Responses to Self Evaluations

Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 1

WEB SITE RESPONSES TO

SELF EVALUATION ACTIVITIES Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 2

RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATION ACTIVITIES - CHAPTER 1

Self Evaluation Activity 1.2: What ‘employment relations’ includes

Your list may not be an exhaustive one as we have not dealt with every aspect yet but you might have identified some of the following:

Institutions Trade unions, union federations, employers’ associations and employers’ federations, the TUC, the CBI, trade councils, industrial tribunals, joint industrial councils, government ministries, works councils, Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS).

Actors (individuals and groups) Shop stewards, convenors, full-time officials of unions and employers’ associations, personnel officers, directors, conciliators, arbitrators, tribunal chairpersons, judges, ministers of state and employees themselves organised collectively or as individuals.

Procedures Bargaining, negotiating, settling disputes, settling grievances, handling discipline, handling redundancies, achieving union recognition, policy-making, rule changes, tribunal hearings, calling strikes, avoiding industrial action through disputes procedures, referrals to conciliation or arbitration.

Topics Pay, hours, conditions of work, content of work, contracts of employment, termination of employment, industrial policy, government policy, political decision making, internationalism, union membership or non-membership, political affiliation, union duties and activities, maternity benefits, discrimination, discipline, picketing, strikes and lock-outs, safety, employee participation and technological change.

Self Evaluation Activity 1.3: The three management industrial relations functions

1. Company X has a traditional industrial relations management function and style. There are no Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 3

personnel or industrial relations specialists. The handling of employment relations problems is left to unqualified line managers and the Transport Director and dealt with on a ‘fire-fighting’ basis. Employment relations procedures hardly exist, and the manual workforce derive little benefit from its employer’s reluctant recognition of the unions. In short, the employment relations management of Company X is poor in the extreme.

2. The improvements you might have suggested include:

 the recruitment of an industrial relations or personnel director and one or two qualified specialists in personnel;

 the personnel and industrial relations team could then devise an appropriate policy for the conduct of industrial relations and personnel matters;

 the devising of written procedures covering disputes, discipline, grievances, redundancy, discrimination etc;

 recognition of trade unions for all employees with regular meetings of joint committees comprising management and union representatives;

 more workplace communications; and

 adequate training and development of employees. These improvements would change the employment relations management style and function to one approaching the ‘sophisticated’ function. A further development which you may have thought of is the eventual appointment of an HRM director who would oversee the personnel and industrial relations policies and practices of the company.

Self Evaluation Activity 1.5: Dispute resolving services of ACAS

1. By referring to the characteristics of each of arbitration, conciliation and mediation given above you should be able to identify the main differences between them. The main differences are:

 With conciliation, the conciliator actively intervenes and helps both parties to reach a mutually acceptable settlement. The settlement reached is determined by the parties themselves through negotiation.

 With arbitration, the third party, appointed by ACAS, adjudicates and sets the terms of a settlement.

 With mediation, the third party recommends a potential solution to the dispute but they still carry on negotiating to find their own details for a settlement. 2. You would, at this stage, probably find that the conciliation alternative is more acceptable to the negotiating parties at Strikes Ltd. This is the least constraining alternative and there should be enough industrial relations expertise and experience on both sides to reach an amicable, mutually acceptable settlement. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 4

Self Evaluation Activity 1.6: Pay pressures

There is no easy solution to this problem which affected a large number of companies during this period, but you may have thought of the following points:

 Part of the problem is to do with the supply of and demand for labour. During the 1950s and 1960s skilled labour was relatively scarce. It therefore became possible for skilled employees to work for companies offering higher rates of pay. Employers found that they were competing with each other for scarce labour. Those offering the highest rates had no problem attracting and retaining labour. Those such as ABC that adhered to industry-wide pay rates had problems retaining labour; this was particularly the case where there were several competing employers within the same geographical locality.

 In order to face up to this problem, ABC management would have to offer rates of pay superior to those of its competitors. It could do this by negotiating at organisation level with its own trade union representatives, the shop stewards. These negotiations would be much less formally structured than those conducted with the full-time union officials at industry level.

 As a trade-off with its employees, ABC management could offer negotiations concerning working practices and productivity. The trade-off would be higher wages for increased productivity, and the aim would be to secure a productivity package acceptable to both parties. Organisational level negotiations concerning productivity became known as productivity bargaining.

 One of the consequences of what Salamon calls the ‘shift in the locus of regulation’ (p. 18), would be a decline in the use of the employers’ association and the EEF for the purpose of industry-wide pay determination. This could result in the company’s eventual withdrawal from the employers’ association, which is what happened in 1962.

During the 1960s the situation existing at ABC became a fairly widespread phenomenon which affected much of manufacturing industry. The trend towards the development of organisational bargaining was accompanied by:

 an increase in the power of work groups;

 a greater input by shop stewards in negotiations with management on behalf of work groups;

 a resultant increase in the gap between workplace union organisation with shop steward representation, and the formal, ‘official’ union organisation comprising regional and national officials;

 an increase in ‘unofficial’ industrial action (action determined by union members and shop stewards rather than by the officials of the union); and

 the tendency for employers to conduct their own negotiations rather than negotiating through the Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 5

employers’ association at the industry level.

Self Evaluation Activity 1.7: Summarising

Early developments up to the 1920s included

 The growth of trade unions themselves from purely local organisations representing skilled craftspeople to larger bodies representing workers on a national and industrial basis.

 The development of employers’ associations and federations.

 The development of industry-wide collective bargaining dealing with substantive and procedural issues and the establishment of formalised arrangements and agreements industry-wide.

Later developments until 1979 included

 Rapid decline in trade union membership during the 1920s and 1930s which corresponded with high unemployment and recession during that period.

 Consolidation of industry-wide bargaining until the outbreak of the Second World War.

 A rapid erosion of industry-wide bargaining during the 1950s and 1960s.

 An increase in local, organisational bargaining, spearheaded by shop stewards and local employers which gave rise to the ‘two-tier’ system of industrial relations (local versus national).

 Much greater state legislative involvement in industrial relations, starting in 1971 with the Industrial Relations Act and continuing apace during the 1980s and 1990s.

 Government policies combined with recession and continuing high levels of unemployment resulted in a weakening of trade union power on the one hand, and a strengthening of the ‘rights’ of management to manage industrial relations.

 The emergence of a ‘new realism’ affecting trade unions and managements.

The reform of British industrial relations was considered necessary by both political parties during the mid-1960s for the following reasons

 Full employment, relative economic buoyancy and rising expectations of material consumption, amongst other factors gave rise to a general ‘feelgood’ factor encapsulated in the popular phrase ‘you’ve never had it so good’.

 This led to increased pay bargaining activity at organisational and local level which tended to establish local pay rates at higher levels than those established at industry level.

 Local bargaining, unlike industry bargaining, tended to be informal and fragmented and was reflected in the large number of local, unofficial disputes.

 Some commentators, such as Flanders (1975) argued that we now had a two-tier system of industrial relations which created increased conflicts and tensions within the industrial relations system as a whole.

 The changing locus of regulation highlighted the growing influence of local negotiators – the shop Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 6

stewards who were increasingly in conflict with the official full-time union officers who still regarded their role as industry-wide negotiators.

Self Evaluation Activity 1.8: Summarising unitary and pluralist perspectives

Whichever one you choose, try to write a statement of similar length to reflect the opposite philosophy. You should, of course, have identified the above statements as part of a unitarist perspective. Identified below are some example statements which are pluralist in nature:

We recognise trade unions as representing the legitimate interests of all our employees for the purposes of wage determination. We also accept that trade union representatives can advise and even help make decisions jointly with management relating to areas of management decision making. Our organisation is a broad church and we seek to accommodate a diversity of views and interests, even where those interests may conflict with those of the organisation. We recognise that conflict is often unavoidable and even an inevitable part of organisational life. Much of this conflict can be managed in a jointly acceptable way through the operation of procedures which have been negotiated with our union representatives.

The radical perspective, then, presents us with a critical rather than negative view of capitalism. Industrial conflict, according to this perspective is a reflection of the fundamental economic division and inequality within capitalist society, and trade unions are seen to play an important part by collectively mobilising the working classes in order to change capitalism or even replace it. If trade unions do not share this wider view of their role, then they are not fulfilling their primary purpose. Both unitary and pluralist ideologies/perspectives obviously do not share this concern: according to the radical perspective, unitarists and pluralists merely seek to legitimise the power of employers and in so doing reinforce the inequalities within the workplace and within society as a whole. The radical perspective is a valid theoretical analysis of capitalist society and broadens our understanding of the industrial relations processes within it.

Self Evaluation Activity 1.11: Can the state be neutral?

In the perspectives that we have already considered, we have assumed that the state takes a broadly neutral position, and you may well have arrived at that conclusion. However, critics such as Farnham (1997) argue that in practice the state is never neutral. The extract from Farnham reproduced below provides a justification for this point of view. Before you read the extract, note that: Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 7

 the term ‘voluntary collective bargaining’ is used in relation to traditional collectivism;

 the term ‘neo-laissez-faire’ is part of liberal individualism which we examine next; and

 the terms ‘bargained corporatism’ and ‘corporatism’ are sub-divisions of the corporatist perspective.

Politics, the state and the law are never neutral in employee relations. The roles of the state – as legislator, economic manager, employer or third party conciliator – its governmental agents, and the courts are crucial in determining the contexts within which employee relations decisions are taken. During the nineteenth century, in the age of classical laissez-faire, or the doctrine that economic decisions are best guided by the autonomous decisions of free individuals in the market place, the state’s role in employee relations was a minimalist and restrictive one. With the steady growth in the size, power and scope of the state in the twentieth century and the continued democratisation of society it was inevitable that the roles of government and the law would increase in employee relations. In the liberal, market-centred state, voluntary collective bargaining provides the model for employee relations where unions are strong. This was the dominant model for much of the post- war period . . . It was characterised by bi-partisan Conservative or Labour governments, with demand-management economic policies and legal abstention in employee relations. Where unions are weak in the liberal state, the model is described as neo laissez-faire. This was the case . . . since the early 1980s. During this period, Conservative governments supported supply-side economic policy and legal intervention in employee relations. (pp. 23–5)

Self Evaluation Activity 1.12: Filling in the gaps

See Figure 1.3(b) - Views associated with different perspectives to fill in the gaps.

Self Evaluation Activity 1.14: Summarising monetarism and Keynsianism See Figure 1.4 - Contrasting policy statements. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 8

Self Evaluation Activity 2.1: The notion of a ‘good employer’

You may have thought of how well workers might have been treated by paternalistic employers who, while obviously endorsing the constraints of the market, nevertheless accepted the view that labour was not merely a commodity to be ruthlessly exploited. According to Child’s research, the Quakers had four guiding principles which ideally should govern the nature of the employment relationship within Quaker firms:

 a dislike of exploitation and profit at the expense of others;

 an emphasis on hard work and service of others;

 equality and democracy; and

 a dislike of social conflict.

While the Quaker movement had a great deal of influence over Quaker firms, only two of these principles were acted upon as being more compatible with the demands of the market – that of service to others and the abhorrence of conflict. Gospel and Palmer state:

Quaker employers were spurred to produce an articulate defence of management in social terms . . . They argued that employers had the moral and social responsibility to lead their organisations effectively and use the most efficient managerial techniques. This would enable them to serve the community by improving the pay and conditions of their employees . . . The Quaker employers led the way in introducing welfare measures for employees like paid holidays, sick pay, pensions and in providing a better quality of working life. These benefits would traditionally have seemed harmful to employer interests because they raised labour costs, but there were real economic returns in terms of reduced labour turnover and increased productivity. Enlightened policies did not alter the basic authority relationships at work or represent any radical rejection of employer objectives posited by classical economic theory. (p. 38)

Self Evaluation Activity 2.3: Power bases at the disposal of management

Reward power often underpins individual aspects of the employment relationship. For example, the incentives the employee thinks management can offer may range from promotion to increases in pay Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 9

based on appraisal of performance. This type of power is more manifest in non-unionised contexts. Within unionised organisations, reward power is mediated by collective bargaining and joint consultation arrangements, and there may be jointly negotiated procedures for promotion and other issues.

Punishment power can be coercive and are often expressed as threats such as ‘If you don’t like the wages I pay then go elsewhere – there are plenty of others queuing up for a job.’ and ‘You’re not paid to think, you’re paid to do as you’re told.’ and ‘If you can’t work harder than that there are plenty who will – go and collect your cards.’. A manager or supervisor can have an employee’s pay withheld for late attendance or allocate him the most troublesome work. Most work organisations now have disciplinary rules and procedures and if these rules and procedures are breached, this can lead to disciplinary action from suspension without pay to the ultimate sanction of dismissal.

Power based on assumed ownership of information can give rise to industrial relations problems. For example, in a negotiation situation between management and employee representatives, information concerning investment, downsizing, contracts and other financial matters may be withheld from the employee representatives. More generally, management may or may not decide to communicate certain information to employee representatives.

Legitimate power or authority, is that power which is deemed to be legitimate and therefore acceptable and which stems from the formal position and status of a manager within the organisational hierarchy. In this sense, rules and procedures are developed which govern aspects such as promotion, selection and training of employees, the administration of pay and reward systems and the determination of issues subject to negotiation with trade unions. Delegated authority to line managers ensures the supervision of allocation of work to employees and the monitoring of standards of performance.

Expert power has become more important as specialist knowledge grows, and is based on a division of managerial work. In the industrial relations context, for example, there are specialisms within human resource and personnel management which facilitate control over labour (see page 68 onwards).

Referent power is based upon personal qualities and charisma and is more commonly a manifestation of the ‘informal’ organisation where getting results may depend more upon the quality of interpersonal relationships than upon the operation of formal rules and procedures. For example, the informal relationships between members of negotiating teams often exert a disproportionate yet beneficial influence upon the outcome of negotiations. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 10

Self Evaluation Activity 2.4: Examples of management control over the workforce

Examples of control include:

 Technological: work is controlled by machinery and the assembly line. Arguably the traditional assembly line imposes the greatest degree of control while craft technology imposes the least.

