Analysis Team mates Partnership agreements between employers and unions are the talk of the TUC conference. We are all partners now. Under New Labour the political and industrial climate has changed.
Stoppages are at an all time low - the table shows what causes the few there are.
Next summer there is the prospect of a legally enforceable right to union recognition under the employment relations act. No wonder then that partnership agreements with trade unions have taken on a new allure for employers. The TUC expects more, adding thousands to the TUC's already growing membership. Partnership can be a very elastic term indeed. Most union leaders hanker after the arrangement now under attack in Germany, complete with legally-underpinned structures of participation at company, industrial and national level.