Hrm & industrial relations

Chris Jarvis 1
HRM & Industrial Relations

Chris Jarvis 2
Industrial Relations – defining the scope
 male, FT, unionised, manual, “heavy” industries & public
sector , restrictive practices, strikes & collective bargaining?
 Employee relations - more diverse jobs: non-manual, female,
PT, non-union, services, high tech, “new” business etc
 Focus = regulation of employment relationship (control,
adaptation, adjustment) - legal, political, econ, social, historical
contexts. “Collective aspects”?
“operating within & outside the workplace
concerned with determining & regulating
employment relationships.”

Chris Jarvis 3
Comparative
HRM
Unitary MarxistPluralistic
Labour
market
Social
action
Systems
Control over
labour process
Input Conversion Output
Conflict
differences
Institutions
& processes
Regulation
(rules)
Approaches to IR
Wider approaches
Evolution
Revolution
Cooperation
Conflict
Authoritarian
Paternalism

Chris Jarvis 4
 Capitalist society
 integrated group
 common values,
interests, objectives
 one authority /loyalty
 irrational + fractional
 coercion
 intrusive
 anachronistic
 only accepted if forced
Unitary Pluralistic Marxist
Assume
Nature of conflict
Conflict resolution
TU Role
• Post-capitalist society
• Sectional groups - coalesce
• different values, interests,
objectives
• competitive authority /loyalty
(formal/informal)
• inevitable, rational, structural
• compromise + agreement
• legitimate
• internal, integral to workplace
• accepted role in econ &
managerial relations
• Capitalist
• Division of labour/capital
• social imbalance + inequalities -
power, wealth etc
• inherent in econ. & social systems
• disorder - precursor to change
• change society
• employee response to capitalism
• mobilise, express class
consciousness
• develop political awareness &
activity

Chris Jarvis 5
Input-output model
 convert potential for conflict into regulation
 reconcile conflicts of interest through legitimate, functional
processes & institutions
 at the heart ....... collective bargaining
 regulatory output
 Rules: unilateral, joint or imposed by government
 substantial & procedural arrangements
 within-the-organisation or external rules (law, national
agreements)
 varying degrees of formality

Chris Jarvis 6
Systems approach (Dunlop 1958)
 IR - a social sub-system within the econ. & political systems
 Components
 actors
 contexts (influences & constraints on decisions & action e.g.
market, technologigy, demography, industrial structure)
 ideology - beliefs affecting actor views - shared or in conflict
 rules - regulatory elements i.e. the terms & nature of the
employment relationship developed by IR processes
 Stable & orderly Unstable & disorderly?

Chris Jarvis 7
Social action (Bain & Clegg)
 actor perceptions & definition of “reality” determine behaviour,
actions, relationships
 work orientation is as much a result of extra-organisational
experience as experience within the workplace
 structural factors may limit individual choice & action
 bounded rationality - interrelated decisions may fix or
significantly shift values, focus, roles or relationships.
 instrumental & value-based considerations

Chris Jarvis 8
Control over labour process
 transformation in inputs by labour using tools & methods.
Products, under capitalism, become exchangable, marketable
commodities. Relevance to banking, retailing, local gov’t etc ?
 labour-capital relationship - essentially exploitative
(ownership, surplus value, logic of efficiency & savings,
structures of control.
 Braverman - to achieve capital’s objectives - specialisation,
standardisation, simplification, substitute technology for labour
(Taylor), de-skilling? Critique?
 Core + peripheral employees. Segmented labour markets
 Job enrichment, empowerment & responsible autonomy
 Personal control & bureaucratic control

Chris Jarvis 9
Labour Market - how work is distributed within society
 Issues
 increase in women’s activity rates
 level + nature of unemployment, long vs. short-term jobs
 manufacturing  service + globalisation vs. local
 market regulation strategies + dual labour markets
 Economic labour market model
Pay = price mechanism (SS/DD. elasticity & equilibrium)
 One market (same £ for all) or differentiated by skill, job, location
etc.
 assumes Pricing +
 Work - disutility. Wages compensate for less leisure
 Marginal productivity gain from using one extra unit of
labour
 “institutionalised” labour market - wage floor, "going rate",
range (quartiles), collective bargaining vs. individual
negotiation.