 Bureaucratic: workers are controlled by rules and procedures and the detailed specification of work content and method.

 Financial: concerns issues such as investment decisions (what particular plant and machinery to buy), and remuneration decisions (determining levels of pay for the workforce).

In addition, Thompson (1990) argues that control of work involves the mechanisms whereby employers direct work tasks, procedures whereby performance is supervised and evaluated, and the apparatus of discipline and reward.

Self Evaluation 2.6: Illustration of Braverman’s thesis

In this example, we have:

 a de-skilling process which transforms, or degrades craft work into unskilled work; and

 the implicit transfer of control from craft worker to management.

This follows Braverman’s view. Braverman did not see the use of automation to de-skill jobs as an expression of the inevitable impact of technology per se, but as a product of the need to control the labour process in order to increase profits. Braverman would accept that the reason for technological change derives directly from managements’ attempts to seek control over the labour process. Taylorism as a form of managerial control and the contribution of Braverman have triggered a lively debate concerning the claim of a single universal trend towards the deskilling of work. The ramifications of this debate need not concern us here, but there are a few criticisms of Braverman’s argument which are relevant to the management of the employment relationship (Grint, 1991; Wood, 1982; Thompson, 1990).

 Braverman assumes that the drive for profit requires management to take control over the labour process away from the workforce, and that one particular strategy, Taylorism, is the most appropriate way of achieving this. This argument has been questioned on the grounds that firstly, there are other strategies available for management to control labour and that secondly, these strategies may not involve a deskilling of jobs and reduction in worker autonomy. Friedman (1977), for example, has argued that a Taylorist strategy of ‘direct control’ may be appropriate for semi-skilled or unskilled Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 11

‘peripheral’ workers, but that a strategy of ‘responsible autonomy’, which delegates a certain amount of discretion to workers in order to gain their commitment to management goals, is more appropriate for skilled ‘core’ workers (for example, skilled engineers) who are strategically important to the production process.

 A second criticism suggests that Braverman presents a picture which suggests that the workforce passively accepts the deskilling of its jobs and offers no resistance to, or at least makes little attempt to influence, management plans.

 A third criticism concerns Braverman’s assumption that the employment relationship is characterised by conflict and low trust. This leads to the erroneous conclusion that the workforce always needs to be controlled by management and ignores the possibility of common interests that may exist between management and workforce (for example, a common interest in the survival of the firm).

Self Evaluation Activity 2.7: Relating style to particular cases

Garibaldi The style of management at Garibaldi is undoubtedly unitarist, according to Fox’s initial classification. Later refinements of both Fox and Purcell and Sisson places Garibaldi’s management style within the traditional category as labour is viewed mainly as a factor of production and is subject to the vagaries and whims of management and its assumed prerogatives. Trade unions are opposed but may be ‘forced’ upon the organisation by government legislation. This in itself may not be enough to re-categorise Garibaldi’s management style unless other changes such as the introduction of proper procedures, provision for staff development and consultation arrangements are introduced. Home Office Unlike Garibaldi and from the evidence provided, the basic Home Office management style would appear to be predominantly pluralist and more specifically, could be argued to demonstrate a combination of ‘constitutional’ and ‘standard modern’ styles. You could refer to relevant quotes and/or policy to justify this.

Self Evaluation Activity 2.9: Changing industrial relations strategies: the ongoing case of Rover

We can identify at least three distinct approaches to the management of industrial relations at BL/Rover:

 the approach adopted during the pre-Edwardes era;

 the approach adopted by Michael Edwardes; and

 the approach adopted by Graham Day and his successors.

Pre-Edwardes British Leyland, formed from many different companies had to consolidate its industrial Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 12

relations. Insofar as there was a strategy, it tended to mirror the approaches adopted by its constituent companies, and while management styles tended to be pluralist and ‘standard modern’ in nature, levels of conflict tended to be high during most of the 1970s. The typical approach adopted by management was to recognise trade unions (membership density was high) and to adopt a ‘firefighting’ approach to everyday industrial relations problems. There were inconsistencies and marked variations in handling important issues between the constituent plants. The two systems of industrial relations referred to by the Donovan Commission Report (See Chapters 1 and 4) were very much in evidence at British Leyland; the formal system of joint consultation and collective bargaining, and the informal system of shop stewards. There were many unofficial disputes and interruptions to the production process which typified industrial relations in the car industry during this period. On the other hand, however, there were attempts to reform industrial relations, which for management often meant aspiring to gain control of industrial relations at the workplace, an example of which was the attempt to reform wage structures by introducing a system of ‘measured daywork’ (a flat rate with no bonuses).

The Michael Edwardes era was characterised by what became known more generally as ‘macho management’. Macho management was characterised by:

 Thatcherite assumptions about union power and the encouragement given to employers to mount an anti-union offensive in the workplace;

 sweeping away of restrictive practices;

 intensification and reorganisation of work;

 marginalisation of unions; and

 forging ‘a new more direct relationship with their weakened workforces who gave their consent to these changes and came to identify with the fortunes of their employer’ (MacInness, 1987, p. 92).

If macho management actually became a general phenomenon, at least within media currency, then Edwardes was the pioneer of it. In his interpretation of his role at British Leyland Edwardes stated:

The real problem was that management was still striving to get into the driving seat, having been out of it for many years . . . we needed to re-establish management authority . . . We could either regain control of the company, or in the event of failure, concede that closure was the only viable option. (Edwardes, 1983, pp. 78–85, quoted in Blyton and Turnbull, 1994)

In 1979, Edwardes successfully sacked the senior convenor Derek Robinson, ostensibly for opposing management’s policies for the company. He then pushed through wide-ranging changes in working practices and several very low wage deals. Examples of this management tendency in other organisations included British Steel, where the workforce was reduced by almost two-thirds by 1986 and News International at Wapping where the firm relocated production of its newspapers and introduced new Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 13

technology using a non-union workforce. These high profile examples of macho management did not herald an era of wholesale confrontation with unions. Most organisations adopted a more subtle approach emphasising communication, employee involvement and consultation, and when Edwardes departed, the new Rover management followed this latter approach.

The post-Edwardes phase is characterised by a more consultative style of industrial relations and a strategy which emphasises both HRM and industrial relations issues. Rover remains a highly unionised organisation, and the strategic shift to a more constructive relationship with unions is counterpoised by an emphasis upon techniques designed to enhance individual employee commitment, that is to embrace both collectivist and individualist policies and procedures.

Rover: a postscript – the end of the ‘New Deal’? BMW, the highly profitable luxury car maker, had invested £2.5 billion in Rover since it paid more than £800 million to buy it from British Aerospace in 1994, but even this level of investment could not counteract projected losses of up to £400 million for 1999. This is despite the agreement between the TGWU and Rover, endorsed in a ballot of Rover’s 39 000 workforce in 1998 entailing the loss of 2500 jobs and the introduction of flexible working patterns which would help close a 30 per cent productivity gap with BMW’s German plants, save £150 million a year and end overtime in an industry whose employees had lived off such bonuses. The BMW board had also, supposedly, sanctioned a further £1.3 billion to rebuild the Longbridge plant and put in a new line to produce up to 500 000 medium-sized cars a year to replace the 200 and 400 series, but this would be dependent upon government subsidies, which, if not forthcoming could see the closure of the Longbridge site. By the end of 1999 it became clear that the BMW board had decided that Rover was a liability, and a large part of the company, including the Longbridge Plant, was eventually sold off in 2000 to a management consortium.

Self Evaluation Activity 2.10: Definitions and models of personnel management

The first definition relates to the normative model, while the second is an example of the descriptive- functional model. The normative models usually stem from a unitary perspective while the descriptive- functional models share a pluralist perspective. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 14

RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATIONS - CHAPTER 3

Self Evaluation Activity 3.1: A ‘living wage’

The Webbs argued that the doctrine of ‘a living wage’ which was taken up by trade unions in the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century would ensure, or at least offer the prospect that workers could expect to receive a wage sufficient to guarantee ‘an efficient and vigorous working life’ (Webb and Webb, 1898, p. 591). Essentially, it assumes that wages should keep pace with the cost of living, and that the best organised groups with substantial bargaining power through their trade unions could achieve this, while, conversely, those groups who were least organised and with little bargaining power would remain at or below subsistence level.

Self Evaluation Activity 3.3: The development of the trade union movement

You may have thought of the following points

 Trade unions emerged as a collective response to capitalism, and the need to resolve conflicts of interest between buyers and sellers of labour on a collective basis.

 Organisationally, trade unions evolved from the trade clubs of the 19th century.

 Trade unionism was initially concentrated within traditional industrial sectors such as coal-mining and engineering. The emergence of national union organisation during the mid-19th century was facilitated by industrial changes, the widening market for labour and goods, greater mobility of workers and the growth of employers’ associations.

 The repeal of the Combination Laws and the trade union legislation of the late 19th and early 20th century progressively established the legal status of trade unions.

 Political factors such as the growth of the Labour Party, the granting of immunities to trade unions and the gradual incorporation of the TUC and the trade union movement in general into the mainstream of economic and political decision making, established the basis for the ‘bargained corporatism’ of the immediate post-war decades.

Self Evaluation Activity 3.4: Craft bypass

One example is printing a previously skilled craft which has been superseded by capital-intensive computerised processes. Another example is vehicle building, a craft based on hand-built skills which has been overtaken by assembly-line technology. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 15

Self Evaluation Activity 3.5: Industrial representation

It could be argued that within the railway industry the union formerly known as the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) was a genuinely industrial union, but on closer inspection, train drivers evolved a separate union to organise foot-plate workers (ASLEF), and clerical workers maintained their own white-collar union (TSSA). The NUR has now merged with the National Union of Seamen (NUS) to form the National Union of Rail, Marine and Transport Workers (RMT).

Self Evaluation Activity 3.6: Advantages and disadvantages of general union structure

Advantages of the general union type include:

        the ability to provide a more extensive range of services for members than smaller unions;

 the ability to develop specialist expertise for particular categories of members which has the advantage of retaining existing membership and attracting new groups and even smaller unions to merge with the larger union (as in the case of the Boilermakers and the GMWU to form the GMB); and

 the ability to play an important role in influencing decisions within the TUC and the wider labour movement.

Disadvantages of the general union type include:

 the danger that bureaucratic and remote methods of policy-making might undermine internal democracy;

  during periods of chronic unemployment and falling union membership generally, as in the 1980s and 1990s, the general union is more vulnerable than many smaller, more specialised unions; and

the potential for conflict between shop stewards and full-time union officials may be heightened.

Self Evaluation Activity 3.7: Place crosses in some boxes

You should have placed your crosses as follows:

Open Closed Vertical Horizontal GMB X X UNISON X X NUM X X NUT X X

 The GMB is ‘open’ in its recruitment policies, with a wide spread of members across industries. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 16

 UNISON is a union recruiting mainly within public services and local authority areas, although there is now more emphasis on recruitment within private services, including ‘contracted out’ services, hence it is more ‘open’ than ‘closed’. Consequently, membership coverage is broad (horizontal), although there is some vertical recruitment, particularly in the former NALGO sector.

 The NUM is a ‘closed’ union which recruits vertically.

 The NUT competes with other teachers’ unions, and to all intents and purposes is closed, and recruits vertically.

Self Evaluation Activity 3.8: The birth of UNISON and Amicus-MSF

It is unlikely that further increases in membership could be achieved through additional amalgamations. One of the aims of UNISON is to build and develop the union’s organisation at the workplace and extend it to areas of public service provision where there is no union. A further aim is to recruit and organise at least 1.5 million members by the year 2000 with particular priority given to the recruitment of young people. In addition, the consolidation of its membership base in groups where membership is already well-established (local authorities and healthcare for example) would be an appropriate strategy.

Self Evaluation Activity 3.9: The ‘new unionism’ of the GMB

The democratic structure and processes within the GMB incorporates both horizontal and vertical representation; horizontally across, and vertically within sections, which reflects not only the diversity of membership but also its changing composition. The Turner classification of union types would place the GMB firmly within the ‘popular bossdom’ category (heterogeneous membership; mainly unskilled/semi- skilled; and generally low participation rates). Nevertheless, as with the example of the TGWU, the GMB leadership would endorse the image of promoting the idea of a ‘popular democracy’, encouraging broad-based membership participation in union and membership issues as evidenced by its adoption of the ‘New Bargaining Agenda’.

Self Evaluation activity 3.10: Expectations of the steward’s role

1. With regard to the external role set, the trade union may indicate in general terms the formal duties of a workplace representative which may include:

 assistance with negotiations on wages and/or conditions of employment;

 helping members to handle and resolve grievances;

 representing members with disciplinary problems;

 helping to recruit new employees to the union;

 representing members concerning health and safety issues; and

 collecting members’ union dues – a declining aspect of the steward’s role. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 17

The union will not specify how the steward should proceed with his or her representative functions either in terms of representing members to management and union, or representing the union to members and management. The steward’s role behaviour will also be influenced by the expectations of the full-time union officer(s) with whom he or she comes into contact. This relationship can be fraught with problems. For example, research into the causes of the 1997/1998 Liverpool docks dispute has revealed a history of friction and conflict between dockers’ representatives and the full- time officials of the TGWU (Lavalette and Kennedy, 1996). More generally, union officials are often regarded as being too remote from the workplace, leaving stewards to get on with the job as best they can. On the other hand, stewards may become too dependent upon the full-time official (Boraston, 1975).

2. An important element within the steward’s internal role set is the membership which, in theory, elects the steward and to whom the steward is accountable. One factor which may influence membership expectations of the steward role is the extent to which leadership qualities are conferred on the steward by the membership. The assumption that the steward is an informal leader has given rise to a number of studies such as that of Pedlar (1973) which attempt to identify leadership functions. Pedlar proposes a threefold typology of steward leadership attributes:

 Initiator who is proactive and encourages members to take up issues which concern them.

 Responder who is reactive and deals with problems when they arise.

 Representative who acts as spokesperson in dealing with other members of the internal role set.

