The firs Labour government took office in 1924.
Wage cuts in the mining industry caused a general strike, this was broken up by troops and volunteers called in by the government, the TUC surrenders and orders are issued to return to work in May but the minors remained on strike until November.
It was made illegal to go on strike in sympathy with works of other industries and also restrictions were imposed on picketing in 1927.
Union memberships declines by just under 50% in 13 years to 4.4million/
Women are allowed for the first time to sign up to Amalgamated Engineering Union in 19422 with 139,000 members in one year.
Incitement to strikes is made illegal by Defence regulations 1AA in light of the strikes of bus drivers and dock workers in Liverpool.
1945 saw the first majority Labour government elected.
Anthony Eden Conservative Prime Minister takes office and witnesses many strikes causing disruption to newspaper publications and train services in 1955.
A labour government is elected in 1964 under Harold Wilson.
Pre-strike ballots and improved recognition rights are recommended in 1969. The government changes from Labour to conservative in 1970.
All unions are required to register by the Industrial Relations Act, who also make collective agreements legally enforceable through an Industrial Relations Court.
1972 was a memorable year with minors and dock workers strikes. It was also the year of ‘Bloody Sunday’. Appendix 2.
Labour is back in government ion 1974, still under Harold Wilson. This is the year that the Health and Safety at Work Act is passed followed by the Equality Act for men and women the following year.
The Employment Relations Act introduces statutory rights to TU recognition, were supported by a majority of the workforce in 1999. a few years later in 2002 Amicus was created by the merge of Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union and the Amalgamated Electrical and engineering Union.
Since the first meeting of the TUC in 1868 there have been many general secretaries including the appointment of Brendan Barber in 2003.
Memberships for unions have decreased to 7.5 million in 2005, but for the first time ever it has more female members than male. This is the year that records the lowest ever amount of work days lost to industrial disputes.
The following year 2006 saw more than one million local government workers strike because of threats to their pension scheme.
Amicus grows with the merge of more unions in 2007.
The above summary shows how unions have grown and been accepted over the last couple of hundred years, but that a lot of disputes and power struggles have had to be overcome to get there.
- Determine the role of the trade unions and its contribution to effective employee relations.
What is a Trade Union?
A TU is a group of employees with mutual and common interests that have created an organisation. The main objective of the union is to come to agreements with their employees to set procedures and policies to protect and promote their interests. For these agreements to be put in place, normally a lot of bargaining takes place between the TU and the employer.
Employees pay a fee, which is determined by the union, to join the union.
Each union within the workforce has a representative or a shop steward. This person is the elected spokesperson. With large unions there are area reps and national management committees who represent its members.
Employees have rights and the unions aim to protect these rights. Also when problems arise within the workforce, the employee looks to the union rep to represent them or to protect their interest. The TU will support the Member and can even give legal advice.
There are 4 main types of TU organisations shown in the table below.
There are many advantages of being a member of a TU these include:
- Having someone to negotiate for you on such matters as; Pay and work conditions etc
- Having an informed representative should a problem or disciplinary occur
- To ensure safe working conditions eg: make sure no dangerous machinery or gases in the work place etc
- Should there be a threat of redundancy then the union will try to negotiate a redundancy package or fair dismissal deal
- Access to knowledge such as unemployment insurance
- Equal fair treatment eg: part time workers have the same right as full timers
- Legal representation
- Other services offered by the TU of its on accord eg: cash benefits, vouchers etc
- Opportunities of TU training courses
TU membership reached its peak of 13 million in 1980. Membership numbers then started to decline. This decline could have been caused by many factors including:
- Decrease in manufacturing businesses. (high demand for TU in manufacturing)
- Increase in service sector (low demand for TU in this sector)
- Employers de-recognising TU due to pressure from competitors. Thus meaning am end to restriction in the workplace rules.
- With TU being weak, workers do not which to become members, creating a ‘catch twenty two’ situation.
- The need for TU to negotiate occupational boundaries and work rules was becoming less due to HRM negotiating individual’s work contracts, introducing performance related reviews and rewards, flexible working, and direct communication policies etc.
