Employee Relations: An International Journal

Deirdre Curran; Mary Quinn

2012 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211248514

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore attitudes to employment law and the consequent impact of legislation on Irish employment relations practice. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a comparative approach using two separate pieces of employment law governing race equality, and employee information and consultation, respectively. Semi‐structured interviews with key informants are the main data source, augmented in the case of the information and consultation legislation by focus groups in individual workplaces. Findings – The empirical evidence presented suggests that legislation is not the primary initiator of change. In the case of race equality the market was found to be a key determinant of practice (termed “market‐prompted voluntarism”). However, it is argued that regulation can influence change in organisations, depending on the complex dynamic between a number of contingencies, including the aspect of employment being regulated, the presence of supportive institutions, and organisation‐specific variables. Practical implications – The comparative findings in this research allow some important inferences to be made regarding the use of law to mandate change in employment relations practice. They, in turn, provide useful lessons for future policy makers, managers, trade unionists and workers. Originality/value – This paper is unique in its comparison of two separate pieces of legislation. In both cases considered, the legislation was prompted by EU Directives, and the obligation on member states to transpose these Directives into national law. The findings suggest that readiness for legislation, based on length of national debate and acceptance of the underlying concept, can influence its impact. The concept of equality seems to have gained widespread acceptance since the debate provoked by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, understanding and acceptance of the concept of employee voice has been much less pronounced in the Anglo‐Saxon world.

Leigh‐Ann Harris; Kirsten Bendix Olsen; Robyn Jane Walker

2012 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211248532

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the development of a health and safety (HS) representative role typology that demonstrates how representatives enact their roles and improve occupational health and safety (OHS) under New Zealand law. It aims to consider the factors that influence the roles that HS representatives’ assume. Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative, cross‐perceptual study centres on the role enactments of eight HS representatives at two metal manufacturers. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with HS representatives, managers, workers, senior managers, OHS managers and a union convenor. “Types” were differentiated by the HS representatives’ purpose, activities and OHS impacts. Findings – In total, four HS representative role “types” were identified: administrators, workshop inspectors, problem solvers and craft experts. Administrators implemented and operated OHS management systems and improved OHS management. Workshop inspectors undertook compliance and monitoring roles and improved workers’ attitudes towards OHS. Problem solvers found solutions to control hazards and improved production from an OHS perspective. Craft experts applied technical knowledge to influence strategic OHS decisions. Role enactment appeared to be influenced by representatives’ expert power, job roles and the organisational role definition. Representatives operating under both managerial and worker defined HS representative systems, increased worker “voice” by providing an avenue to redress OHS concerns. Practical implications – Implications arise for OHS policy, HS representative training courses and organisational/managerial support. Originality/value – The paper presents a HS representative role typology distinctively based on cross‐perceptual data that also provides a more holistic perspective of the HS representative role by considering representatives’ purpose, role enactment and OHS impact.

Saji K. Mathew; Robert Jones

2012 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211248550

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of non‐violent protest ( satyagraha ) in a multinational automobile plant in India that has suffered from considerable employee relations problems. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a case study of a Japanese‐owned company using data obtained from 30 personal interviews and from internet media sources. Findings – It is found that workers initially pursued their protests through satyagraha ‐style methods before taking on a more violent posture when company management refused to accept any notion of jointly seeking a new harmony. The reasons for these developments are explored. Practical implications – The paper has implications for the manner in which scholars and practitioners view the respective roles, significance, and management of satyagraha and non‐ satyagraha protest in Indian companies. Originality/value – The importance of satyagraha in Indian employee relations is under‐researched in comparison with other factors, and is especially significant for culturally‐unaware multinational companies in successfully understanding and managing protest in the workplace context.