If the workplace is large enough, there may be several shop stewards belonging to the same trade union who may form a Shop Steward Committee which benefits individual stewards by providing mutual psychological support and reinforcement of collective bargaining. Multi-union workplaces with stewards from more than one union may have a Joint Shop Stewards Committee which assists inter-union co-ordination over a whole range of workplace-based issues. Where such committees exist, one or more stewards may assume the role of senior shop steward.

A further significant influence within the internal role set is management which, in organisations having decentralised bargaining arrangements, will engage in direct negotiations with senior stewards and full-time officers. However, too close an identification and involvement of stewards with management may have undesirable as well as beneficial outcomes. For example, a study of the effects of the implementation of the ‘Total Quality Initiative’ at Rover Cars during the late 1980s revealed considerable disaffection with senior stewards amongst sections of the Longbridge assembly plant’s workforce. The senior stewards were regarded as collaborating too closely with management Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 18

concerning changes, the consequences of which were not adequately communicated or properly understood (Rose and Woolley, 1992).

Self Evaluation Activity 3.12: Membership decline during the 1980s and

The GMB research paper entitled ‘Changing Job Patterns and GMB Recruitment Prospects’ (1997), offers a unique insight into the problems of declining membership faced by trade unions such as the GMB. The extent of membership decline up to the end of 1997 is indicated in Table 3.3. The combined membership of all unions which today form the GMB totalled 1.4 million in 1979, and by the beginning of 1997, in common with the vast majority of unions, GMB membership had fallen to some 715 000. The paper states:

Over the past 18 years all unions have been handicapped by a hostile working environment. High levels of unemployment and a long series of anti-union laws have turned recruiting and representing members into much tougher tasks. (p. 1)

The paper goes on to make the following points:

 Unemployment has sapped confidence and undermined negotiating strength.

 Workers have become well aware of their vulnerability when faced with macho management. Many thousands have had to seek assistance from bodies like the Citizen’s Advice Bureaux because their employer has refused to recognise a union.

 Some of our stewards and staff representatives have suffered at the hands of belligerent bosses backed by an aggressive government.

 Shrinking workplaces have made organisation and recruitment more difficult where the union is already established.

 Our biggest problem has been in establishing union organisation on new sites in the face of hostile employers who refuse recognition.

 Our membership strength in manufacturing . . . suffered severely . . . As the manufacturing sector shrank, GMB numbers sank.

 GMB strength in the (public) utilities suffered as that sector saw its share of total jobs halved due to privatisation.

 Our modest level of membership in financial services left us poorly placed to win the race to recruit as the number of jobs in banking and insurance boomed. We did better elsewhere in the business services sector – notably in the security industry – a sector whose share in total employment increased by 50 per cent by the mid 1990s.

 Our base in distribution, hotels and transport allowed us to offset some of the losses elsewhere by Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 19

successful recruitment in these private sector services.

 Were it not for the traditional GMB strength in public services, and the relatively stable share that non-marketed services like local government and the NHS have taken in total employment since 1979, GMB membership might have sunk like a stone.

In essence, then, the reasons given by the GMB paper for decline in its membership are structural (decline in manufacturing during the 1980s, and unemployment generally), government policy and legislation, management and employer attitudes towards trade union recognition, declining size of workplaces, and privatisation of public utilities. Before considering the more general reasons for decline in membership, (many of which are hinted at by the GMB paper), we now briefly look at the nature of the decline.

Self Evaluation Activity 3.13: Explanations of union membership decline

Taken together, the above factors would seem to provide a credible explanation of the decline in trade union membership. However, there are certain important caveats that should be borne in mind. The business cycle and employment composition explanations, as Waddington and Whitson point out, may account for the bulk of the sharp membership decline of the early 1980s which witnessed a steep rise in unemployment and incomes together with the decline in manufacturing, while the effects of legislation and employers’ policies were less relevant as explanations. During the later 1980s and 1990s the relative importance of these explanations changed somewhat as the cumulative consequences of the legislation and employers’ policies became more apparent. More recent research by Elias (1997) casts some doubt over the validity of the trade cycle explanation. Gallie et al. (1997) argue that Elias’s analysis:

shows that there is in fact no significant relationship between changes in the national rate of inflation and trade union membership. There is somewhat more evidence in favour of an effect of the national unemployment rate, but the effect is rather weak. In general, he (Elias) concludes that business-cycle theories have little explanatory power and that the more important influences on membership lie in individual labour market experiences and in the characteristics of the employment situation. Much more important than the national unemployment rate was people’s personal experience of unemployment. The strongest influences of all were the characteristics of the jobs people held. Those who were employed in the public sector, in larger-sized establishments, in manufacturing, or in transport and communications were notably more likely to be union members. (p. 24)

Self Evaluation Activity 3.14: Responses to de-recognition

This depends on whether you think that derecognition is a short-term phenomenon which will disappear Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 20

as a result of the 1999 legislation in this area, or whether, as Claydon suggests, ‘there seem to be grounds for thinking that purposive derecognition might become more widespread’ (p. 179). Metcalf (1991) argues that unions could possibly prevent derecognition by:

 agreeing to negotiate at local level when there are situations where employers decide to end national collective bargaining arrangements; and

 by moving towards single-table bargaining and adopting a more co-operative industrial relations stance.

In relation to Metcalf’s argument, it should be noted that the introduction of localised bargaining arrangements not only fragments an industry’s workforce but also makes staged, purposive derecognition easier to accomplish. In addition, the term ‘cooperative industrial relations’ can be used to describe a number of employee relations practices, mainly instigated by management and in situations in which unions have no choice but to accept these practices, and in the process will probably concede control over main aspects of the employment relationship. We may, therefore, agree with Claydon when he argues that ‘while cooperative industrial relations may in some circumstances reduce the incentive for managers to attempt derecognition, unions ignore their traditional sources of power at their peril. The seemingly intractable issue facing trade unions, however, is precisely how to maintain these traditional sources of power in the face of the movement towards union exclusion which has increasingly come to define the “new industrial relations” ’. (pp. 171–2)

Self Evaluation Activity 3.15: Extent to which recruitment aims are achieved

The GMB example represents a move to what has been described as ‘managerial unionism’ with its ‘emphasis on the union operating proactively and seeking to discover what will attract workers to the GMB and retain them in membership and then harnessing its internal resources to ensure appropriate services are delivered’ (Heery, 1997, p. 190). However, in order to do this effectively, unions in general need to ensure that local officials are sensitised and receptive to new recruitment ideas and methods and that local union offices are appropriately resourced. Gallie et al. (1997) reinforce this cautionary note and argue on the basis of extensive case material and survey evidence of union organisation in Rochdale undertaken by Penn and Scattergood (1997) that:

The central source of weakness of the local unions was . . . the acute understaffing of the unions at local level and the deeply entrenched traditionalism of views about recruitment. The local union offices were hopelessly under-resourced. Officials in three of the major unions were unable even to provide estimates of the number of members they had in Rochdale. In some cases, union officials Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 21

were unaware that they had members in certain establishments. The picture that emerges is of local officials sometimes at a distance from the locality, working exceptionally long hours, lacking relevant information and overloaded by the demands placed upon them. This helps, in part, to account for the fact that local union organisations showed relatively little initiative in trying to widen their recruitment bases. Despite calls from the national union organisation to launch major campaigns to extend recruitment among women and to find ways of incorporating peripheral workers into union structures, there was little evidence of any substantial drive at local level to open up major new areas of membership. The traditionalism of the unions was reflected in their structure, with women and Asians still heavily under-represented within the unions’ own local leadership. Their internal structure made them poorly equipped to formulate the types of demands that would extend their membership. (pp. 27–8)

There can be no doubt, then, that unions have a new orientation to recruitment by defining new collective needs relevant to gender, race, age and contract status, and by offering incentives to potential members (personal pensions, mortgages and personal loans), but as we have argued, unions still face problems in translating these needs and aims into practice. Nevertheless, recent evidence concerning union recognition and membership recruitment suggests grounds for optimism.

Self Evaluation activity 3.16: Beginnings of the distancing of New Labour from the union movement.

The following extract provides some of the reasons you may have considered:

Under its new Leader, Tony Blair, the Labour Party has distanced itself more than ever from union influence. Blair has openly sought to reform Labour from the ground up and turn it into a modern social-democratic political platform which, after sixteen years in opposition, is capable of winning the next election by attracting the middle-class vote (which, of course, it has done). One of the party’s top priorities is therefore to tackle the power of unions and their leaders. The proposal to scrap ‘Clause 4’ elicited strong protests from some unions. According to Clause 4, Labour’s role was ‘to secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service’. For seventy years this was the principle underlying the party’s efforts to nationalise the foundations of the British economy. The proposal to drop Clause 4 was adopted by 27 of the 30 branch organisations of the constituency party, but only a narrow majority of unions voted in favour of this move. Powerful unions, such as the TGWU (14 per cent of conference votes) and UNISON (11 per cent), cast their block vote against the proposal without consulting their Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 22

members beforehand. Attempts by the unions to make their approval contingent on undertakings to work towards full employment, re-nationalise the railways, overturn Conservative anti-union legislation and introduce a national minimum wage came to naught. (Visser and Ruysseveldt, 1996, p. 61)

Another reason for the distancing of Labour from the union movement is electoral. In order to broaden its electoral appeal the ‘New’ Labour Party had to win over the middle class (the so-called ‘middle England’ factor) with policies which contrasted radically from those of the ‘old’ Labour Party. The electoral success of ‘New’ Labour in May 1997 appeared to vindicate the party’s approach, although it is too early to assess the impact of these embryonic policies upon the trade union movement in particular, and industrial relations generally, despite the introduction of the national minimum wage and the Employment Relations Act, 1999. However, as part of its ‘re-launch’, the TUC has broadened and deepened its contacts with the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative party, and has established presences at the annual conferences of these parties. To be sure, relations between the TUC, the trade union movement generally and government have improved, and there is at least a minimal consensus with the Labour government concerning policies in relation to Europe, minimum wages, employment protection and union recognition. Nevertheless, the TUC will not be as influential in influencing government policy decisions as it was during the post-war ‘corporatist’ decades prior to 1979. The TUC’s bid for ‘social partner’ status with government, which includes strong ties between trade unions and left leaning governments and the ‘need’ of such governments to depend upon union co-operation in managing the economy is likely to be frustrated. The main reasons for this include:

 The overall economic policies and strategies of the government which maintains a continuity with many elements of the previous Conservative government’s economic policies.

 The commitment to maintaining UK labour market flexibility and reluctance to strengthen individual and collective employment rights beyond those contained in the Employment Relations Act.

 The ongoing process of distancing the party from its traditional union base together with attempts to build new support and bases among the business sector and the private-sector middle class. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 23

Self Evaluation Activity 4.1: Redressing the power imbalance

As we have seen in Chapter 3, from the early 19th century onwards workers attempted to organise into trade unions: the principle of collective action and ‘strength in numbers’ was established as the most effective antidote to capitalist economic and power relations. Marx and Responses to Self evaluations Engels recognised the considerable potential of trade unions as significant vehicles of working class political action and consciousness. Unions could serve as instruments for challenging the system of class domination, and as ‘schools of solidarity’ generating consciousness for the class struggle, provided they retained a role as political movements, aiming and working to overthrow capitalism and its inequalities. Thus, according to Marx, organised manual workers’ demands reflecting a truly socialist commitment would be oriented towards issues of control, towards questioning the principles of ownership, organisation and the system of power relations in production rather than being simply economistic in nature – that is, attempting merely to alter the worker’s market position within the structure of capitalism, for example by concentrating upon pay and conditions. Action of the latter kind would generate only ‘trade union consciousness’ and not the revolutionary consciousness necessary for the overthrow of capitalism.

Self Evaluation Activity 4.2: Summarising pluralism and marxism

The pluralist perspective rests on the idea that power in liberal democracies is not and cannot be concentrated since these societies possess means of influence, representation and redress, and responsiveness of leadership, and politicians (as ‘honest brokers’). Government, as neutral arbiter, must choose between competing policy alternatives, the choice being an outcome of the relative efforts of the various interest groups (such as the TUC and CBI) and of government’s judgement of what is popular. Since we all have the opportunity to mobilise pressure and make our views felt, all individuals have some chance of influencing decisions, with the result that Western societies in particular manifest a fluid structure of power with a diversity of influential interest and pressure groups and ‘power units’.

The Marxist perspective is based on the view that the state and government serve the interests of the dominant capitalist class or bourgeoisie because that class owns the means of production which enables it to exploit other classes (the proletariat) economically and socially. In order to maintain and legitimise its dominance, the bourgeoisie allow limited incorporation of other interests but debar these interests from wielding any power or authority within society. Government is seen as a tool of the bourgeoisie and perpetuates the ideology and values of capitalism thereby ensuring that these values are endorsed by Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 24

all members of society.

Self Evaluation Activity 4.3: Becoming a corporate state

The British economy has become increasingly dominated by large corporations, and the trade union movement is equally dominated by a small number of very large unions. For example:

 By 1998 the top 50 companies employed around 5 million people, over 20 per cent of all people in employment. Between them, central and local government and the National Health Service employed some 18 per cent of all employees. In the private sector, the tendency for companies to merge and ‘rationalise’ their operations continued.

 Trade union membership shows a similar concentration (See Chapter 3). In 1970 there were 565 trade unions, and by 1991, as a result of merger and amalgamation, this had declined to 315. With the decline in trade union membership and the ongoing trend towards amalgamation, the concentration of union membership within a smaller number of large unions has continued.

 There has also been an increasing tendency for post-war governments to concentrate and centralise power. This concentration of power led to a situation in which participation in government decision making was based not so much upon the principles of liberal or parliamentary democracy but on bargains struck outside parliament among representatives of the appropriate functional groups and agencies – employers, trade unions and government – to which individuals belong. This process was very much in evidence, for example, in the 1970s preoccupation with tripartite control (involving employer, union and state representatives) of quasi government institutions such as:

 The National Economic Development Council.

 The Manpower Services Commission.

 The Health and Safety Commission.

 The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.

 The Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Industrial Tribunal system.