The election of the conservative government on 1979 saw a weakening if the TU powers, due to new legislations.
For example
When gaining employment one of the conditions may have been that the employee had to become a member of a trade union. This was called ‘closed shop’. The Conservatives abolished this. Also unemployment figures were high at this time.
In 2001 figures for total TU membership had fallen to just under 8 million. However the last few years have seen these figures increasing. Factors for this turnaround include:
- Labour Governments support for an industrial relations climate in which employees are less inclined to behave unilaterally, thus legitimising the TU role in an organisation.
- By using TU in an efficient: positive and democratic way to liaise with employees, employers recognises the benefits to the business. Many managerial concerns can be carried out by TU. The benefits of this to a business include:
- Time and cost savings
- Receiving feedback, grievances and complaints
- Stabilizes the workforce by legitimizing procedures and managerial prerogatives.
- Employers and TU have started working together to achieve common aims such as fairness and competitiveness. Due to this understanding it has opened recognition and willingness from employees to have a working relationship with TU.
Although membership figures have increased for TU, these figures may be from TU that were de-recognised during the Conservative Governments reign in the 1980’s. Therefore they may only be recovering members rather than gaining new members.
- Differentiate the roles taken by the main actors in employee relations.
There are different actors in industrial relations, each with different roles. These actors and their roles are discussed below.
- Trade Unions
Definitions of TU
[2] “organisation whose membership consists of workers and union leaders, an whose principle purposes are to:
- Negotiate wages and working terms
- Regulate relations between workers (its members) and the employer
- Take collective action to enforce the terms of collective bargaining
- Raise new demands on behalf of its members
- Help settle their grievances
[3] “A TU is an organised association of employees who consist wholly or mainly of workers of one or more description and whose principle purposes include regulation of relations between workers and employers”
The first definition gives a clear definition as to the purpose and benefits of becoming a member of a TU. Another benefit is the legal advice and representation available to members.
Here is a list of just a few TU available to workers
- The General Workers Union
- Association of Revenue and Customs
- British Association of Journalists
- Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union
- Diages Staff Association
- Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
- Harrods Staff Union
For a full list of all TU visit www.certoffice.org
Below is an explanation of the Fire Brigade Union and more details concerning them.
Who do the FBU represent?
- 85% of uniformed fire service staff
- Members are frontline public service workers
- Fire Fighters
- Area Managers
- Fire control staff
- Retained duty system fire fighters
The FBU is based in Surrey but there are 13 regional offices located across the UK. The regional offices can help you locate your local FBU representative.
There are currently 44,617 members consisting of 42,041 male members and 2,567 female members.
When there are issues affecting the FBU members and the public at large the FBU will campaign on these key issues. Regardless of what job position the members are in, the FBU aims to protect and improve the fire and rescue service by improving safety, ending discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
It is not just campaigns within the fire service that the FBU campaign for, but also for campaigns outside the workforce such as those seeking better employment rights for all workers in the UK or to secure proper TU and human rights in Columbia.
The FBU was in court in 2009 with regards to conditions to do with members pensions and whether they are paid or not in circumstances when a member becomes badly injured or disabled. For further information see appendix 3.
The FBU provides all the usual benefits, plus gives extra benefits. (Many TU give extra benefits to gain a competitive advantage over other TU and attract more members. Members can join more than one TU but an employer does not have to deal with a TU unless it is recognised for the purpose of collective bargaining or negotiations.)
The FBU extra benefits consist of:
- Discounted home insurance, travel insurance
- Members magazines
- E Bulletins
- Fire fighter magazines
As well as the TU there is the TUC.
About the TUC.
[4] “the TUC is the voice of Britain at work. With 58 affiliated unions representing nearly 7 million working people from all walks of life, we campaign for affair deal at work and for social justice at home and abroad.
We negotiate in Europe and at home build links with political parties, businesses, local communities and wider society”.
The TUC brings unions together to draw up common policies this is done during its annual week long conference meetings. The implementation of these policies can mean lobbying the government. There are many purposes to the TUC as attached in appendix 4.
