Conflict at work: Industrial Disputes
Conflict at work: Industrial Disputes Industrial disputes are not a rare occurrence in today's society. Examples of this are highlighted in the media whenever we switch on our televisions or open our newspapers. I have strung together a report on why industrial disputes happen, including some of the recent and current industrial disputes. In February 2002, London Underground drivers devised a strike to see their pay rise by 5.7 percent. The strike was called off once union negotiators accepted a pay offer. Once in talks with officials representing Aslef, and the Rail Maritime and Transport Union, London Underground increased the offer. The General Secretary of RMT said after the agreement that he was pleased to have reached a settlement without having to resort to industrial action. This specific industrial dispute occurred, because tube drivers felt they were in need of a pay rise. The dispute was resolved thanks to the employers granting the drivers a pay rise. In this case, the tube drivers were the 'winners' of this industrial dispute, because they did not lose any pay by following through with the strike, and they arrived at their pay rise unscathed by the drawbacks of the proposed industrial action. In the same month as the London Underground tube drivers industrial dispute, David Blunkett, the Home Secretary retaliated after the majority of the Police Federation,
The General Strike 1926
The General Strike 1926 In 1925 the mine-owners announced that they intended to reduce the miner's wages. The General Council of the Trade Union Congress responded to this news by promising to support the miners in their dispute with their employers. The Conservative Government, decided to intervene, and supplied the necessary money to bring the miners' wages back to their previous level. This event became known as Red Friday because it was seen as a victory for working class solidarity. The Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, stated that this subsidy to the miners' wages would only last 9 months. In the meantime, the government set up a Royal Commission under the chairmanship of Sir Herbert Samuel, to look into the problems of the Mining Industry. The Samuel Commission published its report in March 1926. It recognized that the industry needed to be reorganised but rejected the suggestion of nationalization. The report also recommended that the Government subsidy should be withdrawn and the miners' wages should be reduced. The month in which the report was issued also saw the mine-owners publishing new terms of employment. These new procedures included an extension of the seven-hour working day, district wage-agreements, and a reduction in the wages of all miners. Depending on a variety of factors, the wages would be cut by between 10% and 25%. The mine-owners announced that
"Big" Industries.
"Big" Industries Many things that happened in history had a major impact on the world, especially when the development of big industries came about. Such things as Go-Getters, people credited for bringing the country together, and railroads, which interconnected things, all helped begin the Industrial Revolution. It was started mainly in Western Europe- England. One of the greatest things established was the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, which made it easier to travel ocean to ocean from a month, to a week. The only problem was that there was no way to tell the exact time of departure and arrival. People counted on the sun, which was not most accurate. After a while, people relied on Philadelphia time, which still had its defaults. Shortly after, men were sent to go fix the problem, and in 1883, at noon, everyone set to Standard Time, (One of 4 time zones.) This made it easier for people who used the train as transportation, to know the exact times of departure and arrival. Another development involved in railroad transportation was the invention of, "Standard Gauge," created by George Stevenson. This was a gauge set at 4 feet, 8.5 inches, that showed how far apart rails had to be from each other. By 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in standard gauge. The South changed over to it as well in 1886, and the entire nation used it. Later on, a Go-Getter
Challenge of change
Challenge of change A major change and challenge for trade unions in the past 20 years has been the privatisation programme. This has affected public sector workers in particular. Under privatisation, some nationalised industries and some aspects of what had been local government services were sold off or contracted out as separate entities. As a result, many employees found themselves working for a new and very different employer and the prospect of a new contract of employment and revised conditions of service. In such situations, a trade union like UNISON is greatly needed. The change of ownership from public to private can lead to big changes in approach as to how a business is run. Private businesses pursue profit, and look for opportunities to save money by cutting costs. One of UNISON's key jobs has been to try to make sure that the new employers respect and honour employees' existing pay and conditions eg holiday entitlement, pension rights, maternity leave. This can be hard going. Some private sector employers are less approachable and less willing to find common ground than others. With profits and shareholders in mind, they can be tempted to look for ways to cut earnings; lengthen working hours, shed jobs; abandon pension and sickness benefits; lower safety standards to the legal minimum etc. Trade unions encourage employers to resist such a temptation. For
Employee Organisations & Unions
Employee Organisations & Unions If employers and employees have a history of good working relationship and mutual trust, reaching decisions, which are fair under the circumstances, would be achievable. For example, if the business is poor and redundancies are possible, it would be impossible to find a solution to suit everyone so the employer would have to make a difficult decision. Good relations between employers and employees are only possible if both feel that they can discuss major problems and anticipated changes, if there can be discussion and consultation about key issues and if they genuinely want to work together to find a solution. After employees have been involved in a consultative process they are usually more likely to accept a negotiated outcome. A trade union is a voluntary organisation which employees are free to join if they wish. There may be a subscription charge depending on size; it varies from a very large association to a small association. Trade unions offer a range benefits and advisory services to members, represent their members during disciplinary or grievance procedures and aim to protect and improve pay and conditions of employment. They approach the government about introducing laws, which will benefit employees. Staff associations do not automatically have the same legal rights as independent trade unions, although many do. They may just