Collective laissez-faire is the view that the parties to industrial relations should be allowed complete autonomy in their relationships and that government should not intervene in these relationships except in order to protect the employment interests of individuals when no other means are available and to uphold the wider interests of society as a whole when these are threatened by particular industrial pressure groups. Bargained corporatism represents a consensus approach to industrial relations, taking the view that many areas of economic and industrial relations policy-making and management should be shared between government, employers (represented by the CBI and other employers’ associations) and unions Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 25

(including the TUC).

Self Evaluation Activity 4.8: Effects on employment

Without going into the intricacies of the model, it clearly indicates that if there is an increase in withdrawals, for example in savings or taxation, or if there is a fall in injections, for example, a reduction in government expenditure, there will be less to spend on goods and services, less income for firms, less available to pay wages, and thus a fall in demand for labour. This will not necessarily lead to unemployment as the intended consequence might be to reduce excess demand for labour and thus counter cost-push inflation. The opposite is also true. For example, an increase in government expenditure or a decrease in taxation will put more money into the circular flow. If this is spent on more goods and services, it leads to an increase in economic activity, and hence to increased employment. But the level of increase is eventually limited by the capacity of the economy.

Looking at this in another way, when people spend their income on buying domestically produced goods, they are creating income for the firms who make those goods. The firms use that income to pay their workforce, their suppliers and their shareholders, who thus receive income which they in turn spend. Now consider what would happen if, instead of spending all their income on domestically produced goods, they spent part of it on imports. This spending does not create income for domestic firms, who therefore suffer a fall in income. Payments to their shareholders, their workforce and their suppliers will therefore be reduced. Since these groups will have suffered a fall in income, they in turn will reduce their spending, and so on. In theory this process would continue until a new equilibrium would be reached at a lower level of national income since, in each successive spending round, the size of the fall in spending will become less and less.

The overall drop in national income (that is, the change in the equilibrium level) which is brought about by the initial withdrawal will, however, be larger than the size of the initial withdrawal. This is the so- called multiplier effect which we described in Chapter 1. As another example, lower government expenditure leads to lower national income, and as the converse is true, any given change in injections or withdrawals has a magnified impact on national income. Each of the three forms of injection or withdrawal will have a similar impact in terms of raising or lowering the equilibrium level of income.

Self Evaluation Activity 4.10: Inflation according to…

It would be demand-pull. As we were to discover in the credit boom of the late 1980s, too much money in circulation ‘pulls’ prices up – particularly for things like property and shares. There is a general willingness to spend more, and if the things people want to buy are in short supply, prices must rise. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 26

Monetarists would also argue, however, that too much money in circulation enables unions to ‘push’ for higher wages, there being less resistance from employers able to pass on the increases to their customers who are willing to pay more owing to the easy availability of credit and so on.

Self Evaluation Activity 4.11: Obstacles to the market

Supply-side policies seek to remove rigidities in the labour market in the belief that trade unions can introduce rigidities which hinder the smooth operation of market forces. They therefore advocate that measures should be taken to curb the powers of trade unions and they call for legislation to change the institutional framework within which the labour market operates. For example, various statutes designed to protect employees from unfair dismissal and to provide compensation for redundancy are believed to discourage potential employers from taking on new workers because the cost of dismissing them, once hired, is so high. The repeal of such statutes, it was argued, would increase the willingness of employers to recruit new workers. Supply-siders also, of course, advocated the abolition of wages councils, which, it was argued, kept wages artificially high and therefore reduced the level of employment in such occupations. For similar reasons, supply-siders opposed the introduction of a national minimum wage, arguing that it would result in higher unemployment. Other obstacles included:

 the bargaining power of trade unions, largely deriving from their legal immunities;

 inefficient and expensive state monopolies; and

 disincentives to work and invest, such as high personal and corporate taxation levels.

Self Evaluation Activity 4.13: The exceptions

One of the problems with exceptions such as these is that they are not all compatible with each other. Any attempt to improve the position of the low paid, for example, is bound to disturb relativities and thereby generate pressure for further exceptions. Similarly, the productivity exception can disrupt relativities or comparability in a way that undermines the long-term stability of the policy. Productivity can grow at different rates in different industries for reasons that are quite unrelated to the relative attributes of the workforce. Moreover, in some sectors productivity is difficult, if not impossible to measure. Even where it can be measured, there is considerable scope for ‘bogus’ deals, which was one of the major problems to emerge in the 1965 policy. Other reasons for exceptional treatment have included equal pay (following the 1970 Act), ‘unsocial hours’ and so-called ‘special cases’. The rationale behind the latter two has typically been either the need to placate some group with sufficient bargaining power to destroy an incomes policy (such as the miners) or to reward some group which can command widespread public sympathy (such as the nurses). Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 27

Self Evaluation Activity 4.14: Institutional and political constraints

The main institutional constraints are:

 The decentralised nature of collective bargaining in the private sector is an important constraint (See Chapter 6). The large number of bargaining units at national and local level makes it very difficult to monitor compliance with an incomes policy, be it voluntary or statutory.

 If, on the other hand, the private sector is not restrained – as happened during the 1980s – the heavy reliance on comparability in determining public sector pay makes it virtually impossible for the government to control its own pay bill without generating considerable resentment.

 Variations in settlement dates for wage and salary agreements impede the successful implementation of incomes policies by including some groups but not others. Any groups ‘trapped’ in this way may well feel aggrieved.

The main political constraints are:

 Despite post-war consensus, the underlying adversarial nature of the two-party political system and the relatively short life of a government means that incomes policy is continually being undermined for short-term electoral gain.

 Both Conservatives and Labour have fought elections on a ‘no incomes policy’ basis, only later to be forced, admittedly by circumstances beyond their control, to introduce such policies. Each government in turn, however, has then endeavoured to move back towards ‘free’ collective bargaining in time for the next election. The result is that incomes policies have been short-lived, and any short-term beneficial effects have been nullified by subsequent events, such as the so-called ‘Winter of Discontent’ in 1978–9.

Self Evaluation Activity 4.15: Functions of labour law

As far as the auxiliary function is concerned, we have made some progress. Trade unions do not yet have a right to recognition; but if and when they are recognised the law gives them a range of rights, such as the right to information for collective bargaining purposes – which help to promote effective collective bargaining. A major step in this direction was the statutory duty given to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to ‘promote the improvement of industrial relations, and in particular to encourage the extension of collective bargaining and the development and, where necessary, reform of collective bargaining machinery’ (section 209, TULR(C)A, 1992).

The regulatory function of the law is probably where we have made most progress. Employees now have a substantial ‘floor of individual rights’ ranging from the right not to be discriminated against during the course of employment to the right not to be unfairly dismissed. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 28

In relation to the restrictive function, the general position is virtually unchanged. Trade union immunities have been drastically reduced, but the law remains largely ‘negative’ as it still focuses on what trade unions cannot do rather than on what they can do. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 29

Self Evaluation Activity 5.1: Commitment and HRM

Guest (1995), argues that organisational commitment is important for four main reasons. Firstly, ‘by holding out the prospect that committed workers will be highly motivated and will go ‘beyond contract’, it promises higher performance’. Secondly, ‘committed workers can be expected to exercise responsible autonomy or self-monitoring and self-control, removing the need for supervisory and inspection staff and producing efficiency gains’. Thirdly, ‘committed workers are more likely to stay with the organisation thereby ensuring a return on the investment in careful selection, training and investment’. Finally, ‘but central to the discussion of HRM and industrial relations, it is assumed that a worker who is committed to the organisation is unlikely to become involved in ‘industrial relations’ or any type of collective activity which might reduce the quality and quantity of their contribution to the organisation’ (ibid.: p. 113).

Self Evaluation Activity 5.2: Industrial Relations Change

Some of the main changes are:

 a fall in the number of strikes, in the number of workers involved in strike action, and in the number of working days lost;

 a decline in trade union recognition;

 the move from industry-wide or national multi-employer bargaining to single employer or organisational bargaining and a shift from multi-establishment to single-establishment bargaining;

 a decline in trade union membership and density;

 a decline in the coverage and scope of collective bargaining, especially in the private sector and the privatised industries and services; and

 a decline in and eventual abolition of the closed shop.

Self Evaluation Activity 5.4: Extrapolating

1. In the future, a clear majority of British employees will work in non-union workplaces, where their pay and terms of employment will be largely determined by their employer, and that the proportion of Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 30

employees working for employers where the ‘traditional’ system of union membership and representation, collective bargaining and joint regulation will decline. 2. The growth and development of non-union workplaces will be characterised by an emphasis on ‘employee relations’, joint consultation, an employer-employee relationship based on individualism, not collectivism, and growth in a range of policies and practices designed to increase employee commitment, motivation and involvement. 3. Where union representation and collective bargaining are retained, many employers will seek, probably successfully, to limit their activity, scope and importance. Many employers will also undoubtedly seek to steer their workplace relations towards the non-union employee relations model. 4. Should the unionised sector continue to demonstrate the clear wage and conditions of employment premium which, at present, results from collective bargaining and union representation, employees could well become disillusioned with the ‘new’ employee relations model. Furthermore, labour market movements might well paradoxically, favour the ‘old’ unionised workplace industrial relations system. 5. The 1990 workplace survey clearly demonstrates the important role played by structural changes in the British economy and the labour laws enacted since 1979, in dramatically reducing the dominance of workplace union representation and collective bargaining. It is not unreasonable to anticipate that these fundamental trends will continue largely unchecked. 6. There are two largely unpredictable factors which could change the future of workplace industrial relations and divert the present clearly detectable trends. First, as the result of Britain’s acceptance of the Maastricht Treaty and despite Britain’s opt out from the Social Chapter, EU policies might well restore trade union influence and legal interventions in the labour market which would favour the ‘old’ unionised industrial relations model. Second, the appeal and popularity of trade unionism might well return, as the Thatcher era retreats into history and disillusionment with free markets, economic individualism and enterprise culture grows. (op. cit., pp. 397–8)

The first prediction is based on the continuation of existing trends and assumes that the trend towards individualising the employment relationship will persist. However, as the research by Penn and Scattergood demonstrates, traditional patterns of unionism still exist and may well persist. The government White Paper entitled Fairness at Work (1998) and the ensuing Employment Relations Act, 1999, established the principle of enforcement of trade union recognition where a majority of the workforce want it. This may well encourage an increase in trade union membership and a decline in non- union workplaces. The second prediction will be valid for larger non-union firms, but smaller firms will continue, in general, to adopt an ad hoc approach to these types of policies. The validity of the third prediction depends upon the degree of receptivity the unionised workforce have towards HRM policies and practices and the nature of workplace bargaining power. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 31

Prediction four is largely speculative, as is prediction six, although with regard to the latter, Britain has now endorsed the Social Chapter. Prediction five insofar as it acknowledges the importance of structural factors, would appear to have some validity as workplace union representation depends upon the level and density of union membership which is stabilising after a long period of national decline.

Self Evaluation Activity 5.5: The Ford workplace

Fordist production systems such as the one described above still operate in manufacturing industry and tend to have adverse rather than beneficial consequences for workplace industrial relations. The main industrial relations issues within unionised workplaces using Fordist production methods stem from the nature of the work, control over work and low-trust relationships between managers and workers. Work is arduous and monotonous and may give rise to feelings of alienation (Blauner, 1964 – where workers view their work as being meaningless and where workers have little or no control over the work process). High levels of job dissatisfaction can result in high rates of absenteeism and labour turnover. Fordist systems tend to facilitate management control over the work process (Braverman, 1974) and low- trust relations between supervisors and workers characterised by conflicts over control and the speed of the line. Hyman (1980) argues that:

Through the process of negotiation of order the ‘frontier of control’ in each workplace is set. It is a fluid and shifting frontier: the limits of management authority and employee obedience are imprecise and always open to renegotiation. In some situations this instability may take the form of recurrent overt conflict, as either party takes advantage of temporary shifts in the balance of workplace power to alter the basis of the control relationship. (p. 315)

Self Evaluation Activity 5.7: Flexibility in three contexts

Both are examples of increasing numerical flexibility, and both operate towards the lower end of the retail market. Competition is based largely on price rather than (but not entirely excluding) quality of products and/or service. This places a priority on reducing operating costs rather than on investing heavily in staff skills and expertise. Cost control very much focuses on labour costs, and the increased use of part-time and casual labour reduces both wage and non-wage costs in the following ways:

 staff are only paid when their services are needed;

 depending on the number of hours worked each week, part-time staff qualify for fewer statutory rights such as sick pay, paid maternity leave and protection against unfair dismissal (but this is now under government review); and

 given the high levels of labour turnover and absenteeism in retailing, ‘nil hours’ contracts can provide Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 32

a pool of labour to cover temporary gaps among full-time and permanent part-time staff.

Ackers et al. (1996) add:

Evidence of the creation of a new ‘periphery’ through the growth of non-standard employment and employers’ strategic use of this group to change the employment opportunities of workers and weaken or exclude trade unions is thin. While case evidence suggests substitution of full-timers by part-timers and a dilution of union influence, employers overwhelmingly use atypical or non- standard employees – temporary workers, part-timers, contract workers, freelancers, etc. – not to strategically segment and weaken the bargaining position of workers and trade unions (although, of course, this may be one consequence) but for conventional reasons of covering for sickness absence and short-term peaks in demand or to supply specialist skills. (p. 14)

Self Evaluation Activity 5.9: Employment relations in call centres

You might have concluded that, given the nature of the control and supervisory systems which operate in call centres, together with the seemingly relentless pace of work, adversarial industrial relations would have been the order of the day. However, surprisingly enough, from the research and survey data available, albeit limited and to some extent inconclusive with more research required, staff in most centres appear to be contented, and that higher pay rates tended to compensate for the extra stress (call centre pay is often a combination of performance-related-pay and a fixed basic rate). The composition of the workforce is also of relevance with the gender and age profile, mainly female and relatively young who prefer a team atmosphere and the new working environment to a cramped office. Labour turnover is relatively high, mainly because of ‘burn-out’, and according to Fernie and Metcalfe, eighteen months is ‘about as much as a computer telephonist can cope with’. Some of the research dealing with industrial and employment relations is considered briefly in the following section.

