The industrial relations of work-sharing

There is growing recognition in Britain that high levels of unemployment are likely to survive the current recession and economic policies. This explains the continuing interest in the work-sharing issue within British unions; this article examines some of the industrial relations issues and implications of the practice.     

Trends and developments in industrial relations and industrial relations law: Trade union discipline and non-strikers

Perhaps the most controversial change introduced in the 1988 Employment Act was the statutory right given to union members not to be disciplined by their unions for continuing to work during lawful industrial action approved by a majority in a secret ballot. Here the authors examine the legal contexts, implications for trade unions and the wider industrial relations and political significance of this important new right.     

The wildcat strike and industrial relations*

Institutionalised collective bargaining can be seen as a limited vehicle for the promotion of workers' demands. This detailed participantobserver case study in a plant in northern New Jersey describes the process of a wildcat strike and evaluates its efficacy as a means of advancing important aspects of workers' interests outside the conventional, institutional channels.     

Microchips and industrial relations

Microelectronics may be precipitating another industrial revolution. Greg Bamber considers relevant public policies in several countries. He identifies the likely issues of conflict and concludes that Britain should set up an Agency for New Technology to spearhead more positive government action, which could help to induce a climate of high trust at the workplace.     

Citizenship and industrial relations

Under the Victorian ideal of laissez-faire, industrial relations are conducted unilaterally by employers unimpeded by employees' rights of citizenship. The four facets of citizenship—civil, political, industrial, and social—impinge in a variety of ways on the employment relationship. Civil citizenship, by barring discrimination on account of race or sex, interferes with maintenance of segregated pools of cheap secondary labor. Political citizenship enfranchises propertyless workers and alters the enactments of legislatures. Industrial citizenship creates the institutional basis for collective bargaining. Social citizenship confers economic benefits and protective regulations not driven directly by market forces. Political ascendancy of laissez-faire advocates undermines rights of citizenship and has a retrograde effect on industrial relations.This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the First Industrial Relations Congress of the Americans in Quebec City to the Study Group on Industrial Relations as a Field and Industrial Relations Theory on August 27, 1988. I thank Jack Barbash for the opportunity to present it there.     

The industrial relations of skills formation

Central to human resource management is the question of employee skills and their effective utilization, through such arrangements as competency-based training, performance appraisal and assessment. In this context, collective issues come to the fore: the formulation of skills-based work and pay systems, the mechanisms and procedures governing workers' allocation to and progression through skills-based job classification systems, the tracing out of career paths and the conduct of skills audits and training programmes. These issues of necessity are largely being resolved at the enterprise level They are complemented by broader questions to do with skills standardization, accreditation and portability of qualifications, which can only be resolved at the trans-enterprise level. Because all these issues have a collective character, they provide an opportunity to extend the traditional agenda of industrial relations, at both enterprise and national and sectoral level. In this paper, the expanded industrial relations agenda is linked with the emergence of new production systems based on high quality, high value-added production where skills formation and effective utilization of skills become a competitive necessity.     

Democracy,labour and development: transforming industrial relations in Africa

Here the authors assess the status of labour development in Africa. The continental constraints of the political context and overall environment of the employment relationships are discussed. They conclude that the longer term role of African unions should be facilitated by greater tripartite concertation and government flexibility.     

The German model of industrial relations at the crossroads: past,present and future

This article examines the pressures for reform in the German model of industrial relations, with particular emphasis on the sectoral bargaining system. It assesses if, how and to what extent the German model with its proven track record should be reformed. The article advocates a reform path within the parameters of the excisting system in order to strike subtle balance between stability and change.     

The industrial relations of appraisal: the case of teachers

The industrial relations of appraisal is a neglected area. Here the author examines the introduction of an appraisal scheme of a unionised, public sector occupational group, and shows how an apparently individualised approach is collectivised by union involvement. It draws on documentary sources, quantitative and qualitative data in the analysis.     

The enterprise response to industrial relations legislation

The authors report a study into the impact of the former Labour Government's industrial relations legislation, much of which remains on the statute book. They focus on joint health and safety committees and provide a useful starting point for further research concerned to develop a model of firm response to industrial relations legislation in any particular subject area.     

