3.
E H Stein in ‘Coming to a New Awareness of Organisational Culture’ illustrates an example of these two views, ‘Neither is wrong – just different.’ (See appendix 1 for more details).
The pluralist perspective with the Fire Service at the present time
The Fire Service applies a pluralistic approach, as it is a unionised organisation, The Fire Brigades Union (FBU). The issues surrounding this union are controversial at this present time.
Currently the Fire Brigade are in conflict and have recently gone on strike on several occasions regarding a 40% pay increase. They are demanding to be paid professional wages.
The Fire Brigades Union has been attempting to agree the correct rate of pay for fire fighters by negotiation for months. The Government intervened in these pay negotiations in July, and prevented the fire fighters employers from making an offer that may have formed the basis for a settlement, and prevented the strikes. The Government continued to publicly state until 3 September 2002 that the negotiations were nothing to do with them.
The Government classes the fire fighters as professional workers for job comparison purposes, but are treated as manual workers for pay purposes.
An independent study has been carried out into the Fire Service Pay by the Labour Research Department, who also carried out a similar study into the pay of the Members of Parliament. Their conclusions in the study of pay for the MPs were that they were due a substantial pay rise, which the MPs subsequently voted themselves without so much as a debate.
The FBU claim that the Government have deliberately mislead the public into believing that to pay the fire fighters the correct rate of pay will increase peoples mortgages, and has represented the fire fighters pay claim to be an annual pay award to keep up with the cost of living. The FBU say these are example of ‘Government spin’, and argue that fire fighters also have mortgages too and are also concerned about paying the bills.
The fire fighters want to see their employers return to the negotiating table in order that their pay claim can be settled. They see the Government's interference in the negotiations obstructive and believe it is driven by an agenda which will not improve the service to the public, which is why we are seeing more of the employers publicly agreeing with the fire fighters concerns about the Government Enquiry.
4.
‘This is no longer a dispute between fire fighters and the government but between New Labour and the whole Trade Union movement…’ ‘Unions were not formed to protect assets from the Courts but to defend the interest of workers. If they are not going to be used in support of fire fighters, what use are they to future generations.’ ~ statements quoted by John Edmonds, General Secretary of GMB Union
‘Should Unions Break from the political representation of New Labour? Is our economics system just based on greed and profit for the few at the expense of many?’ ~ Movement for a Socialist Future.
The role and development of Trade Unions
A trade unions’ role is to protect the interest of its members. They do this by negotiating agreements with employers on issues raised, e.g. pay, conditions of work. A trade union may also provide various other facilities, e.g. legal support, representation, financial assistance. They are the intermediary between the employers (management) and the employees (members).
The Trades Union Council (TUC) brings all the individual unions together to draw up common policies. They lobby to the Government to implement policies that will benefit people at work, and campaign on economical and social issues.
Their aims briefly consist of: -
- Raising public awareness of rights at work and the union role enforcing these rights.
- Promotes organising and recruitment drives to build up union membership.
- Supports union and communities and campaigns for dignity and respect in the workplace and beyond.
It is reported that only 1 in 3 workers is a member of a trade union according to the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey.
Union density figures show a peak in 1979. In 2001 the figure was much lower at only 29%.
The future for trade unions is uncertain and it is unclear whether most trade unions, formed decades ago, have the flexibility to respond to the current demands of members.
Trade unions are increasingly seen by many young people as backward looking, middle aged, male dominated bodies. Unions tend to be concentrated in the public services sector among professionals with above average earnings and job security, rather than the ever expanding, diverse private services that are the main source of employment growth.
5.
Some unions are now offering their services to companies by agreeing to deal with those issues not in an adversarial manner but in a spirit of consensus.
As Robert Taylor, Future of Employment Relations wrote ‘Are trade unions in danger of becoming only repositories of memories?’
To reverse this decline trade unions need to be modernised or re-branded. An ‘ordinary member’ needs to be defined, as presently people are now better educated, more aware of issues and from different ethnic backgrounds. Surveys, research and advertising campaigns could be carried out to find out potential members needs. These needs then need to be reflected in the services offered by the trade unions, whilst keeping the existing members happy.
An example of a service that could be offered to entice the younger generation is incentives for joining e.g. discounts in popular high street stores.
Certain implications could also be applied with regard to joining a union for representation e.g. you need to be a member for at least 30 days before and representation is given.
They need to update their image and be proactive in the workplace.
The TUC however recently verified its first increase and stated that trade unions are more popular than ever.
The TUC is also now providing a new web site to provide help and information on workplace issues for non-union members (). The site includes a complete guide to employment rights and the UKs’ first ever union finder which helps prospective members find the right union to join.
The TUC’s General Secretary, John Monks, said ‘This is a major new initiative by the TUC to reach out to Britain’s non-union workplaces’.
Present industrial relations within the Fire Service
The Fire Brigades Union have been actively fighting for a fair pay formula since back as far as the 1950’s. In 1977 the FBU embarked on its first national strike for this reason.
The FBU are currently campaigning for fair pay. They claim they are not given a fair wage for the job they do and are seeking a professional wage.
6.
After 4 years training a Fire Fighter earns approximately £25,000 and works a 42 hour week on a shift system. There is no extra pay for night or weekend work therefore their hourly pay is in fact lower. They also have 11% of their salary deducted for pension contributions.
The fire service employers have agreed to a joint approach to the Government to ensure Fire Fighters are fairly paid for the job they undertake.
