Trade Unions Through The Recession 1980–1984

Kelly, John

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8543.1987.tb00714.x

“…Many of the private sector companies and industries in which British trade unions were strongly entrenched in the 1970s suffered severely from the recessions of the 1980s and the almost continuous programme of restructuring which has followed (Gallie et al, 1996;Kelly, 1987). One consequence of these processes has been that the balance of British trade unionism has shifted away from the private and towards the public sector (Carter and Fairbrother, 1999) Part of the explanation for this movement is that managerial attitudes towards unions in the public sector have long been less hostile and indeed, for much of the postwar period, government policies favouring collective bargaining as the best method of conflict resolution found particular expression in the Whitley system, which dominated public sector relations.…”

Section: Through An Examination Of National Policies Case Study and mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…

Through an examination of national policies, case study and survey material, this article looks at the question of the possibility of union renewal through an examination of the various and varying responses of two unions, MSF and Unison, to the changing work and employment practices in the NHS.Many of the private sector companies and industries in which British trade unions were strongly entrenched in the 1970s suffered severely from the recessions of the 1980s and the almost continuous programme of restructuring which has followed (Gallie et al, 1996;Kelly, 1987). One consequence of these processes has been that the balance of British trade unionism has shifted away from the private and towards the public sector (Carter and Fairbrother, 1999) Part of the explanation for this movement is that managerial attitudes towards unions in the public sector have long been less hostile and indeed, for much of the postwar period, government policies favouring collective bargaining as the best method of conflict resolution found particular expression in the Whitley system, which dominated public sector relations.Despite this consensus-based tradition, there is clear evidence that the developing government antagonism towards the labour movement in the 1980s was also reflected in a changed policy towards public sector unions (Foster and Scott, 1998).

…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Unions in a changing climate: MSF and Unison experiences in the new public sector

Carter

¹

,

Poynter

²

1999

Industrial Relations Journal

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Through an examination of national policies, case study and survey material, this article looks at the question of the possibility of union renewal through an examination of the various and varying responses of two unions, MSF and Unison, to the changing work and employment practices in the NHS.Many of the private sector companies and industries in which British trade unions were strongly entrenched in the 1970s suffered severely from the recessions of the 1980s and the almost continuous programme of restructuring which has followed (Gallie et al., 1996;Kelly, 1987). One consequence of these processes has been that the balance of British trade unionism has shifted away from the private and towards the public sector (Carter and Fairbrother, 1999) Part of the explanation for this movement is that managerial attitudes towards unions in the public sector have long been less hostile and indeed, for much of the postwar period, government policies favouring collective bargaining as the best method of conflict resolution found particular expression in the Whitley system, which dominated public sector relations.Despite this consensus-based tradition, there is clear evidence that the developing government antagonism towards the labour movement in the 1980s was also reflected in a changed policy towards public sector unions (Foster and Scott, 1998). Paradoxically, inside the core areas of public sector employment, such as the civil service, education and health, the hostility to unions saw no dramatic decline in union membership density. This paradox arose in part because government hostility to its own employees was mediated by both continued institutional arrangements and a great deal of residual support for traditional relations by managers, many of themselves in unions. Nevertheless, research suggests that changes enacted during the same period, such as decentralisation, market testing and Compulsory Competitive Tendering, are working long-term to threaten stable relations.Decentralisation and concomitant local bargaining have given rise to a debate

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“…That is, in simple terms, the grievance leads employees to join in an uncalculating way, and the act of joining is a form of personal tension release. There is an alternative form of grievance release in the form of individual action (Kelly 1987), which may be particularly applicable to many youngsters. Those who feel that they have little to lose by quitting, being late or absent, or committing acts of vandalism may be less likely to join unions to remedy their grievance.…”

Section: Union Membershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Industrial Relations Approach to the Free Rider Problem: Young People and Trade Union Membership in the UK

Cregan

¹

,

Johnston

²

1990

Brit J Industrial Rel

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This is an investigation into the reasons for young people's unionmembership decisions in the U K . It is carried out by an examination of a survey of London sixteen-year-old school-leavers (1979-80). The data are used in two ways. First, there is a comparative examination of a similar study based on the BainElsheikh propensity-opportunity model. Second, the data are re-examined to identify different and distinct strands of motivation or action, intrinsically and externally determined. These are related to formal theories from different disciplines which are linked together by the establishment of a definition of a trade union as agroup, institution andsocial movement. The theory is extended to develop hypotheses about membership behaviour in general.

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“…See Kelly (1987), Millward etaf. (1993, Stewart (1991), Machin and Wadhwani (1991), Carruth and Disney (1988), Metcalf (1989Metcalf ( , 1990Metcalf ( , 1994, Disney et af.…”

Section: Acknowledgementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Did the Retreat of UK Trade Unionism Accelerate during the 1990–1993 Recession?

Geroski

¹

,

Gregg

²

,

Desjonqueres

³

1995

Brit J Industrial Rel

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It is widely believed that recessions are periods of accelerated structural change, with major reorganizations or adjustments being made under intense pressure. These changes are made to ensure the survival of firms, exploit opportunities created by difficulties facing other firms, or take advantage of temporary falls in the opportunity cost of initiating and carrying out changes. This line of argument suggests that we should expect to see firms making major changes in their investments in human capital, and in their industrial relations practices. Our results are only partially consistent with this view. What seems to be clear from the data generated by our surveys is that firms are not reluctant to make changes in their bargaining strategies and industrial relations systems. This should be no surprise. Unlike investments in plant and equipment, these changes do not require much cash, and the opportunity cost of making them is much lower in recessions than in booms. However, the observed changes in union recognition have not occurred primarily in firms that were severely affected by the recession. Increases in pay decentralization and reorganization of work‐force arrangements were no more likely to be initiated by distressed firms than by firms only moderately affected by the recession. It follows, then, that the retreat of UK unionism observed during the 1990–3 recession was, in the main, a continuation of existing secular trends. The mild acceleration in the pace of change revealed by our survey may be cyclical, but the trend is unlikely to be reversed as recovery gathers pace.

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Trade Unions Through The Recession 1980–1984

Cited by 14 publications

References 4 publications

Unions in a changing climate: MSF and Unison experiences in the new public sector

Unions in a changing climate: MSF and Unison experiences in the new public sector

An Industrial Relations Approach to the Free Rider Problem: Young People and Trade Union Membership in the UK

Did the Retreat of UK Trade Unionism Accelerate during the 1990–1993 Recession?

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