Ralph Darlington

2012 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211248523

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build on the insights of mobilisation theory to examine the interplay of structure and agency dynamics in strike activity. It proposes to do so by investigating the 2007 36‐hour strike undertaken by 2,300 engineering and infrastructure workers employed by the private consortium Metronet on the London Underground, focusing attention on the relationship between workers’ militancy, trade union leadership and left‐wing politics within a highly distinctive and union favourable “opportunity structure” context. Design/methodology/approach – Semi‐structured in‐depth interviews were conducted with 24 RMT union informants within Metronet and the London Underground (including union members, reps, branch and regional officers); analysis was made of documentary industrial relations and trade union material; and personal fieldwork observation. Findings – Although favourable specific contextual and contingent factors served as both provocations and resources for strike action, notably in enhancing workers’ bargaining position and lending feasibility to a strike mobilisation approach, the role of trade union leadership and left‐wing politics at every level of the union in collectivising workers’ experiences and aspirations in forms which directly encouraged combativity was also crucial. Research limitations/implications – The specificity of the case study limits the degree of generalisation that can be made to other industries. Researchers are encouraged to test the proposed analytical approach further. Originality/value – The paper provides case‐study empirical evidence into an important arena of employment in the UK, contributes to our understanding of the multi‐dimensional causes of strike activity; and adds an important political dimension to the analysis of collective mobilisation often neglected in both industrial relations and social movement literature.

Kim Mather; Les Worrall; Graeme Mather

2012 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211248541

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore control and resistance in the UK further education (FE) sector by examining senior college managers’ attempts to engineer culture change and analysing lecturers’ resistance to such measures. Design/methodology/approach – Data were derived from interviews with managers and lecturers in two English FE colleges and the analysis of college documents. Interview data were analysed thematically using NVIVO software. Findings – It was found that college managers sought to build consent to change among lecturers based on values derived from “business‐like” views. Culture change initiatives were framed within the language of empowerment but lecturers’ experiences of change led them to feel disempowered and cynical as managers imposed their view of what lecturers should be doing and how they should behave. This attempt to gain control of the lecturers’ labour process invoked the “Stepford” lecturer metaphor used in the paper. Paradoxically, as managers sought to create lecturers who were less resistant to change, individualised resistance intensified as managers’ attempts to win hearts and minds conspicuously failed. Research limitations/implications – The paper draws on data from two case study colleges and this limits the generalisability of its findings. Practical implications – The paper provides a critical perspective on the received wisdom of investing in stylised change programmes that promise to win staff over to change but which may alienate those they purport to empower and ultimately lead to degenerative workplace relations. Originality/value – The paper offers new insights into culture change from the juxtaposed, polarised views of senior managers and lecturers, while highlighting the negative consequences of imposing change initiatives from above.

Francine Schlosser; Roxanne Zolin

2012 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211248569

Purpose – It is ironic that in stressful economic times, when new ideas and positive behaviors could be most valuable, employees may not speak up, leading to reduced employee participation, less organizational learning, less innovation and less receptiveness to change. The supervisor is the organization's first line of defense against a culture of silence and towards a culture of openness. The purpose of this paper is to ask what helps supervisors to hear prosocial voice and notice defensive silence. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a cross‐sectional field study of 142 supervisors. Findings – The results indicate that prosocial voice is increased by supervisor tension and trust in employees, while defensive silence is increased by supervisor tension but reduced by unionization of employees and trust in employees. This indicates that, as hypothesized by others, voice and silence are orthogonal and not opposites of the same construct. Research limitations/implications – The data are measured at one point in time, and further longitudinal study would be helpful to further understand the phenomena. Practical implications – This research highlights the potential for supervisors in stressful situations to selectively hear voice and silence from employees. Social implications – This research also has implications for supervisors who work in a unionized environment. Although seemingly counter‐intuitive, there is a value to employee unionization in terms of either reducing the level of actual defensive silence, or at least reducing supervisors’ perceptions of defensive silence. Originality/value – The paper adds to our knowledge of prosocial voice and defensive silence by testing supervisors’ perceptions of these constructs during difficult times. It provides valuable empirical insights to a literature dominated by conceptual non‐empirical papers. Limited research on silence might reflect how difficult it is to study such an ambiguous and passive construct as silence (often simply viewed as a lack of speech). The paper contributes also to trust literature by identifying its role in increasing supervisor's perceptions of prosocial voice and reducing perceptions of defensive silence.