Self Evaluation Activity 5.10: Organising and servicing approaches

The TUC ’s ‘New Unionism’ initiative referred to earlier endorses the view that in expanding beyond the traditional boundaries of trade unionism, there is both scope and necessity to introduce innovative organising techniques in order to establish workplace union structures that are both relevant and sustainable (Simms et al., 1999, TUC 1998; 1999). The organising techniques most commonly used include the use of organising committees; identifying potential members based on the likelihood or probability to join a union and the use of workplace ‘activists who recruit on their own rather than relying on the services of the full-time union official’. The servicing approach stresses the importance of the full-time official as recruiter and the provision of services to members if they need it. Earlier in this section we also identified the sweatshop perspective on work organisation which emphasises highly bureaucratic and constraining workplaces with high Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 33

levels of surveillance and a low-trust employment relationship, and was contrasted with the more positive MCB image, which, while acknowledging the constraining factors characteristic of the sweatshop approach also addresses the ‘enabling’ characteristics of call centre work. In considering the wide diversity of call centres and the equally broad spectrum of employment conditions within them, it would seem reasonable to assume that unions would target particular call centres and workforces in their recruitment drives and strategies. Therefore within the ‘sweatshop’ environment, more traditional methods of recruitment utilising the ‘servicing’ approach would seem the most appropriate. Conversely, within MCB type environments, the more innovative ‘organising’ approach would be the more suitable one to adopt (See Chapter 3 for a more detailed account). Simms et al.’s research tends to confirm this hypothesis, albeit on the basis of examining one particular call centre. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 34

Self Evaluation Activity 6.2: Webbs’ view and criticism of Flanders

Flanders presents a summary as follows:

To sum up my argument so far, the fundamental mistake of the Webbs – and the source of confusion inherent in the term ‘collective bargaining’ – lay in their assumption that one economic process was being replaced by another as individual, or so they thought, gave way to collective bargaining. They did not appreciate . . . that they were not comparing like with like. Negotiation is not the same process as bargaining in markets. A collective agreement is not truly a collective bargain. Trade unions do not sell the labour of their members; nor do employers’ associations, unlike individual employers, buy it. When, however, one goes out from the alternative premise that what is known as collective bargaining is primarily a political institution because of the two features already mentioned – that is a rule-making process and involves a power relationship between organisations – no logical difficulties obstruct a satisfactory definition . . . (p. 220) . . . Because the Webbs treated collective bargaining as an economic process, a position which followed logically from regarding it as a collective equivalent of individual bargaining, they tended to overlook, as others have done who followed in their footsteps, all of its non-economic aspects. (p. 224)

Self Evaluation Activity 6.3: Which perspective is most useful?

To a certain extent this will depend upon the scope of the bargaining exercise. Where there is limited scope for bargaining, the marketing perspective comes into play. Where the bargaining scope broadens, and as more substantive and procedural issues are negotiated, and as the focus moves from market to managerial issues, then the managerial concept itself will feature strongly. Flanders favours the managerial concept, but this requires a willingness, particularly on the part of management, to share in decision making over a wide range of issues. The British experience over the past twenty years or so suggests the opposite (with some exceptions): unions have been derecognised and collective bargaining has been marginalised. Even collective pay determination in some organisations has been eroded by performance-related and merit pay packages. The contemporary reality of many employment situations suggests that where collective bargaining exists it does not extend too far beyond market and governmental parameters.

Self Evaluation Activity 6.4: Ford Motors Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 35

1. Looking at each issue in turn: Pay and conditions falls mainly into the marketing concept of bargaining, although it should be noted that if there were to be a ‘pay off’ for either side making concessions (promises of greater job security in exchange for agreement on the new shift system), then this would involve elements of the managerial concept. Proposed procedural agreements is largely a governmental matter as this concerns ‘constitutional’ arrangements between the parties. The total quality initiative, the redundancies issue, communications and smoking policy are all managerial issues which extend beyond the basic economic and contractual matters. 2. The bargaining relationship at Ford Motors represents a mix of conjunctive/distributive bargaining and co-operative/integrative bargaining. In larger organisations within both the private and public sectors of industry, there is often a combination of both types of bargaining relationship, although a complex of factors will determine whether one type dominates over the other. As we have argued, over the past twenty years, with collective bargaining on the retreat, distributive/conjunctive bargaining is the dominant bargaining relationship type. The example of Ford Motors, however, demonstrates that co-operative/integrative bargaining is the more common bargaining relationship concerning total quality, redundancies, communications and smoking policy.

Self Evaluation Activity 6.6: Factors influencing bargaining power

1. BritChem In the case of BritChem, there are two levels of bargaining. Basically, BritChem is a single-employer bargainer for all its three main categories of employees and while basic conditions and procedural issues are negotiated centrally, there would appear to be considerable leeway at plant level to augment the central agreement and to include other local issues on the negotiating agenda. There is one union representing each of the main employee categories, and hence there are three bargaining units within the company. The scope of bargaining would appear to be quite broad at plant level, where many plant related issues would be negotiated, while at the centre, it is both more limited but with a strategic focus. All centrally bargained agreements would be formal so that there is no ambiguity about the nature of the agreement amongst the workforce, and this would also be the case at plant level (remember that in the 1950s and 1960s, domestic bargaining was largely ‘informal, fragmented and autonomous’), although the social relationships between employee representatives and local management could well be informal. 2. BritEng The bargaining arrangements at BritEng follow the traditional multi-employer industry-wide pattern. The most important bargaining level is that of the industry and any local bargaining is probably too Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 36

insignificant for bargaining levels to be described as ‘two-tier’. There is only one bargaining unit (the manual workers) as the single union represents all grades and skills, and the scope for bargaining is very limited at enterprise level. 3. BCS BCS, by paying ‘lip service’ to national pay agreements for its 250 transferred staff is involved, although not actively, in local authority pay determination, undertaken nationally. The bargaining unit comprises the 250 transferred employees although no in-house bargaining actually takes place.

Self Evaluation activity 6.7: Collective bargaining: main trends and patterns

The 1980s and 1990s, then, have seen radical changes in the patterns of collective bargaining in Britain as the above tables indicate. The main changes are now summarised:

 The decline in the importance of multi-employer bargaining in UK private manufacturing and service sectors has already been commented upon. This is part of an ongoing trend that we have traced back to the 1960s. By the early 1990s multi-employer bargaining accounted for only one-fifth of employees in the private sector (Brown and Walsh, 1991). During the latter half of the 1980s, many national bargaining arrangements were terminated including banking, shipping, quarrying, airports, food retailing and newspapers. The most significant of these terminations, as Blyton and Turnbull (1994) note was the withdrawal from collective bargaining by the Engineering Employers’ Federation (EEF) in 1989 after a prolonged dispute with the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU) concerning a shorter working week.

 By 1990, single-employer pay bargaining featured prominently within private sector services for both manual and non-manual employees. However, single-employer pay bargaining had declined in private manufacturing between 1984 and 1990, but this was accompanied by an increase in importance of enterprise-level pay bargaining for manual employees for that sector during the same period.

 Within the public (non-privatised) sector, multi-employer bargaining remained dominant for both manual and non-manual employees, although increasingly, within the local authority sector, many authorities modify national conditions to suit local circumstances.

Self Evaluation Activity 6.10: Main changes influencing collective bargaining

The public sector has witnessed significant organisational, managerial and economic changes as government policies during the 1980s and 1990s sought to introduce and consolidate market-led reforms designed, amongst other things, to decentralise collective pay determination and to make the public sector more ‘commercial’ and financially accountable. The privatised industries and services were Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 37

affected by these reforms to a much earlier and to a greater extent than local authorities, the NHS and the Civil Service, as the need for these industries to be profitable before privatisation became paramount, and this provided the main impetus for change within those industries. Within the public services the following developments are noteworthy:

 Despite the many changes, there has been a thread of continuity with regard to collective bargaining, particularly within the NHS, local authorities, some parts of the Civil Service and most professional groups such as teachers and doctors, in that many of the traditional features of industrial relations and collective bargaining have persisted into the 1990s. Examples of such continuity include the maintenance of national bargaining in some areas, the continuing use of the comparability principle and the persistence for the time being of the pay review system.

 Decentralisation of bargaining and pay determination has forced many managers and unions to re- organise their respective organisational structures and processes. For example, the formation of UNISON makes possible the creation of single-union deals, and for management there are greater demands to rationalise grading structures, set up appraisal and reward systems geared more towards individual performance with senior management grades being taken out of collective bargaining altogether as has occurred within some privatised industries.

 Government reforms generally within the public sector have led to the re-shaping of ‘the context, organisation and policies of most public services’ (Winchester and Bach, 1995, p. 330).

 There has been increasing fragmentation and diversity between and within the constituent parts of the public services and within the privatised industries Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 38

Self Evaluation Activity 7.1: The employment relationship in small, non- unionised businesses

We can, therefore, arrive at some conclusions about the nature of the employment relationship in small, non-unionised enterprises. This type of business is characterised by the relatively informal nature of the employment relationship, arising from its small employment size and the unitary management perspective and style adopted within it. Employees, who are often women, part timers, and younger people, enjoy lower rates of pay and poorer working conditions than their counterparts in unionised firms. The personalised and volatile relations often experienced by employees stem from the mainly coercive exercise of power by the manager/owner which is disguised as benevolence in ‘good times’ and naked aggression when the business is threatened by change or when employee behaviour does not conform with unwritten custom and practice (which itself may change). This behaviour emphasises the powerlessness of employees and the high degree of compliance often expected of employees under continuous threat of dismissal. Conflict is usually expressed in terms of individual actions such as absenteeism and high labour turnover, any overt conflict being countered by instant dismissal. Moreover, ‘since they fail to recognise or accept any conflicts of interest as being legitimate, such attitudes play an important role in both the determination of management style in non-union firms and the inability of trade unions to organise such companies’.

Self Evaluation Activity 7.5: Summarising the main strategies and styles

The main styles include fraternalism, where the employer is highly dependent upon the skills of the employee, and labour management is more a matter of negotiation between the employer as a ‘colleague’ and relatively powerful workers. Paternalism is where employer dependence on employees is less pronounced and the power of employees lower, enabling the employer to foster feelings of strong identification with employees. Autocracy is where the employer’s position of power is clearly established and which manifests itself either benevolently or exploitatively.

Self Evaluation Activity 7.6: Non-union approaches to the employment relationship

With regard to AZTEC, the following points, according to McLoughlin and Gourlay, emerge: Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 39

 The statement was not regarded as a literal account of the way employees were managed, but was valued in its objective of retaining a ‘small company spirit’ through ‘organisational developments that promote the formation of small, locally-motivated groups of people’.

 There was some conflict between the ‘people-centred’ nature of the style statement and the fact that the company, particularly within its British establishment, was ‘technologically led’. This means that personnel policy was lowly prioritised, with no specialist personnel manager or personnel specialism within the British establishment. Line managers were largely free to make personnel decisions within the broadest of guidelines, and even outside them, if necessary.

 The ‘style statement’ suggests a strong link with overall business strategy. However, a closer examination of personnel policies and practice in the British establishment revealed these to lack formalisation and to be poorly integrated, and line managers appeared free to choose what approach, if any, they were to adopt.

 The ‘style statement’ emphasises the individual nature of the employment relationship, and is elaborated upon in the ‘Employee Handbook’ with statements such as ‘employees should feel free to discuss any subject with their manager and have the confidence that he will be sincere in his efforts to provide you with a correct and full answer’.

 The emphasis on direct, informal communication revealed a dislike for rules and procedures ranging from grievances to informing and consulting employees.

 The issue of trade unions met with varied responses ranging from overt hostility to the view that because employees had superior employment conditions and were well paid (the ‘substitution’ effect), trade unions were unnecessary.

 The management approach in the UK establishment lacked strategic integration (even though the US parent seemed to espouse ‘traditional HRM’), with an absence of formalisation and internal consistency of personnel policies and practices while placing strong emphasis upon individualism and informal relations between management and managed. This accords with the ‘benevolent autocracy’ approach.

The approach at IMPERIAL demonstrated many features of collective regulation, particularly with regard to the elected company council, pay determination, grievance processing and the management of conflict. On the other hand, the approach to managing employees lacked strategic integration and was more opportunist and pragmatic, with personnel and industrial relations issues subordinated to the production requirements of line management and dealt with using a ‘fire-fighting’ approach. McLoughlin and Gourlay add:

In many ways, the approach was, in fact, far more akin to that of the reactive programme associated with most unionized British firms. Of course, this should not be surprising given the company’s earlier recognition of unions. However, it does suggest that managers had failed to develop a clear and Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 40

consistent alternative to managing with unions and there had certainly not been a fundamental shift in the balance between collectivism and individualism. (p. 87) Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 41

Self Evaluation Activity 8.6: Consequences of the UK opt-out

One of the prime factors behind the UK opt-out was the government’s desire to avoid the introduction of pan-European employee information and consultation. The opt-out meant that there was no legal right for UK employees to participate in information and consultation arrangements set up under the terms of the Directive. Furthermore UK employees did not count towards the European workforce-size threshold of 1000 employees above which companies concerned would have to establish information and consultation mechanisms. The position was not, however, as bleak as appeared at first glance. Hundreds of companies with plants in the UK, including around 100 British-based companies, were required to negotiate EWCs or other information and consultation procedures. In addition, experience of voluntary agreements has shown that companies were including UK workers in their EWC structures despite not being required to do so by law.

Three types of company operating in the UK were still required to set up EWCs, regardless of the opt- out. Firstly, companies from other member states with operations in Britain; secondly, companies from outside the seventeen countries covered by the Directive which have major operations in other European states as well as the UK, and thirdly, UK-based companies with substantial operations elsewhere in

Europe. In each of these cases companies will be covered by the Directive if their employment levels in the EU, disregarding the UK, but including Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein exceed 1000 overall and at least 150 in two separate countries. Most employers entering into negotiations on EWCs have accepted that it would be imprudent to exclude UK representatives. Companies would be wasting an opportunity to communicate with all their employees by excluding UK representatives. Insofar as management can use EWCs to get their message across to employee representatives, keep them informed of the company’s progress and explain corporate decisions, the exclusion of UK representatives would weaken the effectiveness of such communication, and to date all companies concluding EWC agreements have included their British workers. The Engineering Employers’ Federation (EEF) has revealed that very few employers would wish to exclude their British employees from any consultation structures that are Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 42

established (Bassett, 1996).