Organisation strategies and industrial relations

Stuart Timperley discusses two important themes in the management of industrial relations in organisations: firstly, that it is possible, through managerial decisions and actions, to influence industrial relations and, secondly, that a case can be made for such decisions and actions to be implemented.     

The prospect of decent work,decent industrial relations and decent social relations in China: towards a multi-level and multi-disciplinary approach

Abstract

Decent Work is a key initiative launched by the International Labour Organization in 1999. The initiative is to promote decent and productive employment with decent conditions of freedom, equality, security and human dignity. In reviewing academic literature on decent work, existing studies have been conducted primarily from a legal and political economic perspective. It is also largely situated outside any national industrial relations framework, both theoretically and practically. Decent work is an advocacy initiative of ILO, but the promotion of universal values embodied in the notion (e.g. equality, fairness, justice and dignity) needs to be tailored to specific societal contexts. Drawing on existing academic literature, this review article examines ideological, institutional and cultural distances between decent work and the reality of employment in China. It argues that achieving decent work requires an ideological transition of ‘traditional’ Chinese work ethics and a cultural transition from collectivism and altruism towards individualism and an emphasis on individual rights. This study also examines and highlights regulatory enforcement deficits and the inadequate role of the trade union in facilitating the advancement of decent work at various levels. Finally, the article argues that the study of decent work should be mainstreamed as an integral part of decent industrial relations and ultimately, decent social relations. It calls for a multi-level and multi-disciplinary approach to examining the historical, political, economic, ideological and cultural context of specific countries in fulfilling the ‘Decent Work’ agenda.     

Transatlantic relations and the global economy

An Atlantic partnership has served for half a century to foster economic cooperation, but it is at risk today. This paper examines the reasons, including the growing importance of Asia, the changing nature of the economic problems facing the Atlantic partners, and limits on the scope for policy coordination resulting from changes in views about the best use of key policy instruments. The paper then proposes institutional reforms: The G-7 Summits should be replaced by informal meetings between leaders of the industrial countries and those of systemically important developing countries. European representation in the IMF should be consolidated, and the Fund’s Executive Board should be reorganized.     

On parole: prison service industrial relations

The voluntary and statutory measures to prevent prison officers from taking industrial action are examined in the context of the measures adopted to prevent industrial action by other groups of public servants. The paper concludes that the government does not have an overall strategy on strikes in essential public services, though it applies the most restrictive provisions to prison officers.     

The outcomes of works councils: the role of trust,justice and industrial relations climate

This article investigates trust and organisational justice as antecedents of works council (WC) effectiveness perceptions and the moderating role of industrial relations climate on this relationship. A 2‐year longitudinal study of WC participants in two UK organisations (a housing association and a professional services firm) was undertaken. Results show positive significant relationships between both trust and organisational justice, and WC outcomes of WC performance, WC usefulness and outcome satisfaction. Industrial relations climate is found to moderate the relationship between justice and WC performance, WC usefulness, and outcome satisfaction.     

Human resources and industrial relations: Commonalities and differences

A diversity of opinion exists about the definition, intellectual boundaries, and major premises of the fields of human resources management (HRM) and industrial relations (IR). To help provide a common frame of reference for discussion and debate on the symposium topic, I endeavor in this paper to flesh out a consensus position on these matters. The method used is largely historical. Based on a review of the origins and evolution of the two fields from the early 20th century to the present day, I show that human resources (HR) up to the early 1960s was typically considered to be a subfield of IR. In more recent years, however, HR has largely severed its links with IR and now is widely regarded as a separate, sometimes competing and sometimes complementary field of study. In the last part of the paper I use this historical analysis, together with a review of the literatures in the two fields and the findings and conclusions of the other papers in this symposium, to identity both the commonalities and differences that distinguish the two fields in terms of their approach to science building (research) and problem solving (policy/practice).     

The industrial relations of training: a reconsideration of training arrangements

The training debate has suffered from a tendency to over-state the consensual nature of skill formation. This position is challenged through an extended literature review and case study evidence from the printing industry. The article highlights the need for a broader conceptual framework for understanding training provision and bargaining arrangements