of HRM are rather misplaced, and that the growth of international joint ventures warrants more attention from industrial relations researchers.
Why Should Human Resource Managers Pay High Wages?
Authors: Ulman Lloyd 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis essay is about human resource management, internal labour markets and assorted theories of wage behaviour. A stereotype of managerial activities and policies is sketched out in the first section, which, although reflecting a parochial (US) orientation, is intended to approximate a set of real‐world conditions to which analyses of labour market behaviour should presumably relate. In the second section we consider ‘institutionalist’ interpretations, which either supplement or challenge standard market analysis by appeal to the historical record, the behavioural sciences or even the consensus of expert behaviour. In particular, the importance of ‘conventional’ forces, based heavily on perceptions of equity, interpersonal preferences and custom and practice, is revealed by the scholarship and insights of Henry Phelps Brown. Next (Section 3) are assessed the claims and contributions of a sample of theories based on the assumption of individualistic utility maximization in competitive markets: the theories of equalizing wage differentials, human capital, deferred compensation, transaction costs, implicit contracts and (least conventional) efficiency wages. None is found to be lacking in interpretive value or relevance to one or more attributes of the stereotype, and all help to relate it to a wider family of markets and to economic behaviour. In general, however, this group is less satisfactory in explaining why wages should be high enough ‐ in a present‐value sense and relative to market‐clearing levels ‐ to contribute to the relative insulation of internal labour markets and to restrict employment. An exception is provided by efficiency wage theory, in particular by one of its older variants, which, because it is based on group (rather than individualistic) psychology and behaviour, is discussed in Section 4.
From Bermondsey to Canary Wharf: The Social Context of Change in Industrial Relations, 1880–2000
Authors: Bosanquet Nick 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper presents evidence on some of the key variables that have determined the economic status of different groups in the working population. Economic status is set by the level and security of real income and consumption. These are themselves determined by access to resources in the areas of the labour market, public services and social security, and in housing. The paper reviews the period between 1880 and 1990, and puts forward the likely situation in the year 2000. The century began with an agenda set by the problems of falling real incomes and poverty. It is likely to end with the problems of economic and demographic ageing as the main focus.
Economists and Data
Authors: O'Brien D. P. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper is concerned with one central question: the choice between theories, and the role played by data in that choice. It deals with the uses economists may make of data and the importance of understanding the institutional basis that gives rise to the data ‐ an area in which labour economists have traditionally been particularly strong ‐ and with the relevance of assumptions. It deals with the ultimate need to choose between competing theories (despite the role of conventionalism) on the basis of data rather than retreating into a comfortable ‘methodological pluralism’. It considers the role of test replication, with reference to the practice in natural science (and its role there in checking scientific fraud) and concludes that, despite extensive technical problems of testing, economists have to accept a data check if the rhetoric of mathematical technicality is not to overwhelm the need to explain. Parallels are drawn with experience in physics (and the implications of the development of Chaos and Catastrophe for a naively predictionist view are noted), medicine and history (of which, it is argued, modern economists are far too neglectful).
Industrial Conflict: Themes and Issues in Recent Research
Authors: Edwards P. K. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIndustrial conflict went out of fashion as an explicit research focus during the 1980s. Yet a review of the relevant literature suggests its continued importance. The review embraces: studies of collective protest at the level of the world economy and nation‐states; recent economists' theories of negotiations; assessments of the impact of Thatcherism on the level and nature of conflict in Britain; case studies of the place of conflict in new forms of workplace regulation; and analyses of the processes of strike organization. Conflict remained a central element of work organizations, though its form changed. The need to consider its place in emerging systems of labour control is as great as ever.
Use of Joint Consultation Committees by Large Japanese Firms
Authors: Morishima Motohiro 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIn Japanese union‐employer relations, managers of large firms often make use of the Joint Consultation Committee (JCC) system in order to avoid disputes with labour. This study first describes two such uses of the system, namely information‐sharing and pre‐Shunto (Spring Offensive) wage discussions. It then examines several economic, institutional and operational correlates of these uses. The results indicate that information‐sharing is a function of firms' operational structure, whereas the likelihood of pre‐Shunto wage discussions responds to short‐term changes in firms' economic performances as well as to institutional and operational factors.
Redundancy and Early Retirement: The Interaction of Public and Private Policy in Britain, Germany and the USA
Authors: Casey Bernard 
Published: January 2009

AbstractLabour force reductions have been a major issue in industrial relations in Western countries since the mid‐1970s. Early retirement has enabled employers to structure these reductions better to suit their interests, and to reduce the damage to industrial peace which would otherwise occur. This paper looks at the role and nature of early retirement in cases of redundancy in three countries with different industrial relations and social insurance systems. Attention is given to how compensatory policies undermine protective policies; how the costs of early retirement are shared between the state and enterprises; the adequacy of early retirement benefits and their impact upon post‐retirement income; and whether the state can be said to encourage early retirement.
The Social Charter: Whatever Next?
Authors: Addison John T. , Siebert W. Stanley 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis paper traces the development of the Social Charter since its adoption in December 1989. We examine and evaluate the more important policy instruments. It is shown that the mandatory and often ambitious ‘minimum standards’ set by the Commission are difficult to justify in efficiency terms by reference to market failure. Furthermore, the imposition of uniformity on states that are diverse in their patterns of regulation will retard competition between social systems. It is also likely that the countervailing moves taken by firms in reaction to the imposition of arbitrary standards will frustrate the redistributive aims of the policy.