The TUC also helps TU to organise and recruit members through their union organising academy and their new unionism campaign.
The TUC has launched ‘its about time’ campaign. This is about aiming to make long working hours, including gaining a work and life balance, a high priority in the workplace. Appendix 5.
It is fair to summarize the TUC and say that they are the collective voice of the British TU and represents them internationally. The TUC also researches and develops policies as well as campaigns for them. Another role of the TUC is to ensure good relations between unions and help when any disputes arise.
- Staff Associations
There are other employee representatives to deal formally and informally with management, not just TU but also Staff Associations.
Staff Associations represent the employees of a particular organisation. In work places where TU are not as socially acceptable, Staff Associations are a more welcome and popular choice. Such work places include; banking, insurance, teachers etc.
The table below shows the benefits and disadvantages of Staff Associations.
As well as Staff Associations thee is professional bodies and associates available for representation to negotiate and look after the interests of their members.
Examples of professional bodies and associates include:
British Medical Association (BMA)
- Represents all doctors in all branches of medicine across the UK
General Teaching Council for England (GTCE)
- Professional body for teaches in England
- Purpose is to improve standards in teaching and learning by working in the interests of the public
- Regulate the teaching profession
- Employers associations and federations
Employers Associations are similar to TU in the sense that they are made up of groups with common interests. The main difference is that they are for employers made up of employers.
These associations were formed to facilitate trade, communication and representation.
There are regional associations and federations, some are specialised in their scope and there are national bodies that cover whole industries such as:
- Engineers Employers Association
- Publishers Association
- Chemical Industries Association
- Road Haulage Association
- Federation of Master Builders
- Newspaper Society
- British Clothing Industry Association
Employers become members of these associations and federations for many reasons including:
- To gain help and advice when employee relation issues arise
- To have representation of their views to political influences by lobbying parliament to influence government policies
- When disputes arise such as employment tribunals, firms look to these associations for assistance in resolving such disputes.
- To negotiate for them with TU to come to collective agreements
There is a management organisation called the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) that was formed in 1965. The CBI is indirectly involved with industrial relations as it provides a means for its members to influence economies policy. The CBI also provides advice and services to members supported by research.
The CBI is the main lobbying organisation for UK businesses on national and international issues. In order to help UK businesses to compete effectively, the CBI works with carious other agencies:
- UK Government
- International Legislators
- Policy Makers
On-ground support is available to members through the CBI network of offices in the UK, Beijing, Brussels and Washington. Appendix 6 shows a CBI Campaign.
- Third Parties
Government, arbitrators, judges and the European Court of Justice are all third parties that have important influences on industrial relations. They are involved as they set a framework and guidelines as to what employers and employees can and can’t do.
There are agencies set up by the government to assist, consult and act as mediators during employment and industrial relations matters. Such agencies are; Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) and Employment Tribunals.
ACAS is an independent body and its main roles are:
- To resolve disputes
- Provide conciliatory services for individuals
- To give advice, help and information regarding industrial relations and employment issues.
In the even of a possible or actual trade dispute, employers and TU can request the intervention of ACAS. This can be done through:
Arbitration - this involves an impartial outsider being asked to make a decision on a dispute. Both sides have to agree to use an arbitrator and to abide by the arbitrators decision.
An example of using an arbitrator is for deciding cases of unfair dismissal without the need to go to a tribunal. The Employment Rights Act 1998 gave ACAS the power to draw up the arbitration scheme. More information about the Employment Rights Act 1998 can be found at www.acas.org.uk.
Employment Tribunals- most cases brought under employment law are dealt with by Employment Tribunals, which was created under the Employment Tribunals Act 1996. Cases that are brought under the Employment Law include:
- Unfair dismissal
- Redundancy payments
- Discrimination
They also deal with claims related to wages and other payments.
An Employment Tribunal is like a court but less formal, consisting of:
- A legally qualified chair person
- Two representatives
- One from employer
- The other belonging to the TU
As in a court of law legal representation is allowed and witnesses are called to give evidence on oath.
