Lecture outline - Context and key themes
- The role of the state and shifts in British IR policy
- British union movement
- British employers’ and employers’ associations
- British styles of human resource management (HRM)
- Collective bargaining
- Employee involvement and participation
- Fairness at work
- European Union (EU) membership and consequences
- Networked organisations/outsourcing
- Conclusions
Context of British industrial relations - Population of approximately 59 million (UK), 80% employment rate
- Most men work full time; more than 40% of women work part time
- Major shifts in the sectoral division of workers – about 75% of British employees work in the service sector
- Growth in foreign direct investment and related employment practices
- Membership of European Union (EU) influences labour practices and standards
- Increasing number of migrant workers, particularly amongst low-wage earners
- In 2010 the unemployment rate was c.8% of the labour force
- Industrial relations have in the past been characterised British IR as ‘voluntarist’ because of the comparatively low level of legal regulation
- Yet this characterisation is increasingly misleading:
“The British state has in fact been a central actor in the construction, maintenance and reconstruction of industrial relations institutions” (Howell, 2005: 3) Key themes - Especially since 1979 the British system has been radically reformed by interventionist legislation characterised by labour market re-regulation and attempts to foster a competitive ‘enterprise culture’
- Reforms were initiated by Conservative Governments between 1979 and 1997. Many were maintained by the 1997-2010 New Labour Governments. How would you characterise the approaches of the post-2010 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government?
- Combined with broader macro-economic trends and shifts in the labour market, such reforms have had profound effects on British industrial relations
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