Self Evaluation Activity 8.9: How successful is Barclays Partnership

Agreement?

One of the central problems in assessing the impact of partnership on UNIFI in Barclays Bank is that there is no way of knowing what would have happened without it. In recent years, the financial services industry has been caught up in restructuring of monumental proportions. All the major retail banks in the UK have been consolidating acquisitions, centralising their back office functions, opening new call centres, closing local branches and encouraging sales. UNIFI has been unable to stem the tide of change in any one of the banks. And in this context, the Barclays partnership agreement has actually made new ground in very difficult times. The union now has a system of workplace representation in place and the opportunity to rebuild union organisation from the grass roots. Moreover, joint decision-making has allowed the union access to senior managers and the chance to influence decisions before they are made. In bolstering UNIFI’s influence, profile and organisation, partnership is a qualified success. There are now more than 100 union representatives in place to start rebuilding workplace trade union organisation. However, the next stage of development will be critical. Partnership needs to move down to local level, the union needs to be able to communicate the work that it does and it needs to grasp the agenda at least some of the time. Moreover, some expertise in scrutinising corporate activity is needed to accurately assess the balance of interests between staff and the bank. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 43

Self Evaluation Activity 9.2: Motives for taking industrial action

The taking of industrial action by either employees or employers represents the breakdown of goodwill, co-operation and trust between the parties to the employment relationship, and tends to be the method of last resort in attempting to resolve differences concerning the bargaining process, or the wage-effort bargain. The main aims of taking industrial action include:

 the intention of either party to impose unilateral sanctions as a result of each party’s assessment of their bargaining power (See Chapter 4);

 the weakening of either party’s opposition during the bargaining process which is dependent upon a number of factors such as whether or not employees are unionised; and

 the favourable evaluation by either party of the outcome of taking industrial action in terms of costs and benefits to both parties and consequences of the action for the future conduct of industrial relations.

Self Evaluation Activity 9.3: Decline in unofficial strikes

There are many factors, but some of the main ones include:

 government legislation which has meant that all unofficial strikes constitute ‘unlawful’ industrial action;

 decline in the power of workplace representatives during the 1980s and 1990s; and

 decline in ‘strike-prone’ industries.

Some of these factors are considered in greater detail within the text.

Self Evaluation Activity 9.8: The effects of Thatcherism

As we have seen in Chapter 4, the individual or ‘new’ liberalism of successive Conservative governments has sought to marginalise trade union influence and power while at the same time emphasising the individualisation of the employment relationship. Far from securing greater individual commitment, many managements have increased their demands upon the workforce through work intensification and rapid workplace change. The reluctance on the part of many workers to take industrial action can be attributed to the ‘fear’ factor; that workers were afraid to take industrial action Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 44

not only as a result of the changing balance of power between employers and trade unions but also because of feelings of job insecurity. It is important to emphasise that some of the other explanations of the downward trend in strike activity, such as balloting provisions, the role of legislation, and economic policy to achieve a ‘natural’ (high) level of unemployment are also the result of the Conservative government’s policies.

Self Evaluation Activity 9.9: Lessons that could be learnt from the

Messenger dispute

The key issues and lessons that can be drawn from this dispute include:

 For managements it is generally unwise to resort to the law as part of their strategy for handling industrial disputes as this may aggravate already poor industrial relations or sacrifice previous efforts to secure ‘good’ industrial relations.

 For managements and unions under the 1980 legislation, mass picketing is counterproductive as this would criminalise picketing as a result of direct police involvement.

 When the law was used, it was clear in practice that it made it extremely difficult for unions to win disputes outside the struck workplace. The legislation protected employers transferring work and it protected their dismissal of striking workers at the primary workplace. McIlroy (1991) adds:

It was pointless for the Stockport Six to picket their workplace – nothing was happening there! Yet they were banned by the 1980 Act from picketing the depot at Warrington to which their work had been transferred whilst boycotts of the Messenger Group by other workers was restrained by the 1982 Act. If the law was accepted the closed shop, union control of labour and union control of the work process were endangered. (p. 71)

 The courts were prepared to move swiftly to sequester union funds rather than simply sending in accountants to collect fines.

 The dispute demonstrated the inability and general unwillingness of the wider trade union movement and the TUC to interfere in disputes of this nature.

 The increasingly legalistic approach which many managements adopted during the 1980s is demonstrated within the text.

Self Evaluation Activity 9.10: Union immunities and industrial action

If you have answered ‘yes’ to each of the above questions, then you have correctly understood the present position on immunities and the union is therefore protected against any legal consequences. If you have answered ‘no’ to any of these questions (with the exception of question 10), then you may Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 45

have incorrectly understood the current position, and are therefore advised to re-read pages 371–376 again! Note that the Employment Relations Act, 1999, has changed the position with regard to question 10 Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 46

Self Evaluation Activity 10.4: Activities associated with the lead negotiator role

Activities include:

 handling personal and working relationships within negotiating teams;

 allocation of roles and tasks to individual team members;

 co-ordinating the activities of team members;

 handling information and expertise within the team;

 resolving any intra-group conflict;

 assessing the other side’s case; and

 responsibilities for duration of negotiating sessions, setting and observing deadlines and adjournments.

Self Evaluation Activity 10.5: Identifying negotiator roles

(a) The Chair: Normally, one of the management team will perform this role, but sometimes the role is dispensed with. (b) The Lead Negotiator: Each party requires a lead negotiator to present the case and consider the opposing case. The lead negotiator can perform at least some of the functions identified above. (c) The Specialist(s): The management team may require a financial specialist and/or a specialist in legal matters in addition to the personnel manager. The union team similarly may require the services of a person with expertise in production systems, health and safety, equal opportunities and pensions. The specialist should not become involved in the general negotiations, providing advice when requested by the lead negotiator. (d) The Observer: The observer is an important member of the team as she/he does not get involved in discussions. Observers will evaluate the negotiations as they develop and advise accordingly. (e) The Note Taker: The note taker should be free to take notes regardless of their relevance or whether they will be actually used. Changes in mood, body language and tenor of negotiations should be noted. (f) The Summariser: The summariser ‘should be thinking about an overview of how things are progressing, what arguments made an impression, what did not. They should consider how the Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 47

meeting went and what position the team is now in’ (Cairns, 1996 p. 58).

Self Evaluation Activity 10.6: Pre-negotiation information

It is important to reinforce the point that union negotiators or employee representatives do not have ready access to management information systems as management themselves have, and there is the issue concerning disclosure of information which we consider below. Walton and McKersie (1965) in emphasising the importance of the role of information assert that ‘the role of information or the lack of information is of such tactical importance in distributive bargaining that it needs to be handled at the outset. It affects all other tactical operations.’(p. 60). Provided below is a summary of the types of information which you may have included in your list. We then provide a more detailed account of them. The union team will need information on:

 cost of living and inflation;

 pay differentials and relativities (also called comparabilities);

 the ‘going rate’ of pay within an industry; and

 any other information which should be disclosed by management and which assists the negotiation process.

The management team will need information on:

 profitability;

 structure and composition of the workforce;

 labour turnover and absenteeism;

 payroll information; and

 investment, sales and market position.

Self Evaluation Activity 10.7: Arguments against disclosure

Possible arguments against disclosure include:

 The knowledge is power argument, which assumes that possession of relevant information by one party to negotiation (say, the management team) to the exclusion of the other party gives the former party greater negotiating leverage and power. The management team might argue that if such information were disclosed, this advantage would be lost and the union team would be able to Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 48

determine the management team’s negotiating limits.

 Disclosure of information on a regular basis or on a ‘request to see’ basis might not only lead to questioning of such information but also to demands to formalise the arrangements for disclosure. In this respect, Salamon (1998) argues that ‘to many managers this would represent a substantial and serious erosion of their managerial prerogative and control within the organisation’ (p. 318).

 Management information is often incomplete, particularly if it concerns forecasting by extrapolating from data which itself may be subject to verification. If such information were to be divulged to employee representatives, then a lot of unnecessary time and effort could be spent discussing hypothetical situations.

 Much information is considered confidential and is invariably confined to senior management. Disclosure of such information to employee representatives would be considered improper if such information was not provided to other managerial grades at the same time.

Self Evaluation Activity 10.8: Items to include in the shopping list

You might have included:

 a pay increase, substantial or otherwise;

 a shorter working week;

 a decrease in the pay differential between skilled and non-skilled workers;

 maternity/paternity arrangements;

 child care and crèche facilities; out-of-school-holiday play schemes;

 improved shift-working allowances;

 improvements to the ‘equal opportunities’ procedure;

 specific procedures dealing with harassment and bullying at work;

 a sick pay scheme; and

 consultation on redundancies and transfer of business.

Self Evaluation Activity 10.10: Shopping list for the 2004 claim

Because management has not been forthcoming with specific information concerning the company’s situation, there is no reason why the pay claim should be influenced by what is already known. If the union team were to acknowledge the situation on the basis of the unsubstantiated general information that has already been circulated and formulate the pay claim accordingly, this would not only compromise the face-to-face negotiations but also undermine the authority of the union negotiating team vis-à-vis the membership. With this in mind, the ‘shopping list’ might include:

 an overall increase on base rates of pay of 5 per cent to take into consideration the pay restraint over Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 49

the past three years;

 a reduction in the normal working week to 37 hours and a commitment to further reductions over the next two years to 35 hours;

 consolidation of bonuses into base rates for the purposes of calculating holiday pay and sick pay; and

 22 days annual holiday for all employees. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 50

Self Evaluation Activity 11.1 Workplace disciplinary offences

Writing about organisations in general, Foucault stated:

The workplace, the school, the army were subject to a whole micro-penalty of time (lateness, absences, interruptions of tasks), of activity (inattention, negligence, lack of zeal), of behaviour (impoliteness, disobedience) of speech (idle chatter, insolence), of the body (‘incorrect’ attitudes, irregular gestures, lack of cleanliness), of sexuality (impurity, indecency). At the same time, by way of punishment, a whole series of procedures was used, from light physical punishment to minor deprivations and petty humiliations. It was a question both of making the slightest departures from correct behaviour subject to punishment, and of giving a punitive function to apparently indifferent elements of the disciplinary apparatus: so that, if necessary, everything might serve to punish the slightest thing; each subject finds himself caught in a punishable, punishing universality. (p. 178)

Self Evaluation Activity 11.2: Supervision and discipline

Supervisors could deal with these problems in different ways. Some may prefer to confront problems directly and quickly by giving subordinates frequent warnings or sack those who did not behave correctly. One supervisor reported in the above research described his readiness to sack subordinates as ‘an acquired taste’. On the other hand, some supervisors may have difficulty in dealing with these problems. The research suggests that these supervisors attempt to avoid them, and got depressed when they had to fire someone. They described their dealings with poor performers as ‘traumatic’. These ‘employee-oriented’ supervisors were more sensitive to the needs of subordinates and preferred to give them time to rectify problems. However, the research demonstrated that departments run by the employee-oriented supervisors had poorer performance ratings than the departments run by the hard-line supervisors. While this may contradict the behaviourist position that punishment is not an effective way to influence or modify behaviour, individuals do learn from others which types of behaviours are appropriate in particular circumstances. The employee who comes late to work regularly, or who does not work as hard as colleagues, violates socially established and accepted standards. The punishments used by supervisors can thus be effective where:

 they are perceived as maintaining the accepted social order; and

 they are perceived as legitimate by the ‘victim’. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 51

Self Evaluation Activity 11.5: The drowsy employee

Counselling in this case is the more satisfactory method of resolving the problem with the aim of helping

John to overcome his problem. A private talk between John and Alice taking the form of a two-way discussion should be productive as Alice, who has all the relevant facts and records concerning John’s recent performance and demeanour, will be in a position to point out the option(s) available to John.

Clearly there should be no element of disciplinary action involved here. However, Alice should be able to communicate the authority’s policy on parental and paternal leave arrangements, especially as the relevant provisions of the 2002 Employment Act are now in place. Alice should raise some concerns about the efficiency of communicating the authority’s policies to employees with superiors. It may be that John did not want to draw attention to his situation for fear of being ridiculed by male employees – which would probably be the case in a male dominated environment, despite making excuses for non- attendance at evening meetings. John should, therefore be encouraged to take some paternity leave as is his statutory entitlement as a long-serving employee.

Self Evaluation Activity 11.6

The following summary example of the Rover Group procedure indicates the appropriate warnings, who conducts the hearing and what representatives are permitted.

Disciplinary stage Nature Type Conducted by Representative

Stage 1 Unsatisfactory job Recorded verbal Manager and other Appropriate TU rep Oral performance or warning management rep(s) or associate warning conduct

Stage 2 Significantly short Investigation Manager and Appropriate TU rep First written of required and written personnel dept. or associate warning standard or failure warning to improve

Stage 3 Serious misconduct Investigation Manager and Appropriate TU rep Second or sustained poor and final personnel dept or associate written performance warning/ warning suspension Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 52

(final)

Stage 4 Sustained poor Investigation Senior management Senior TU rep Dismissal performance and/or and written personnel dept. reps or associate misconduct. Gross notice of misconduct termination

 Warnings: On some occasions, the offence will be serious enough to warrant only one written warning (in effect, the final warning). Warnings may relate to different offences that an employee has committed. If this is the case:

Employers are entitled to take account of the fact that an employee has received a previous warning even if that warning related to behaviour of a different kind from that which forms the potential ground for dismissal. Thus in deciding to dismiss Mr Curtis for mishandling company property it was not improper for his employer to take into account two previous final written warnings. The first concerned his relationships with other employees and the second referred to unsatisfactory documentation and absenteeism [August Noel v Curtis (1990)]. (p. 71)

Warnings should stipulate the consequences of any other further misconduct or insufficient improvement in performance, which in the case of final warnings will be dismissal. A sample letter as provided in the ACAS handbook is given below. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 53

Dear______Date______

You attended a disciplinary interview on______. I am writing to confirm the decision taken that you should be given a written/final warning* under the second/third stage* of the Company Disciplinary Procedure. This warning will be placed in your personal files but will be disregarded for disciplinary purposes after a period of______months, provided your conduct** improves/performance reaches a satisfactory level.