The decision is legally binding. Should the decision be appealed then it will go to the Employment Appeals Tribunal, this is a formal court and its decision establishes legal precedent.
- The role of the HR department
HR focuses on recruitment, management and providing directions for the people who work in an organisation. HR can also be performed by line managers. HR also deals with issues related to people such as; compensation, hiring, performance management, organisation development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, training etc.
Managers that have HR responsibilities on a daily basis, are responsible for implementing industrial relations polices, such as:
- Communicating information to office representatives, such as:
- Changes in work procedures or new rules
- Conducting disciplinary and grievance measures
- Enforcing and implementing agreements on working conditions
- Remain authoritive to the workers whilst being able to manage team relations and keep conflict to a minimum.
HR recognises that workers are one of the biggest assets to a business and try to work with them to improve the workforce one way of doing this is performance management. HR are able to recognise how much an employee is worth. By knowing an employee’s worth, HR can decide the following:
- Who to dismiss
- Who to retrain
- Who to promote
- Track trend for the selection of future recruitments
HR will carry out employee reviews to be able to create a snapshot of the workforce at that moment in time. This information is used to optimize productivity and efficiency within the employee base.
5.0 Explain the ideological framework of industrial relations
Industrial Relations strategy has four possible orientations as described be David Guest.
The new Realism: High emphasis on Human Resources Management (HRM) and Industrial Relations.
This is used to facilitate greater flexibility, more multi-skilling, removing boundaries and the improvement of quality. By initiating collaborative arrangements, extending consultations processes and moving towards single status, Sheerness Steel in Kent have managed to achieve this.
Traditional Collectivism: Emphasis on Industrial Relations without HRM.
This is when organisations use TU for communications and to deal with grievances, disciplinary and safety issues etc.
Individualised HRM: Emphasis on HRM without Industrial Relations.
This is common within companies in North America. an example of a company that relates to this is Bank of America located in Chester in the UK.
The Black Hole: No Industrial Relations
This is when companies do not see it as a priority to have a HRM policy in place nor does it see the need for TU. This is often the case in small businesses such local cobbler shop.
- Investigate the different types of collective dispute.
There are different matters involved in collective disputes these can be:
- Conditions of employment
- Pay related issues
- Termination of employment
- Disciplinary etc.
Actions that can be taken in collective disputes are as follows:
Work to rule – this is when employees do not work more than the minimum required by their job descriptions. Employees will follow policies and regulations to the letter causing work to go slow. Work to rule is considered less disruptive than strike action and is less likely to implement disciplinary action. Eg nurses refusing to answer the phones.
Overtime Ban- this is when employees will only work the hours specified in their contracts and refuse to do overtime. This is more of a problem to organisations that operate out of normal regular hours such as security, transport, NHS emergency services. As with the ‘work to rule’ this action is likely to receive disciplinary action.
Go slow - is used by employees that do their work but at a much slower pace, therefore reducing productivity and efficiency in performance. This is used to pressurise management and is also less risky and costly to the workers than a strike. Go slow action would probably be most effective in manufacturing factories and some service industries.
Strike – this is when a large amount of workers refuse to work. This is often the case with responses to grievances such as pay cuts/freezes, redundancies, working hours and conditions etc. The risk of strike action is that the workers maybe replaced and they also loose pay for the days not worked during strikes. Strike action can sometimes put pressure on the government to change policies and occasionally destabilise a particular political party. For example. [5] “The strike action at Gdansk Shipyard. It was significant in the struggle for political changes in Poland and was an important mobilised effort that contributed to the fall of governments in Stalinist Eat Europe”
Below are two examples of recent strike action taken.
British Airways (BA)
BA cabin crew have announced dates for proposed strike action for late March 2010 and have stated that they will not rule out further strikes.
Theses strikes are in response to cost cutting measures put in place be BA, such as:
- Reduce cabin crew members on long haul flights from 15 to 14
- New contracts for new staff with new conditions including
- Single onboard management scheme
- No seniority
- Pay set at market rate plus 10%
BA is making these changes due to a loss of £342million during a time that saw £70million profits the year before. If measures are not put in place now the future of BA is uncertain.