Chris Jarvis 10
Labour Market - social acceptance & hierarchies
 Possible Issues
 Unskilled, semi-skilled & skilled. Blue-collar, white-collar.
 Professionalisation. Other desire the same.
 UK recognition of “engineers”
 UK “class” system & differential access to education (private schools)
& labour divisions.
 Government interest
 Passive & active policies
 Retirement age, unemployment benefit, training, job support
 Who pays - via taxation or direct Er /Ee contributions?
 Interventionist & corporatist approaches (state regulation)
 Deregulation - free, flexible labour market, pay decided by “ability to
pay”.

Chris Jarvis 11
Economic environment
 UK de-industrialisation + manufacturing decline
 increasing liberalisation, internationalisation & globalisation of trade
 government management of economy e.g. Keynesian vs monetarism.
 increasing inequality in wage distribution
 industrial restructuring & introduction of new technologies
 expansion of service sector
 Participation rates in employment between 1966 & 1981
 77.3 to 75.3% Overall
 97.7 to 87.8% Men
 55.4 to 61.5% Women

Chris Jarvis 12
Employment trends 1981-91
Male
FT PT Total
Female
FT PT Total All
Manufacturing
1981 4242 69 4311 1342 395 747 6058
1991 3157 55 3212 1080 282 1362 4574
-26% -20% -26% -20% -29% -22% -25%
Services
1981 5460 601 6061 3752 3288 7040 13101
1991 5691 879 6570 4491 4249 8739 15309
+4% +46% +8% +20% +29% +24% +17%
Figures rounded to nearest ‘000
Source: Employment Gazette

Chris Jarvis 13
Social environment
 industrialised, capitalist society
 principles of freedom of thought, expression & association
 Protestant work ethic
 Welfare state vs. independence & expansion of individual
opportunities
 class & social mobility - manual to middle & professional
 home & share ownership
 unemployment, “haves & have nots”. NHS vs. private
medicine

Chris Jarvis 14
Political environment
• internal organisational decision-making. Power-authority
structures
• external governmental politics
• individual liberalist, laissez faire vs. corporatist, interventionist
• government responsibility for high employment
• privatisation (public vs private)
• TU role/protections & employer role/protections
• law & order
• European Union - national vs supra-national & conflicting
political ideologies

Chris Jarvis 15
Development of Industrial Relations - 1
 “in restraint of trade” - Tolpuddle Martyrs
 late 19th
c. TUs & collective bargaining confined to skilled
trades & piecework. Industrial strength, mutual assurance,
control over entry. Common interest in “local rules”.
Employer interest in controlling wage competition
 WW1 industry level bargaining  uniformity in wage
claims. 1916 Whitley Committee  70+ JICs set up
1918-21
 20s & 30s recession, unemployment  decline in TU
membership, wage cuts and...!!!...more industrial action.
Some JICs disbanded (industries facing foreign
competition). Many survive (public utilities, Logov & gov’t.)

