Labour Relations Also l!y Frank BurchiU HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT The NHS: A Case Study (with Alice Casey) Labour Relations Second Edition Frank Burchill * C) Frank Burchill 1992, 1997 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, london W1 P OlP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First edition 1992 Reprinted twice Second edition 1997 Published by PAlGRAVE Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of St. Martin's Press lLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers ltd (formerly Macmillan Press ltd). ISBN 978-0-333-69521-0 ISBN 978-1-349-14497-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-14497-6 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. To Jan, Stephen, John, Kath and Liz Contents List of Tables and Figures x List of Abbreviations xu Introduction to the Second Edition xv 1 Harmony and Conflict 1 Perspectives 2 Conclusion and Further Reading 9 2 The Market for Labour 11 The Neoclassical Model 12 'In the long run we are all dead' 20 Conflict 22 The UK Labour Market 24 Conclusion and Further Reading 33 3 Trade Unions 35 The Origins and Growth of Trade 35 The Early Unions 37 British Unions Today 39 The Condition of the Unions 42 Trade Union Recognition 54 The Closed Shop 55 Union Responses 55 Multiunionism 58 Size of Unions 60 Conclusion and Further Reading 60 4 The Government of Unions 61 From 'Primitive' to 'Representative' Democracies 61 Shop Stewards 70 The Trades Union Congress 72 Conclusion and Further Reading 74 vii viii Contents 5 The Employers 75 Management 76 Employers' Associations 76 The Enterprise 80 Management Strategies 85 Conclusion and Further Reading 90 6 Collective Bargaining 91 Coverage at Collective Bargaining 93 Bargaining Levels 94 Bargaining Units 97 The Content of Bargaining 98 Joint Consultation 99 Conclusion and Further Reading 101 7 Procedures 103 Discipline 103 'Doing the Right Thing' 108 Grievances III Conclusion and Further Reading ll8 8 Settling Disputes 119 Procedural Forms ll9 Conciliation 120 Mediation 121 Arbitration 123 The Extent at the Third Party Intervention 124 Related Issues 125 Pendulum Arbitration 128 ACAS 130 Conclusion and Further Reading 132 9 Negotiating 133 The Walton and McKersie Model 134 The Stages of Negotiation 138 The Negotiations 145 The Agreement 147 Conclusion and Further Reading 148 Contents ix 10 Industrial Action 149 'Strikes' 150 'The Right to Strike' 151 Stoppage Patterns in the UK 153 Causes of Strikes 157 The Cost of Strikes 162 Conclusion and Further Reading 163 II Pay 165 Productivity 166 Added Value 168 Time Payments and Performance Payments 171 Performance-Related Pay 173 Job Evaluation 176 Arguments Used in Pay Bargaining 181 Incomes Policies 183 Conclusion and Further Reading 184 12 The New Industrial Relations 185 The Japanese Model 186 Human Rescurce Management 194 Employee Participation 195 International Labour Relations 198 Bibliography 207 Index 211 List of Tables 1.1 Summary of perspectives of labour relations 7 2.1 Estimates and projections of activity rates in Great Britain 26 2.2 Forecast employment change by industry group, UK 30 2.3 Forecast employment change by occupation, UK 30 2.4 Unemployment, 1960-90, UK 32 2.5 Regional unemployment, UK 32 3.1 Union membership and density 43 3.1 (a) Union membership in Great Britain, 1989-95 44 3.2 Labour market characteristics in the European Union and the United States 45 3.3 Union density by workplace characteristics, 1995 46 3.4 Union density by job-related characteristics, 1995 47 3.5 Union density by individual characteristics, 1995 48 3.6 Union membership by sex, by size of union 49 3.7 Membership of top ten unions in 1993 compared with membership of top ten unions in 1988 51 3.8 Membership of the twenty largest TUC unions 52 3.9 International comparisons of union density change in the 1980s 53 3.10 Unions with 100000 members or more 59 3.11 Union numbers and membership at the end of 1993 59 5.1 Main employers' associations: number of members for selected years, 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1994 78 10.1 Stoppages in progress, 1975-95 155 10.2 Labour disputes: working days not worked per thousand employees in all industries and services, 1985-94 159 x