The role and contributions of the FBU
The FBU exists to try to make sure that all members are protected and treated fairly in the UK Fire Service. They campaign not only on wages and working conditions but also recruitment, training and promotions in the Service and the way they are all treated on a daily basis – by both management and colleagues – at work.
The FBU promotes their ‘fairness at work’ policy and have practice and procedures in place to negotiate any problems they may come across. They emphasis the rights of every employee to be treated with dignity and their right to make a complaint, for more details see Appendix 2.
The fairness at work policy has been under debate for the past five years in order to refine the policy which has been subject to democratic scrutiny.
The FBU acts as a mediator between the workers and the management contributing to the development and continued progress of the profession.
The FBU are strongly committed to bringing about a change in the way the fire service works with a greater emphasis being given to fire prevention. They want to move towards more flexibility in the way resources are used and want to provide a service that reflect each individual communities needs. However they are opposed to the removal of restricted practices, which is making modernisation more difficult. These include:
- An inflexible shift and crewing system.
- Practices that prevent fire fighters volunteering to do paid overtime due to sickness or annual leave.
- Practices that prevent collaboration between other fire brigades and emergency services.
Health and safety is an ongoing issue between the FBU and managers, after having their attempt to have the Fire Service exempt from the ‘Health and Safety at Work Act’.
The manager’s view that accidents are an unavoidable consequence of fire fighting and accidents, injuries and even deaths will never be eradicated among members. This is an unacceptable analysis in the FBU’s eyes.
7.
They see this as a priority to change this perception and have already made several demands to begin changing this. They are trying to persuade senior managers to willingly take on the responsibility of their rank. Whilst enforcing training and proper risk assessments which allows the fire fighters to deal with each given situation in the expectation that they will complete the operation entirely unharmed.
If this approach is not accepted the FBU plan to apply harsher measures, some of which are as follows:
- With their solicitors, they will target senior managers held to have been responsible when the member was injured/maimed or killed.
- Adopt a policy of naming and shaming these relevant Brigades.
- Take action against those Brigades who ignore the implementation of Regulations or Codes of Practice.
The FBU state that ‘No other industry accepts deaths and accidents as an unavoidable by-product of its main field of operations.’
8.
Conclusion
Many small organisations do not have trade union representing the work force, this is true for my own workplace where we have to rely on the management to review pay and work conditions and have little input towards the outcome.
For large organisations, which are comprised of nation wide groups, trade union membership enables the organisation to unite as one and gives power towards change and development. The FBU works for all its members nationwide who will all benefit from their actions.
The FBU National Executive Council is recommending the rejections of the latest offer that has been made by the Government and will be presenting a further programme of action to the conference, which will be held on 19 March 2003 at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton. They have also proposed another 24 hour strike to begin on 20 March 2003 at 6pm.
The FBU believe that their campaign will be successful if they unite as one solid union. The leadership have balloted their members who have stood together on picket lines in order to promote their case and also gain public support. However the headlines in newspapers reporting on deaths, injuries and times taken for Green Goddesses to arrive at a scene while the fire fighters are on strike could decrease their support from the public. Possibly other courses of action should be though about. This may well increase support rather than striking and implementing bad press.
The FBU’s General Secretary Andy Gilchrist said ‘We feel let down, we feel betrayed by people we thought shared our vision for a 1st class fire service for our communities: people we thought respected us for our contribution to society.’
I agree with the strike action taken to a certain extent even if it is an extreme and drastic action, however I think their best chance of getting that support is if the fire fighters claim is tested independently by an inquiry. I think the strikes so far have been counter-productive and think they will be treading a fine line with public support if many more strikes were to occur.
I do think despite the fact that the fire fighters do deserve a pay increase, 40% is a lot to ask for in one fell swoop, I think they should consider something along the lines of the Governments proposals of an increase over so many years.
However I think an agreement must be reached sooner rather than later as the alarming threat of war becomes ever increasing.
If our soldiers were called to war and further strikes occurred, would there be enough soldiers left to man the Green Goddesses? Would the fire fighters use this to their advantage as leverage to get their pay increase? How would the public and the Government react to this ‘blackmail’ if it were to happen?
Appendix 1
‘Coming to a New Awareness of Organisational Culture’
Sloan Management Review 1984. E H Schein
Schein describes two very different organisations:
Organisation A operates on the assumption that:
- ideas come ultimately from individuals
- people are responsible, motivated and capable of governing themselves
- nevertheless, in practice, truth can only be arrived at by fighting things out in groups
- such fighting is possible because members of the organisation see themselves as a family who will take care of each other
It is therefore safe to fight and be competitive.
Organisation B operates on the assumption that:
- truth comes ultimately from older, wider and higher-status members
- people are capable of loyalty and discipline in carrying out directions
- relationships are basically lineal and vertical
- each person has a niche in the organisation that cannot be invaded
- the organisation is responsible for taking care of its members.
In organisation A there are open office landscapes, few closed doors, people milling about, intense conversations and arguments and a general air of informality.
In organisation B there is a hush in the air. Everyone is in an office with closed doors, nothing is done except by appointment and prearranged agenda. When people of different ranks are present there is real difference and obedience. An air of formality permeates everything.
Neither is wrong ~ they are just different.
Bibliography
HNC/D Business BTEC Course Book
C Handy 1993 Understanding Organisations
Torrington and Hall 2002 Human Resource Management