The TU says that they should have been able to negotiate the changes, but BA said they were non negotiable and a High Court ruled in BA favour.
This action is currently ongoing. Should there be a strike, which looks highly possible, it will cause a great disruption to passengers. Staff will suffer too with the loss of pay and they hae been informed that they will loose perks too, such as the right to buy heavily discounted tickets for flights.
Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
The FBU were demanding a 40% pay increase and the employers were only offering a 4% increase.
The fire fighters refused the offer and voted 9 to 1 for strikes and they went on strike for 48 hours. Afterwards talks took place and produced an agreement on a 2 year, 16% deal.
John Prescott intervened and attacked both sides for signing what he described as a bouncing cheque which they expected the government to fund.
The fire fighters then went on strike for 8 days. Afterwards battles took place between the FBU and government. The FBU stepped back and announced it was going into talks with ACAS.
An agreement was made were by the accepted the earlier offer of 16% increase over 2 years but with conditions of dealing with staff disputes and overtime.
Some progress was made but at the cost of strikes, bitter words and the distraction of troops in the run up to a war.
The FBU leader believes that it was the best offer available in the political climate. But some rank and file members have accused their leaders of stabbing them in the back.
7.0 Review dispute procedures and the resolution of conflict
Where employer and employee representatives cannot achieve an agreement then the dispute procedure should be carried out. Taking the following steps:
- Put into writing
- Referred to higher management
- Carried out within a reasonable time.
If the dispute can still not be rectified then it should be referred to outside conciliation, such as ACAS. ACAS will agree to conciliate when all other procedures have been tried. This is usually used to come up with an agreement between employer and employee representatives collectively.
Arbitration is another way to reach an agreement collectively. Doth sides will put forward their arguments to the arbitrator in writing and both must agree to abide by the arbitrator’s decision beforehand.
Similar to arbitration is mediation, but instead of making one final decision, mediation offers proposals and recommendations to settle a dispute.
For an individual with a dispute that has ended in unfair dismissal, redundancy payments, employment discrimination etc, they are able to got o an industrial tribunal. Parties will have an ACAS officer assigned to them in most cases.
8.0 Critically evaluate the effectiveness of dispute procedures in resolving conflict in a given situation by being involved in an ‘Employment Tribunal’ role play.
Once an individual has tried to sort out the dispute and has been unsuccessful, they should seek advice.
If they are advised to go to an Employment Tribunal then they should follow the procedure below.
- Send a claim form to the Tribunal Office. This will take approximately 3 working days to either not be accepted and returned or to be accepted and sent to the respondent.
-
Conciliation starts
- Within 28 days the response needs to be accepted. If it is not accepted or there is no response then a default judgment is issued.
- Once a response is accepted it will go to case management and a hearing will be held. This can take up to 26 weeks.
- A decision will be issued within 4 weeks.
There are many reasons for an employment tribunal. Appendix 7
Below is timescale with a recommendation and conclusion of a previous Employment Tribunal. Sent v British Airways Appendix 8
Those involved:
Claimant: Graham SENT
Staff Representative: Anne MAY
Full Time Official: Rickie PITHERSBY
Respondent: Lesley GLYNN
Security Manager: John LAND]
HRM: Yvonne BREMMER
Head of Security: Diane JOYCE
Timescale
On reflection of this timescale it is obvious that SENT made deliberate contact on 3 occasions over more than a 5 month period.
The question has to be asked: Does this constitute as harassment?
Wikipedia define harassment as [6] “harassment causes a wide range of offensive behaviour. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset. In the legal sense, it is behaviour that is found threatening or disturbing. Sexual harassment refers to persistent and unwanted sexual advance, typically in the work place, where the consequences of refusing are potentially very disadvantageous to the victim”.
BA should have considered all the circumstances before reaching a decision, particularly the perception of harassment as it is often different by different people. The employers should have asked themselves ‘could what have happened be considered to have caused offence’.