Chris Jarvis 16
 1950s & 60s
 improvement in economic conditions ----> inc. TU membership & IR
activity. Pressure on industrial bargaining. Productivity problems. PIP. Shift
to shop floor bargaining (stewards vs national officials).
 Donovan Commission (1968) recommends
 reform of voluntary coll. bargaining. Pluralism & company agreements
 1970s “IR tensions & confrontations” (3 day week, miners, Winter of
Discontent, wage push inflation). Employment legislation to enhance
worker rights & extend coll. bargaining. Voluntary incomes policy.
 From early 80s recession
 Gov’t non-intervention re- industrial restructuring but strengthening of
individual over collective rights. TU member decline. Competitiveness,
globalisation & and TQM. Managerial (HRM) resurgence.
Development of IR - post 1945

Chris Jarvis 17
Donovan Commission 1968 (majority & minority report)
 IR improvement by reform & extension of voluntary
collective bargaining
 management initiative & TU agreement
 develop formal company level agreements.
 substantive
 terms & conditions, rights & obligations etc
 procedural
 conduct of relationships, dealing with disputes/conflict;
about power & authority in organisations
 management to embrace pluralism & joint participation

Chris Jarvis 18
Government & Legal intervention
 Managing the economy. Balance of Payments & IMF. Problem of
growth, industrial change & inflation. Gov’t - TU - Employer triangle.
 Contrary to Donovan voluntarism  Increased legal intervention
 1969 “In Place of Strife” recommended law to deter destructive
industrial action (“unofficial strikes”) bring orderliness into IR.
 1971 Industrial Relations Act (failed) - more legal control over TU
action & unofficial strikes. Unfair dismissal.
 1974 “Social contract” & support for collective bargaining, stewards’
rights, disclosure of information, consultation, time off.
 1978-79 Industrial democracy & Winter of Discontent
 1979 steady, greater legal control & restrictions over TU activities

Chris Jarvis 19
Conservative legislation to limit TU activities
 Employment Acts 1980 , 1982, 1988 & 1990
 Trade Union Acts 1984 & Wages Act 1986
 Employment Acts, Trade Union Reform Employment Act 1993
 Employment Rights Act 1996
 no statutory recognition procedure nor closed shop
 no immunity from secondary industrial action
 independently scrutinised ballots for industrial action
 union officers responsible for unlawful actions & must repudiate
 right NOT to be disciplined by union for not taking part in action
 secret ballots for election of NEC officers
 abolished Wages Councils (“price people back into jobs”)
 early 80s confrontations: miners, Wapping P&)/NUS
 extended rights to obtain redress individually
 new realism - single union agreements

Chris Jarvis 20
New Realism?
 management proactivity - neo-HRM, TQM & IIP.
Integration with business competitiveness, excellence, customer care.
 bargaining structures shift from
 management-union (collective) to management-individual relationships
(communication, empowerment, ownership)
 multi- to single-employer. Sole-union recognition for flexible working
 pay & working conditions emphasis
 flexibility & individual.
 more temporary & part-time working
 core/periphery staff with task-function & time flexibility.
 performance-related pay (individual & team)
 share ownership & profit bonuses
 TUs on the defensive. 1979-1993 lose 4.5m members. Cooperative
employer partnerships. Member services from credit to training.

Chris Jarvis 21
Concepts & Values in IR
 fairness & equality (but fairness is relative & not constant)
 utilitarian or democratic
 impersonal technical notion
 reciprocity of the exchange, consistent with other exchanges, equality of
treatment & consideration.
 power to control, influence & modify versus legitimate authority
 French & Raven - 5 sources of power
 reward, coercion, legitimised, referment, expertise
 Morgan (more diffuse, implicit, pervasive)
 control of resources & systems; control of knowledge, information &
decision-making; use of organisational structures, rules &
regulations; control of alliances, networks & counter-organisation
 Magneau & Pruitt - reciprocal perception of power.

