Workplace bargaining in hospitals and schools: threat or opportunity for the unions?

Government policy has aimed to encourage the development of workplace bargaining in both the education and health services. This article traces those developments and looks at trade union opposition to the shift from national to workplace bargaining     

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE CUTS AND JOB LOSS: A UNION RESPONSE

This article is based upon the findings of a survey which was directed at assessing the response of a public sector union to job loss amongst its members. The study was prompted by the anticipated effects on the union of cuts in public expenditure announced by Mrs. Thatcher's Government in 1979 and 1980. The purpose of the survey was, first, to investigate the processes through which job loss occurred and, secondly, to examine the ways in which the union contested those managerial decisions that affected the job security of its members. The main conclusion of the paper is that union resistance has been relatively sparse and it is suggested that this may be in part explained by the way in which job loss occurred. Of particular importance in this context is the loss of jobs through what we have called ‘job erosion’.     

Postal ballots—some practical considerations

This article concentrates upon some of the practical difficulties surrounding postal ballots—level of membership involvement, the problems of contacting paid up members, the drafting of questions on ballot papers and—possibly the most important issue—the degree to which the results moderate outcomes.     

Trade union political funds

The most controversial part of the 1984 Trade Union Act is concerned with trade union political funds. This article suggests that the proposals challenge a consensus on political funding which has existed since 1913 and which could result in developments which the Government, when drafting these proposals, may not have anticipated.