Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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WEB SITE RESPONSES
TO
SELF EVALUATION ACTIVITIES
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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.
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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
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.
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
4
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.
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’
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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
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
5
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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
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
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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.
Self Evaluation Activity 1.9: Summarising
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:

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
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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 postwar 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.
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RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATION ACTIVITIES - CHAPTER 2
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)
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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
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
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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.
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
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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
‘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’
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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
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).
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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
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
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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 descriptivefunctional model. The normative models usually stem from a unitary perspective while the descriptivefunctional models share a pluralist perspective.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.

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
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GMB firmly within the ‘popular bossdom’ category (heterogeneous membership; mainly unskilled/semiskilled; 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.
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 fulltime 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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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
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
1990s
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:
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21
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
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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
22
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
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)
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
23
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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
24
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
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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
25
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
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
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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.
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RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATIONS - CHAPTER 4
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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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 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.
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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Self Evaluation Activity 4.4: Summarising
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
(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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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 socalled 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.
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:
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose

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.
31
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).
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:
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose

32
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.
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
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RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATION ACTIVITIES - CHAPTER 5
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.
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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
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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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 nonunion 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.
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 lowtrust 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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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
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 nonstandard 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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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
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.
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RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATIONS - CHAPTER 6
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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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suggests that where collective bargaining exists it does not extend too far beyond market and
governmental parameters.
Self Evaluation Activity 6.4: Ford Motors
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,
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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
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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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
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 reorganise 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.
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
42
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
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RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATIONS - CHAPTER 7
Self Evaluation Activity 7.1: The employment relationship in small, nonunionised 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.
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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:

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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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
consistent alternative to managing with unions and there had certainly not been a fundamental shift in the
balance between collectivism and individualism. (p. 87)
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RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATIONS - CHAPTER 8
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 optout. 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
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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
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.
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RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATIONS - CHAPTER 9
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
Employment Relations 2e by Ed Rose
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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 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.
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
50
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
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
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RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATION ACTIVITIES - CHAPTER 10
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
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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
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.
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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
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
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
54
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
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.
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RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATION ACTIVITIES - CHAPTER 11
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
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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’.
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 nonattendance 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
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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
(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.
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Dear________
58
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.
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
59
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
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.
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Dismissal Without Notice
Dear________
Date________
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
Dear________
Date________
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
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Manager

The wording should be amended as appropriate
** Delete if inappropriate
Self Evaluation Activity 11.7 Three disciplinary cases to consider
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
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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
appointment.
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RESPONSES TO SELF EVALUATION ACTIVITIES - CHAPTER 12
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.
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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
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 19 th century when
most women were excluded from the labour market. In the 21 st 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.
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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
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
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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.
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
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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
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
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performs exactly the same work as the man. For example, a woman operating a garmentmaking 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
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,
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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
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
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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.

Sexist or patronising behaviour.
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
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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.
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RESPONSES TO SELF 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.
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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
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.
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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
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
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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
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.
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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.