 The nature of the unsatisfactory conduct or performance was:

 The conduct or performance is:

 The timescale within which improvement is required is:

 The likely consequence of further misconduct or insufficient improvement is: final written warning/dismissal.*

You have the right to appeal against this decision (in writing**) to______within______days of receiving this disciplinary warning.

Yours sincerely

Manager

** The wording should be amended as appropriate ** Delete if inappropriate

 Withholding pay rises; deductions and fines: Withholding pay rises may be lawful if the contract of employment does not refer to pay increases. Deductions and fines are lawful if they comply with the 1986 Wages Act and are required by statute and/or the employee has agreed to it. Both sanctions can be incorporated within Stage 2 (say) of a procedure.

 Suspension: Usually associated with Stage 3 pending investigation, as with the Rover example. Suspension with pay can be costly to the employer, so should be as brief as administratively possible.

 Demotion and transfer: These are common sanctions with employers and can be associated with Stage 2 of a procedure if employee performance has not improved. The employer should have the contractual authority and/or consent of the employee, and the employee should agree to the change, especially where, on grounds of incapability (see below), the only alternative is dismissal.

 Dismissal with or without notice: Dismissal with notice is the only option after the Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 54

procedural stages have been exhausted. With the exception of gross misconduct, the appropriate period of notice or payment in lieu should be granted, according to the provisions within the Employment Rights Act (ERA), 1996. Payment in lieu must relate to a period no shorter than that of the notice to which the employee would be entitled under the ERA or under the contract of employment. For example, an employee who has been employed for no less than a month and up to two years is entitled to one weeks’ notice. Thereafter, there is one weeks’ notice for every additional year of employment up to a maximum of twelve years when the employee is entitled to twelve weeks’ notice.

Dismissal without notice, (also known as summary dismissal), is given in cases of gross misconduct. Employees should be told of the nature of the complaint and be given the opportunity to state their case. This is followed by a letter confirming the dismissal without notice (see below). Summary dismissal should not be confused with instant dismissal (or dismissal ‘on the spot’, without investigation) which has no legal meaning and is invariably unfair.

Examples of ACAS recommended letters of dismissal with and without notice are given below. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 55

Dismissal Without Notice

I am writing to confirm the decision taken at the disciplinary hearing held on______that you be summarily dismissed without notice or payment in lieu of notice, in accordance with the Company Disciplinary Procedure. Your last day of service was______The reasons for your dismissal are:

You have the right to appeal against this decision (in writing*) to______within______days of receiving this notice of dismissal.

Yours sincerely

Manager

*The wording should be amended as appropriate.

Dismissal With Notice

On______you were informed in writing that you would be given a final warning in accordance with Stage______of the Company Disciplinary Procedure. In that letter you were warned that if your conduct/performance* did not improve, you were likely to be dismissed. At the disciplinary hearing held on______it was decided that your conduct/performance* was still unsatisfactory and that you should be dismissed. I am therefore writing to you to confirm the decision that you should be dismissed in accordance with Stage______of the Company Disciplinary Procedure and that your last day of service with the Company will be______The reasons for your dismissal are:

You have the right of appeal against this decision (in writing**) to______within______days of receiving this notice of dismissal.

Yours sincerely

Manager

 The wording should be amended as appropriate

** Delete if inappropriate

Self Evaluation Activity 11.7 Three disciplinary cases to consider Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 56

Case One: Accident-Prone In this instance, the firm is influenced by an external organisation (the insurance company), which, to a certain extent, dictates its terms. When problems such as these arise, it is advisable to take prompt action: thus, when it was realised that John’s driving record was deteriorating, action should have been taken. This could include more training, transfer to shorter distance driving and transfer to non-driving duties. John was not made aware of the gravity of the situation. There was an absence of monitoring to highlight the problem and bring it to the attention of senior management. Senior management should then have instituted action earlier, by, for example, giving John an official warning concerning his future conduct. Ultimately, the firm had little choice but to dismiss John, but its handling of the dismissal was poor, and assessed against the ACAS Code recommendations, the firm comes out badly. John was given no right to be represented and was offered no appeal against the dismissal decision.

Case Two: The alcoholic Clearly, Chris can be criticised for allowing the situation with Len to develop to such an extent, and for being inconsistent in his treatment of both Len and Jane. It could be argued that Jane’s reason for requesting leave was not a particularly valid one, and that if Chris had not been so preoccupied with Len, Chris would have had reasonable grounds for refusing Jane’s request. The staff are obviously aware of the situation and what they perceive as unduly favourable treatment towards Len which could amount to condoning Len’s behaviour, and this weakens Chris’s standing with the staff. The case demonstrates that it is important to be consistent in the application of rules to all staff and that management should have been aware of the situation. Possible courses of action which would be deemed appropriate include:

 a possible reprimand to Chris as his actions undermined his authority in the workplace; and

 disciplinary action against Len, with possibly a final warning stating that future indiscipline will result in dismissal, to be combined with any medical help if the drink problem is serious.

Case Three: Playing games Based on an actual case, there are mitigating circumstances. Mangers should always be alert to underlying problems a hitherto hard-working employee such as Sonia may have. In the absence of counselling, while it was offered, it is not surprising this was not taken up when Sonia revealed to her union representative during an adjournment of the formal disciplinary hearing that her husband was having an affair with Sonia’s supervisor, Nina. It was decided to conduct the remainder of the disciplinary process without Nina, who might herself be disciplined. At the end of the interview process it was decided that while Janet could be punished for fraudulently falsifying worksheets and claiming overtime, no punitive action would be taken this time, given Sonia’s previous good record and her unfortunate domestic situation. Sonia will be required to pay back her overtime monies, and a record kept on her personal file. She was made aware of counselling services and advised to make an Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 57

appointment. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 58

Self Evaluation Activity 12.1: Examples of sex discrimination

With regard to sex discrimination, the following examples are relevant:

Promotion If promotion vacancies are filled solely on the basis of informal selection using a subjective procedure which excludes women from senior jobs. In one case, a clothing manufacturer employed two trainee supervisors, one male and one female. The male trainee was offered the post of assistant manager, with the intention that he takes over the manager’s job at a later date. The post was never advertised and the female trainee was not informed of the vacancy (Schofield v. Double Two: 1992).

Sexual harassment Harassment can take many forms and is a very difficult issue for women to cope with. In the case Van Den Burghen v. Nabarro Nathanson: 1992, Miss Van Den Burghen, a trainee solicitor had her breasts squeezed by a male trainee solicitor at a Christmas lunch during which their secretaries presented solicitors with chocolate penises. She complained to a senior partner, who later told her that following investigation he considered the matter closed due to lack of witnesses. Miss Van Den Burghen was then ‘sent to Coventry’ by her colleagues and three months later was made redundant. There are many examples of race discrimination at work of which two will suffice:

Terms of employment There are many instances where employers discriminate in the terms of employment they provide. In 1993, John Haggas plc, a mill in West Yorkshire, was found to have discriminated against Asian night shift workers. The night shift was all-Asian and had been threatened with dismissal if they refused to take on extra duties, whereas this had not happened to the all-white day shift. The Asian workers were not paid overtime, received four days’ less holiday a year than white workers, and had no chance of promotion.

Racial harassment Again, there are many examples, although racial harassment has received less attention than sexual harassment. Use of terms such as ‘black bastards’, uttered in the presence of employees constitutes Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 59

unlawful harassment. In one case (Mann v. Moody: 1993) a Department of Social Security line manager made a reference to ‘Paki shops’ in the presence of an Asian employee and was held to constitute racial discrimination. In another case, an employee was subjected to serious racial abuse by his fellow employees and was called names, had metal bolts thrown at his head, and was branded with a hot screwdriver.

Self Evaluation Activity 12.2: Areas that are still male dominated

2 and 3. Walby (1986) identifies the following areas as still being ‘male dominated’:

Paid employment This remains a key structure in creating disadvantages for women. Nineteenth century regulations excluded women from whole areas of work altogether, while at the same time permitting women to work in mines and factories. Male dominated trade unions and the state ensured that opportunities were severely restricted. In the 20th century, women, and particularly married women were able to take employment, but not on equal terms with men, and in recent years the degree of inequality between men and women, and access to well-rewarded occupations has declined only very slightly. The gender pay gap has declined somewhat, but women continue to be over represented in low-paid and part-time employment. In theory, governments since 1946 have supported greater equality in the labour market, but in practice such policies are not pursued as vigorously as they should be.

Household production According to Walby (1990), patriarchal dominance was common in the household; men would exploit women by benefiting from women’s unpaid labour. This was most marked during the 19th century when most women were excluded from the labour market. In the 21st century, however, exploitation of this nature has declined as women spend more time in paid work, although it has not disappeared. Women who are housewives spend as much time on domestic labour as they did decades ago, and women with children who leave their husbands are disadvantaged in a patriarchally structured labour market and are unlikely to find a job with reasonable pay so that ‘liberation from marriage is then usually a movement into poverty’ (Walby, 1990, p. 56). It is likely that this situation will persist well into this century.

Culture The culture of Western society has consistently distinguished between men and women and has expected different types of behaviour from them. During the 19th century, womens’ confinement to domesticity was thought to refine their femininity and increase their sexual attractiveness to men. The escape from the confines of domesticity for some women at least during the 20th and 21st centuries has replaced one form of cultural patriarchy by another. For example, the spread of pornography, Walby argues, increases the freedom of men while reducing that of women by encouraging the degradation of women by men Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 60

and promoting harassment and sexual violence.

The state State policies relating to gender have changed considerably since the 19th century. There has, according to Walby (1990), been:

the cessation of legal backing to exclusionary (discriminatory) practices in employment; the increased ease of divorce and financial provision for non-wage earners; the ending of state backing to exclusionary practices in education and the removal of most forms of censorship of pornography; the decriminalisation of contraception and abortion under most circumstances; and minor changes in the law making it marginally easier for a woman to leave a violent man. (p. 87)

State policies are no longer directed at confining women to the private sphere of the home, but there has been little progress made in improving women’s position in the public sphere. Womens’ pay is still lower than men’s over a whole range of occupations and equal opportunities legislation is not often enforced. Women in one-parent families get little state benefit and women have been harmed by the greater availability of pornography. While the state is not so manifestly patriarchal as it used to be, it still, according to Walby, does little to protect women from patriarchal power in society.

Self Evaluation Activity 12.3: Criticisms of human capital approaches

Witz (1993), in criticising human capital approaches, argues that even when women do work continuously without taking career breaks, they still tend to end up in lower-paid and lower-status jobs. Rees (1992), who reviewed research within the American context discovered that about half the pay differentials between men and women could be explained in terms of human capital theory, and also ignores the causes of inequality between male and female employees located within the structure of the labour market.

Self Evaluation Activity 12.4: Changes relevant to McDowell’s argument

The changes relevant to McDowell’s argument include:

 the move away from mass production towards flexible production of small batches of specialised products;

 the subsequent employment of a highly skilled ‘core’ group of workers within an organisation who are capable of using their skills to produce a wide variety of products; and

 the use of part-time, short-term contract and/or contracted-out labour to perform relatively unskilled work. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 61

McDowell argues that these changes are reflected in the increased use of part-time female labour and the reduction in the employment of males in full-time permanent jobs. Certainly during the past twenty-five years or so, the decline in male employment has been more than matched by the increase in female employment – a process described as the ‘feminisation’ of the labour market. As we have explained above, women have been employed in increasing numbers within secondary labour markets, and particularly within the service sector of the economy as women are traditionally cheaper to employers and more easily dispensable than male employees. Owing to the ‘need’ for employers to cut costs and to have a more flexible labour force in order to cope with repeated recessions and increased competition, McDowell suggests that part-time flexible work has not been created in response to ‘demand’ on the part of employees, whether men or women. Rather, many have had part-time or temporary jobs imposed on them or have taken them for want of alternatives while continuing to seek full-time and stable work.

Self Evaluation Activity 12.6: Problems of recruitment from ethnic minorities

The Metropolitan Police Force, (and police forces generally) have been criticised for their reluctance to recruit from ethnic minorities. For example, the CRE (1999) expressed disappointment that the latest version of the initial police recruitment test ‘had a statistically significant adverse impact on ethnic minority applicants’ (p. 9). Within many police forces accusations have been made of ‘institutional racism’, both within the forces and in their treatment of members of ethnic minorities within the community. The Metropolitan Police is keen to dispel (however justified or unjustified) its image of racism. One method of doing this is to publicise ‘positive action’ initiatives in recruitment and elsewhere. In February 1999, the Metropolitan Police decided to make its most controversial attempt to recruit ethnic minorities into the service:

A group of Brixton rappers are producing a sound track and video for the Met that both criticises the police and calls on black people to join it. The idea is that of music producer and filmmaker Charles Bailey. The soundtrack has already been made, and filming with a cast of around 100 extras will start shortly. Bailey says he is putting the package together because he does not believe that the black community will receive the policing they deserve until they are properly represented within the service . . . Currently there are around 900 ethnic minority officers, or 3 per cent of the service, when a representative figure would be six times that number.

Rap attack Now if we the ethnic minorities Want security, safety and unity Let’s get in . . . Let’s get unified Uniformed Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 62

Strictly dressed to address No contest ’Cos we invest in justice No stress Dressed in blue to fill the gap Yes!

(The Guardian, February 8, 1999) The public inquiry into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence and subsequent McPherson Report has been the impetus behind the Race Relations (Amendment) Act. The report’s emphasis on the widespread presence of ‘institutional racism’ left the government no alternative but to make the public sector and services, including the police more accountable for the promotion of race equality in all areas, including, of course, recruitment.

Self Evaluation Activity 12.7: Equal work for equal pay

 One of the most obvious and clear-cut instances is where a woman works alongside a man and performs exactly the same work as the man. For example, a woman operating a garment- making machine alongside a man operating the same type of machine; or a woman working on the assembly-line with men doing the same job of dealing with the same items; or in an office performing the same type of clerical tasks as a male office worker. In all these instances women, according to the Act, should receive the same amount of pay as their male counterparts.