The final decision to uphold SENT’s dismissal, in the writers opinion, is wrong.
SENT had gone to GLYNN’s home, but did not intend to disturb, upset or threaten GLYNN. Nor was his actions a regular occurrence. SENT’s next contact was 3 months later in a non aggressive and non threatening letter, which had no intention of upsetting GLYNN. The letter was sent so as not to physically intimidate GLYNN. The third and final contact, which was more than 5 months after the first incident, SENT was offering help and seeking understanding with regards to GLYNN’s behaviour towards him. This is when SENT was physically assaulted by GLYNN. Medical records show that the assault was done with a ‘heavy blow’ but GLYNN insists it was a just gentle kick.
In conclusion, looking at the timetable it confirms that contact was not a regular occurrence but that it was little over a long period of time. SENT’s actions were not ones of harassment nor did SENT have intentions of harassment. Therefore SENT should have won the appeal and been reinstated and GLYNN should be accountable for her attack on SENT.
Even though the decision was upheld it should have taken into account the fact that SENT and GLYNN had close relations previous to this, therefore mitigating circumstances need to be considered.
All things considered this case should not have gone as far as it did do; earlier steps could have and should have been taken to resolve the situation, such as;
- Another informal approach
- Counselling
- Mediation.
9.0 Evaluations: Self Evaluation and Timescales
I enjoyed most of this assignment. It gave me more of an understanding of the subject; by making me research and study industrial relations further. By attending lessons regularly and receiving handouts from my tutor and also by searching the internet I gained more knowledge and understanding of the TU roles and its history.
To get started I went ahead and researched unitary and pluralistic frames of reference on my own, so these might be different to what was expected. I did receive further handouts and examples of these, but due to having to care for 5 children I did not have the time to redo this question. In future I will put my time management skills to better use to overcome this problem.
I feel that the study and research used for this assignment and the knowledge and experience gained will help me in the future, particularly the rights and procedures of employers and employees, as I would eventually like to start my own business providing a service, as an events organiser and would need to take these considerations in to account when building a business plan, should I be successful enough to expand and employ staff of my own.
I completed the assignment by reading the course notes and the appropriate course text books, using the internet, mainly Wikipedia, and discussions with my tutor provided further information.
I was nervous about doing the employment tribunal in front of every body, but once I got started my nerves faded and I really enjoyed it. It was made easier by having the case in front of me with the notes I had mad.
I am really pleased with my efforts and hope that my overall mark will reflect this.
Timetable:
10.0 References
1. www.bola.biz/unions/puralistic.html accessed on 09/02/2010
2. http://businessdictionary.com/definition/trade-union.html accessed on 16/02/2010
3. Fieldstead M, Class Handouts, Wirral Met College, 2009-2010
4. www.org.uk/the-tuc/index.cfm accessed 16/02/2010
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/strike_action accessed 18/03/09
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/harrasment#types_of_harrassment accessed on 25/03/2010
11.0 BibliographyBooks and handouts
Fieldstead M, Handouts, Wirral Met College, 2009/2010
Tyson S, York A, Essentials of HRM, Fourth Edition 2000, Reed Educational and Professional Publishing Ltd.
Websites
www.acas.org.uk
www.bma.org.uk
www.bola.biz/unions/unitary.html
www.certoffice.org
www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk
www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk/FormsGuidance/jurisdictionList.htm
www.fbu.org.uk
www.gtce.org.uk
http://news .bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8413529stm
http://tolpuddlemartyrs.online-today.co.uk
www.tuc.org.uk
www.unionhistory.info/report/index.php
12.0 Appendices
Appendix 1 – Tolpuddle Marty’s Trial
Appendix 2 – Bloody Sunday
Appendix 3 – Fire Fighters magazine article.
Appendix 4 – About the TUC
Appendix 5 – TUC’s “it’s about time campaign”
Appendix 6 - CBI CampaignAppendix 1
Appendix 7 – Jurisdiction list
Appendix 8 – Employment Tribunal, Sent v British Airways
