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INTERNATIONAL
& COMPARATIVE
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS Globalisation and change
Edited by Greg J Bamber, Russell D Lansbury and Nick Wailes
CHAPTER 2
Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th edition . Lecturers using the book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students in their course only. These slides may not be posted on any university library sites, electronic learning platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.
Lecture outline
Context and key themes The role of the state and shifts in British IR policy British union movement British employers and employers associations British styles of human resource management (HRM) Collective bargaining Employee involvement and participation Fairness at work European Union (EU) membership and consequences Networked organisations/outsourcing Conclusions
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Key themes
Especially since 1979 the British system has been radically reformed by interventionist legislation characterised by labour market re-regulation and attempts to foster a competitive enterprise culture Reforms were initiated by Conservative Governments between 1979 and 1997. Many were maintained by the 19972010 New Labour Governments. How would you characterise the approaches of the post-2010 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government? Combined with broader macro-economic trends and shifts in the labour market, such reforms have had profound effects on British industrial relations
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In an attempt to reverse economic decline, governments from the 1970s onwards legislated industrial relations reform The most radical of these reforms were those of the Conservative Thatcher Government (1979-1990) which aimed to reduce the power of the unions Some have characterised this point in British history as the shift from a voluntarist to a neo-liberal interventionist state
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Dispute settlement
The state has long provided conciliation and arbitration services to supplement voluntary collective bargaining and dispute procedures Since 1975 these services have been offered by the independent Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) under the Employment Protection Act ACAS is a governmental agency governed by a tripartite council, of employer and union nominees with a balance of independent members e.g. academics ACAS offers industrial relations advice as well as conciliation and non-compulsory and non-binding arbitration services to the parties to individual and collective agreement disputes
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3)
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Decline in strikes
Along with the decline in unionisation there has been a decline in strike activity From a peak of 3906 strikes with almost 11 million working days lost in 1970, the number of strikes fell to 116 in 2005, resulting in only 157 000 working days lost Wages and pay-related issues still underpinned more than half of the strikes in 1999 In the twenty-first century, a greater proportion of strikes are defensive strikes Decline of strike action in Britain may be steeper than elsewhere due to the restrictive legislation introduced by the Conservative Thatcher government
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There is no agreement on the relative effects of forces that have contributed to the fall in British unionism, yet it is generally accepted that these forces include:
macro-economic context changing composition employment and of the labour force management resistance and workplace practices state labour policies issues internal to unionism
1997-2010 Labour Governments did not reverse these trends and actively encouraged private-sector involvement in the public sector
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* All such percentages are estimates; measuring union density is not an exact science!
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In response to declining membership, the TUC has focused on organising strategies and establishing partnerships with employers in recent years, but with only limited success
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British unions were instrumental in the establishment of the Labour Party in 1906 Since the mid-1980s the Labour Party has increasingly distanced itself from unions, as it increasingly secured funding from the business sector and elsewhere Individual unions choose whether to affiliate themselves with the Labour Party; some unions do not affiliate
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Employers in Britain
Since the 1980s, British employers have exercised greater managerial power driven by higher levels of competition in product markets and reductions in unionism There is diversity in the mix and balance of individual employer strategies to achieve control, productivity increases and cost reduction, for example:
pragmatic/opportunistic approach (cost-driven strategy), vs. high-commitment approach (flexibility and employee commitment)
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Fairness at work
A national minimum wage was first introduced in 1999, as a positive contribution to fairness in the workplace Relative pay inequality has not been addressed and has been institutionalised in the form of bonuses and performancerelated pay Gender inequality remains evident; only a little progress has been made on this front beyond some redress in the form of the national minimum wage Increased immigration raises challenges in preventing and resolving disputes over racial discrimination at work Workplace bullying and harassment more generally is an issue of increasing importance
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Since the reversal of the UK opt-out from the EU Social Chapter in 1997, a range of new rights have been enacted in UK legislation, including the regulation of working time, a right to urgent family leave, a right to parental leave, a right to equal treatment for part-time workers and protection for fixed-contract workers Provisions for information and consultation, including works councils, are yet to have much practical effect
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The growth of outsourcing fragments the concept of employment relations and creates special challenges for individuals working for subcontractors in terms of:
Employment security Pay and benefits Employee voice
There is a challenge for those who try to theorise about IR and HRM to explain multi-employer networks
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Conclusions
Since 1979, the IR system has experienced substantial change from a voluntarist system to one of increased state intervention Despite increased juridification, there is still not a strong and centrally regulated IR system. This has resulted in employer autonomy to pursue either a:
Low-road/contract approach of cost-minimisation High-road/status approach of high-commitment
Union density fell to half of its peak in 1979 and unions are struggling to find a clear identity and new roles EU membership continues to influence domestic IR legislation
Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th edition . Lecturers using the book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students in their course only. These slides may not be posted on any university library sites, electronic learning platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.