Employee Relations: An International Journal

Nolan, Peter

1992 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459210021987

Trade unions have featured prominently in explanations of Britainsrelative industrial decline. Indeed, for at least a century, unions andtheir members have been accused of damaging productivity, increasinglabour costs and destroying jobs. These claims are evaluated to seewhether they are the product of systematic research evidence or mereprejudice. Focusing on the unionsproductivity link, looks at the mostrecent research evidence for Britain, situates it in a theoreticalcontext, including recent American controversies, and then discusses theconsequences of diminishing union membership and influence for thestructure, performance and future prospects of the British economy.

Moss, Peter

1992 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459210021996

Considers the concept of employee child care andargues that it is problematic for a number of reasons. An alternativeapproach is advocated, based on an integrated, coherent andmultifunctional system of early childhood care and education servicesfor all children and their carers, which does not treat children ofemployed parents in isolation from other children examples of thisbroad approach are given. In conclusion, argues that an opportunity hasbeen wasted to review services in the context of a wider considerationof policies to promote the reconciliation of parental employment andcaring for children and of the role of employers with respect toreconciliation. Instead, a decontextualized advocacy of employeechild care has been able to develop, virtually unchallenged, in aclimate dominated by labour market concerns.

Corby, Susan

1992 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459210022003

Looks at industrial relations developments in the firstwave of selfgoverning trusts in the National Health Service. Itfinds that many are departing from the NHSs traditional industrialrelations model. There is a move from national to local bargaining andthe predominant pattern is single table bargaining, as opposed toseparate Whitley Councils for each functional group. In addition, tosimplify the complex traditional model, negotiations in many trusts willbe carried out effectively by representatives of only some ofthe staff organizations with members in the trust. Moreover unitaristexceptions to this still essentially pluralist pattern can be found intrusts, with examples of no union recognition, a single union deal andpay deals unilaterally determined by management.

Bowden, Valmai

1992 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459210022012

Traditionally recruiters of male graduates, private sectororganizations have been steadily increasing their intake of femalegraduates in recent years. Investigating womenfriendlyrecruitment and retention measures, this exploratory study sets out todiscover whether the prospects for graduate women were improving overthe whole working lifespan. Suggests that employers may have as yetgiven insufficient attention to the longterm implications of a rise inthe proportion of women in their graduate intake. A moregendersensitive approach is called for to the monitoring, developmentand longterm management of graduates in order to secure a satisfactoryreturn on this valuable resource.