Employee Relations: An International Journal

John Salmon; Paul Stewart

1994 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459410057012

The 1980s has been viewed as a period of considerable change in industrial relations. The transformation of the global market and new style management practices have raised important questions regarding the extent and character of continuities and discontinuities. Much emphasis has been placed on managerial initiatives although the substance of change has remained relatively unexplored. Much of the focus of change in terms of sophisticated management has underestimated the continuing indeterminancy of management in practice. The importance of trade union responses, including the role of employees, cannot be easily deduced from a focus upon the mechanisms of change. Considers some of the questions arising out of the new paradigms of managerial change in terms of institutional reform, human resource management and Japanization.

Gregor Murray

1994 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459410056923

What is the impact of union structure on the strategic capacity of national union movements to respond to economic re‐structuring? Focuses on the experience of five countries (Canada, France, Japan, the UK and the US) and their common problems as regards, first, the movement of employment into the service sector, second, transformations in the organization of production within and beyond the firm, and third, transformations in and the multiplication of collective identities in the labour market. Structure does appear to condition union strategies, albeit in a highly variable and contingent manner. Although most unions are currently involved in some kind of structural review, the success of these adjustments remains fairly equivocal. Structure can, however, facilitate or hamper the development of strategies at appropriate levels or foster the emergence of other forms of representation because it does not furnish appropriate representational responses. In the conclusion, reviews several new structural models but no single model is likely to prove dominant.

Harriet Bradley

1994 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459410056932

Assesses the future for unions in terms of sectional, attitudinal and behavioural divisions among their membership. Data are drawn from a survey of 200 employees of five organizations carried out in the north east of England in 1992‐93. Develops a typology of different groups among the rank‐and‐file “passive” membership in terms of differing attitudes, and discusses occupational and gender divisions as examples of blocks to union unity. Concludes that unions must seek to identify and cater for the needs of a plurality of groups, but that members can be unified where a common cause is identified.

Paul Thompson; Terry Wallace; Per Sederblad

1994 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459410056941

The capacity of trade unions to renew themselves clearly depends on a variety of political and organizational factors. British trade unionism has long been seen as defensive, sectional and reactive. In contrast, Swedish unions have a reputation for interest and involvement in organizational innovation. This contrast is broadly confirmed in our case studies, though political and economic changes pose severe problems for traditional strategies in both countries. If British trade unions are to develop strategically, they will need their own positive agenda on the central workplace and societal issues. Looks at the obstacles and potential for doing this in the sphere of work organization, utilizing comparative research in the UK and Sweden.

David Grant

1994 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459410056969

New style agreements are designed to foster co‐operative, conflict‐free industrial relations. Provides an account of what happened at two Japanese manufacturing transplants in the UK where such agreements were in operation. Management at these companies appeared to operate industrial relations in a manner that was not in line with the “spirit and intention” supposed to underlie the agreements. Instead, industrial relations was low‐trust and adversarial. It contributed to employees expressing dissatisfaction with not only the management of industrial relations at each company, but also the union′s performance. An implication of the study is that new style agreements offer little comfort to trade unions as they attempt to arrest a seemingly continuous decline in their fortunes.

Ron Martin; Peter Sunley; Jane Wills

1994 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459410056996

A fast‐emerging theme in industrial relations research is that industrial relations systems in West European countries are undergoing decentralization, and that the most effective way for unions to meet this challenge is to “go local” themselves. Argues that the significance and implications of decentralization in industrial relations, and the scope and nature of union response, cannot be fully comprehended without according explicit attention to the different local contexts within which these processes are taking place. Uses developments in the British engineering sector to illustrate this argument. Firm‐based surveys and interviews with managers, local union officials and employer association representatives in two case study areas highlight the importance of local workplace cultures and institutional traditions in shaping the contemporary restructuring of industrial politics.

Tim Morris; Paul Willman

1994 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425459410057003

Reports the results of a repeat survey on the financial performance and management of TUC affiliated unions. Data are available for 1989 and 1993, covering income, expenditure, the management of investments and wealth. Unions remain in a precarious financial position, dependent on subscription revenue and, moreover, on the threatened check‐off mechanism to deliver it. The management of expenditure remains a critical issue, since the net worth of many unions remains small. Financial management is becoming more important and more sophisticated. Unions continue to centralize resource management, but many of these changes remain constrained by the political nature of financial management within voluntary organizations.