 A less obvious circumstance is where a woman is performing tasks which are rated as equivalent to (but are different from) the tasks being undertaken by male colleagues. In this instance, the woman would have to demonstrate that she is performing tasks rated as equivalent to those performed by men. Equivalence rating is facilitated if the company has a job evaluation scheme in operation and the woman’s job is given the same rating as a different job done by a man.

Self Evaluation Activity 12.8: Less favourable treatment

 Dale (1995) provides the following case examples:

‘Less favourable treatment’ involves some detriment to the person concerned. In Peake v. Automotive Products Ltd (1978) women were allowed to leave the factory five minutes before male employees. The Court of Appeal refused to hold that this was sex discrimination, as the employer’s motive was to prevent the women from being jostled, and it would be very wrong, according to Lord Denning, if the law was ‘to do away with the chivalry and courtesy which we Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 63

expect mankind to give to womankind’. Fortunately, subsequent cases took a more robust approach: in Ministry of Defence v. Jeremiah (1980) the Court of Appeal held that it was sex discrimination to stipulate that only men could work in the ‘colour-bursting shell shop’ because the women’s hair would be messed up. This counted as less favourable treatment. In Gill and Coote v El Vinos Co. Ltd (1983) it was held to be less favourable treatment to refuse to serve women at a bar; and in R. v. Birmingham City Council ex parte EOC (1989) the loss of a chance of a grammar school place was held to be less favourable treatment.

 Treatment on the grounds of sex does not mean that the employer necessarily intends to discriminate as motive is irrelevant. Clarke cites the case of James v. Eastleigh Borough Council (1990) in which a swimming pool allowed women over the age of 60 free admission, whereas men had to pay until they reached 65 (based on the state pension age). The Lords held that this was unlawful sex discrimination, and the nature of the Council’s motive was irrelevant: the test for sex discrimination was whether the men would have been treated differently but for their sex. In Hurley v. Mustoe (1981) a woman with three young children was refused a job because the employer believed that mothers were unreliable workers. This rule only applied to women with young children, and therefore constituted direct discrimination. Men with young children were not, in practice, excluded. In this case the employer acted on the basis of stereotyped assumptions, instead of looking at the particular individuals and their circumstances.

Self Evaluation Activity 12.9: Race discrimination cases

In R v. Commission for Racial Equality ex parte Westminster City Council (1985), the Council appointed a black refuse collector, but then withdrew his appointment because there was concern that the other (white) refuse collectors would take industrial action. This was racial discrimination, because the decision was taken on racial grounds, even though the motive was to avoid industrial action. Discrimination on grounds of national origin is discrimination on racial grounds within s. 3(1) of the Act. In Northern Joint Police Board v. Power (1997), an Englishman claimed that he had not been short listed for the post of Chief Constable of the Northern Constabulary because he was English rather than Scots. The claim was upheld. In the case of Weatherfield Ltd t/a Van and Truck Rentals v. Sargent (1998), Mrs Sargent, a white European, was instructed to inform ‘coloureds and Asians’ that no vehicles were available. She felt she had been put in an intolerable position and consequently resigned.

Self Evaluation Activities 12.10: The legislative approach

As we have seen Britain, in common with other EU nations, has adopted the so-called ‘legislative Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 64

approach’ which incorporates EU Articles and Directives. The legislative approach has certainly been effective in raising the profile of workplace sex (and race) discrimination and in encouraging organisations to adopt equal opportunities policies and practices. However, as Howe (1999) points out:

In areas of both sex discrimination and race discrimination, criticisms have been voiced about the overall effectiveness of the legislative approach. The difficulties and costs involved in bringing cases to an industrial tribunal and the delays in hearing cases prevent many victims of discrimination from pursuing their struggles. Industrial tribunals, which were originally designed to be less formal and more accessible to individuals, have become increasingly burdened with bureaucracy and case law complications (and) the supremacy of EU law also makes the validity of industrial tribunal judgments open to question, further delaying the outcomes. Investigations needed to pursue an equal pay claim are costly and difficult to enact, despite some notable successes. (pp. 428–9)

The persistence of inequality and discrimination within the workplace where women continue to lag behind men is of concern to the EOC (1999) which believes that ‘measures to tackle structural discrimination against women in the workplace are needed to achieve equality at work and help to create a competitive workforce’.

Self Evaluation Activity 12.12: Sexual harassment

The EC Code of Practice dealing with sexual harassment defines it as ‘unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or other conduct based on sex affecting the dignity of women and men at work’ and includes unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct which creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating working environment. In its most recent survey of 65 employers, the IRS (1996) found that the following actions constituted sexual harassment:

 Demands for sexual favours in return for promotion, etc.

 Sexual assault.

 Unwanted physical contact such as unnecessary touching, patting or pinching of another employee’s body.

 Unwelcome sexual advances or propositions.

 Offensive flirtations.

 Continued suggestions for social activity outside the workplace after it has been made clear that such suggestions are unwelcome.

 Derogatory remarks which are gender-related.

 Offensive comments about appearance and dress which are gender-related.

 Suggestive remarks, innuendoes or lewd comments.

 Leering/‘eyeing-up’ a person’s body. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 65

 Sexist or patronising behaviour.

 Display of sexually aggressive pin-ups or calendars.

Sexual harassment is a common and widespread phenomenon. The Industrial Society (1993) revealed that 54 per cent of working women experience sexual harassment in the workplace while the IRS (1996) survey found that harassment was equally widespread with 54 per cent of organisations reporting such cases during 1995. There is, however, good reason for arguing that harassment cases are under-reported to a very large extent, and therefore that the incidence of harassment is much more widespread than reported cases suggest. One reason for the reported increase in cases is the existence of sexual harassment policies; organisations without such policies may encourage a climate of intimidation which may make it difficult for victims to come forward (Rubenstein, 1996).

Self Evaluation Activity 12.13: Reasons for introducing EO policies

In the second part of their survey, IRS (1996) identified four main reasons for introducing policies. These were:

 the need to ensure equal opportunities at work (cited by 95 per cent of respondents);

 to avoid legal action and potential costs such as increased absenteeism, higher sickness levels and lower productivity (cited by 66 per cent of respondents);

 in response to developments within the European Union cited by 18 per cent of respondents; and

 to aid recruitment and retention, cited by 14 per cent of employers.

No employer mentioned trade union pressure as a reason for introducing harassment policies.

Self Evaluation Activities 12.15: Reasons for developing EO policies

Perhaps the main reason for developing equal opportunities policies is that such policies make sound business sense. Discrimination in employment can be potentially costly to the employer, particularly as a result of the lifting of ceilings on compensation levels for sex and race discrimination. In addition, discriminatory recruitment policies could mean that the best person for the job is not being appointed. Training policies which are discriminatory means that abilities and potential of employees are being wasted. Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 66

RESPONSES TO SE LF EVALUATION ACTIVITIES - CHAPTER 13

Self Evaluation Activity 13.1: What is fair dismissal?

For an employer to dismiss an employee he or she must have a valid reason for dismissing the employee and act reasonably in treating that reason as sufficient to justify dismissal. Note that the condition of reasonableness does not apply in cases where the dismissal is unquestionably unfair. Valid reasons for dismissal, identified by the legislation and referred to in Chapter 10, include conduct and capability. The three other main reasons referred to in the legislation are:

 Redundancy: In general, an employee can have no grounds for claiming unfair dismissal due to redundancy (that is because the employer had no work or insufficient work for the employee to do). There are, however, some circumstances in which it is unfair to make an employee redundant (see below and Part Two of this chapter).

 A statutory requirement: This may prevent the employment continuing in cases where driving a vehicle is the main job requirement but where the driver has lost his driving licence and there is no other suitable job available.

 Some other substantial reason: In addition to the above reasons, an employer may have other reasons for dismissing employees. For example an employee who was taken on as a temporary replacement for a worker who was returning after being suspended for medical reasons can be fairly dismissed, provided that it had been clearly explained to the employee concerned that the job was only temporary.

Self Evaluation Activity 13.2: Is this constructive dismissal?

The Employment Appeals Tribunal held that the employee was entitled to treat himself as constructively dismissed by reason of the employer’s conduct in requiring him to transfer. The employer acted unreasonably, despite the existence of the wide mobility clause, and this constituted a breach of contract which entitled Mr Akhtar to claim constructive dismissal.

Self Evaluation Activity 13.3: Two dismissal incidents

At first sight, these cases seem clear-cut enough. Both are concerned with ‘gross misconduct’ which warranted fair dismissal. However, the substantive merits criterion may involve taking into account Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 67

mitigating factors such as length of service, previous disciplinary record and any explanation or excuse. It is also important for the employer to maintain consistency when applying disciplinary rules so that employees who behave in similar ways should receive the same punishment. In the first case, the Court of Appeal upheld a finding of unfair dismissal on the grounds that there was evidence that other workers had been guilty of similar offences but these had not been met by dismissal.

Inconsistency of treatment in relation to fighting at work is also demonstrated by the second case. Here, the employment tribunal dismissed the applicant’s complaint, but in doing so disregarded the inconsistencies in treatment on the grounds that the relevant decision in the various cases were taken by different members of management. This view was overturned by the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) who held that it is inconsistency of treatment by the employer rather than by individual line managers that is the crucial question:

Because an employer is acting in one case through his servants A and B, and the other case through his servants C and D, it is no answer to a complaint of unfair dismissal to say that there were different employees considering the seriousness of the two alleged cases of misconduct. The consistency must be consistency as between all employees of the employer. (Quoted in Painter and Puttick, p. 195)

Self Evaluation Activity 13.4: Testing the validity of a claim for unfair dismissal/redundancy payments

 If the answer to question 1 is ‘no’, then the claim fails; if the answer is ‘yes’, then the applicant may proceed.

 If the answer to question 2 is ‘no’, then the applicant may have a claim for wrongful dismissal, but this is unlikely; if the answer is ‘yes’, then the applicant may proceed.

 If the answer to question 3 is ‘no’, then the claim is successful and the applicant has remedies (see below); if the answer is ‘yes’, then the applicant can proceed further.

 If the answer to question 4 is ‘no’, then the claim is successful and the applicant has remedies; if the answer is ‘yes’ then the claim is finally rejected.

Self Evaluation Activity 13.5: Reasons for making employees redundant

Salamon (1998) suggests four main causes of redundancy:

 structural decline of older, less efficient or technologically developed manufacturing industries;

 decrease in the level of economic activity of an organisation, a single industry or the Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 68

economy as a whole;

 technological change requiring less labour to provide a given level of output or service; and

 reorganisation of the work situation to obtain a more efficient use of existing plant and machinery and to reduce costs (p. 562).

The reasons for redundancy may have changed over the years. Blyton and Turnbull (1998), for example, argue that:

. . . whereas redundancies in the past were overwhelmingly the consequence of economic difficulties, latterly there has been a tendency for redundancies to be announced as a cost-cutting measure even at times when the business and economic outlook are buoyant (Capelli, 1995). According to Capelli, a major reason for this is that cutting workforce numbers – euphemistically described as ‘downsizing’ – is invariably seen by stock markets as a significant cost saving and a likely source of improved profitability. The upshot of this is that redundancy announcements can improve share prices. (p. 55)

Self Evaluation Activity 13.6: The ‘contract test’

Mr Pink’s claim for unfair dismissal was rejected by the tribunal which held that he was ‘redundant’. The tribunal reached this conclusion on the basis of his formal employment as a making and finishing room operative, and on that basis there had been a diminution in the employers’ requirements for such staff. The Employment Appeals Tribunal upheld the decision, saying it was irrelevant that there had been no diminution in the requirements for the sort of work Mr Pink was in practice doing most of the time.

Self Evaluation Activity 13.7: Two cases to consider

The two men’s claims failed, though on different grounds, and they also failed before the EAT. The Court of Appeal decided in their favour but gave leave of appeal to the House of Lords. The Lords held that employees who are dismissed by the transferor of an undertaking, and then re-engaged by the transferee on different but agreed terms, are not entitled to retain the benefit of their previous terms of employment, thereby overturning the decision of the Court of Appeal.

Self Evaluation Activity 13.8: Criteria for redundancy policies and procedures

The important criteria to be considered in relation to a redundancy policy and procedure are:

 An opening policy statement which acknowledges the possibility of redundancy while at the same time providing a commitment to job security. The statement will also recognise that the Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose 69

demand for labour fluctuates owing to technological and other changes.

 Stress the importance of consultation with a view to avoiding redundancies in the first place such as a ban on recruitment, re-training and re-deployment of surplus staff. Although not particularly relevant to white collar workers and not mentioned in the LETUGO policy, other considerations might include restricting the use of subcontracted labour, casual and temporary staff: temporary lay-offs, short-time working and even job sharing might be considered. Early retirement may also be considered as an option, but those affected should have a financial inducement to encourage them to take up this option.

 If redundancy, despite making alternative arrangements specified above, is nevertheless inevitable, representatives should then be provided with details concerning the reasons etc. (see above policy) for the redundancy. However, it should be stressed that the option of voluntary redundancy should be exercised. In general terms, the voluntary redundancy option is the most commonly used option of dealing with redundancy and policies should emphasise this option.

 If the voluntary redundancy option has been exhausted, perhaps because the wrong type of employees were volunteering or not enough employees volunteered, and there is still a need to make redundancies, the next stage would be to make compulsory redundancies. The legislation considered earlier, places a requirement upon the employer to notify all employees that compulsory redundancies will take place and that selection for redundancy has been provisionally made. Selection criteria are important and are considered in greater detail below.

 The policy will also provide information concerning the proposed redundancy payments or compensation. Again, as we have seen, there is a statutory entitlement, but many employers, as with the above example, will provide compensation in excess of the statutory entitlement ‘to ease the trauma that redundancy can cause or, . . . to encourage volunteers to come forward’ (Gennard and Judge, 1998, p. 246). Some policies will make it clear that the company will provide support for displaced staff such as counselling and ‘outplacement’ services.