Explain fully and clearly the importance of negotiation within industrial relations to resolve disputes
E1: Explain fully and clearly the importance of negotiation within industrial relations to resolve disputes For this section I will discuss why negotiations are important to resolve disputes. I will use examples of the current day disputes, which include teacher and fireman strikes. Disputes arise due to problems with hours of work, pay, conditions, unfair dismissal, discrimination, productivity, health and safety, and redundancy. The people involved in industrial relations are employees, the trade union they belong to, the employer and the government. Trade Unions which employees can join at work to try and improve wages, working conditions, and the working environment. The aims of these trade unions are to protect wage values, control hours of work, checking health and safety and representing its members. None of these aims can be met unless negotiating with employers and the government are made. It is important to negotiate disputes for many reasons. It is important not to disrupt the services that are provided for the public. The fire fighting service has now been affected which is dangerous as peoples lives are at risk. Negotiations make the workforce happy which means they will do a better job and become more efficient. The government want this because the economy will improve, as companies will have high production levels. It is important for government to
Trade Unions
Trade Unions Types of trade Union A trade union is a group of workers who join together in order to protect their own interests and to be more powerful when negotiating with their employers. Each employee who wishes to join a trade union must pay an annual fee, which contributes towards the costs and expenses that the trade union incurs when it provides services to its members, and supports industrial action by the workers. Trade unions have a number of aims: . To improve the pay of its members. 2. To improve the working conditions and the working practices of its members. 3. To support the training and the professional development of its members. 4. To ensure that their members' interests are considered by the employers when any decision is made which will affect the workforce. There are four main types of trade union in the UK: . General Unions. These are for skilled and unskilled workers performing different jobs in different industries (e.g. cleaners, clerical staff, transport workers). 2. Industrial unions. These are for different workers in the same industry (e.g. the National Union of Miners (N.U.M), covering workers at all levels in the hierarchy). 3. Craft Unions. These are fairly small unions for skilled workers, performing the same or similar work in different industries (e.g. musicians). 4. White-collar Unions. These are for 'white-collar' (or
Why did the General strike of 1926 take place?
Louise Todd 11I Why did the General strike of 1926 take place? 76 years ago an earthquake shook the very foundations of British capitalism. For 9 days, not a wheel turned, not a light shone without the permission of the working class. The general strike of 1926 did not fall from a clear blue sky, it happened because of a combination of many factors. Workers were unhappy, from 1910 to 1914 there were a series of strikes, and the triple alliance between miners, railwaymen, and transport workers was formed. There was rise in Syndicalism, the idea that unions should become larger and larger, perhaps joining together to fight for the working classes. In the end the unions would be so powerful that they would call a strike across the whole country and take control of industry in Britain. During the war Britain could not compete with countries such as Japan and the U.S.A who began selling their goods into British markets. The price of English coal dropped immensely the government were not helping the working class. In 1919 The Sankey commission recommended that mines stay under government control, but in 1921 the mines were returned to the mine owners. This was bad news for the miners and they called it black Friday. In 1925 there was a government subsidy for nine months to keep up miners wages. To start with this was a good thing, but when in 1926 the government withdrew the
Why did the general strike of 1926 take place?
Why did the general strike of 1926 take place? 77 years ago an earthquake shook the very foundations of British capitalism this was the general strike of 1926 it took place because of numerous reasons of which I am going to explain a few in detail. The aim of this essay is that there are numerous reasons and many years to affect the out come of the general strike there are long term and short term causes as well. One of the reasons that I am going to explore is that the war was a long term cause and an important factor in the general strike because before the war there was industrial unrest because the miners were having to do long hours with not much pay and during the war the mines were changed to nationalisation so the miners were receiving more pay and wanted to stay with nationalisation, the economic consequences of the war lead to less money being paid per tonne of coal being produced making it harder to earn money in the business, with all the exports becoming more expensive and mass unemployment a lot of people during the war went hungry and because coal mining was such a dangerous job (on average 2 people a day died) so the miners thought that because they were risking their lives they were they should get a higher pay, these factors contributed to the strike by building tension between the miners and mine owners and other businesses because of the rise in export
Why did the General Strike of 1926 take place?
Why did the General Strike of 1926 take place? In 1926 the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) called out workers throughout the country on a general strike for nine days in an attempt to force the government to act to prevent the wages and conditions of coal miners being lowered. There is no one reason why the General Strike of 1926 took place, instead a large number of long and short term causes led towards the event, which was finally set off by a trigger cause. An example of a long term cause would be the history of bad relations between mine owners and their workers, a short term cause would be the Samuel Report and a trigger the Daily Mail article. Each cause led towards the strike and this essay will examine what these causes were, and how important they were in bringing about the General Strike. A long-term factor which contributed largely towards the strike was misplaced post-war optimism. During the war Trade Unions had worked alongside the Government to agree on working conditions. They had even allowed unskilled workers, such as women to take on jobs that could no longer be filled by the skilled workers, who were off at war- this was known as dilution of labour. However, this disillusionment of improved working conditions did not last for long. When the war was over the skilled workers returned to these jobs, leaving those who had filled in for