Chris Jarvis 22
 individual negotiation vs combining against Er-Ee imbalance
 Oversimplification to say Mgt-employee relationship =
“individual” & Mgt-TU = “collectivism” .
 Issue = degree to which the individual is or should be
 Feels in control, responsible, allied with or subordinated to,
regulated by & protected
 Issues of I & C in industrial relations
 Mgt “claim right” to deal with staff without intermediate TU
constraint (represent/regulate on joint basis)
 Individual PRP vs. one package for all
 individual “sees” his/her well-being deriving from own efforts
vs.fraternalism (improvement through solidarity)
 High trust - Low trust (Alan Fox - Beyond Contract)
Individualism & collectivism

Chris Jarvis 23
Trade Union Functions
 Power - protect/support through strength in association - a
countervailing force, pressure group. Note: bargaining
leverage & member willingness to act together.
 Economic regulation - maximise member returns within
wage-work framework. Note: political nature of TU wage
policy - comparability & differentials. Inflation &
unemployment (cost-push & demand pull). Win bigger slice of
national income.
 Job regulation - establish a joint-rule making system to
protect members from arbitary management action . Enable
participation in decisions affecting their employment. Expand
job opportuities?
 Social change - express social cohesion, aspirations,
political ideology & develop a society which reflects this?
Institutionalise “class” & “conflict”? Dilemma of participating in
government.
 Member services - provide benefits/services to members
 Self-fulfilment - assist individuals to develop outside their job
domain & participate in wider decision-making processes

Chris Jarvis 24
Union character
expression of sectional/class consciousness --->
“socialist” society
social responsibility - exercise role in non-detrimental
ways
business unionism - maximise benefits from employer
relationships
welfare unionism - wider social, econ. & political
involvement for all
political unionism - through political alliances

Chris Jarvis 25
Why do people join or NOT join trade unions?
Blue/white collar
Manual, clerical, technician, technologist,
supervisor, manager
Heavy – light, old – high-tech. industry
Individualism vs. fraternal/collective
instrumental reasons for joining. Support in
uncertainty
preference for cooperation with Mgt rather than
conflict

Chris Jarvis 26
What is Recognition?
 Mgt. formally accepts a TU (or TUs) to represent all/some
employees & enters into joint determination of terms &
conditions on a collective basis.
 confers legitimacy & defines scope of union’s role
 movement from unilateral management action to
pluralism. TU has right to “exist & organise in workplace,
support members & have shop stewards, challenge
managerial action & bargain”.
 rights to information disclosure & consultation
(redundancy, transfer of undertaking, H & S & pensions).

Chris Jarvis 27
TU Recognition Process
Claim for recognition
Management
policy
Recognition agreement
Recognition ballot
What %?
Bargaining unit (common interest, internal homogeneity)
•characteristics of work group (skills, pay, jobs, dispersion)
•TU membership %
•collective bargaining arrangements
•management structure & authority
Bargaining agent
•independent
•appropriate for all employees
•effective/sufficient resources
•representative
Degree of recognition
•representative &procedural only
•negotiating (some/all, joint or sole)
•union membership agreement
TU & employee’s
expectations
•management rights to manageappropriate
•scope & instutions of collective bargaining
•role of representatives

Chris Jarvis 28
Recognition
 Implications for Managers
 challenge & appeal against decisions. Slower processes
 representatives as mediator of communications & may block
 work to agreements, procedures with “rights” to be consulted
 persuasion & negotiation to secure “consensus”
 time off & protections for appropriate/legitimate TU activities.
 Grunwick 1977 determined not to grant recognition & dismissed all
employees who took action
 Recognition & non-recognition often exist side by side
 decline in membership & now 1998 Fairness at Work
- Gov’t proposals to enable employees to have a TU recognised by
their employer where a majority of relevant workforce wishes it & to
introduce statutory procedures for both recognition & derecognition

Chris Jarvis 29
Collective Bargaining
an institutionised system of determining terms &
conditions of employment & regulating the
employment relationship between
representatives of Mgt & employees intended to
result in an agreement which may be applied
across a group of employees.
•decline in coverage 1980 - 90
•collective agreements > union membership.
•public sector > private manufacturing > service
•manual > white collar men > women
•53% firms in 1990
•66% of FT workers (direct or indirect)
•Larger firms & public-sector organisations

Chris Jarvis 30
Models of Collective bargaining
 Chamberlain & Kuhn
 conjunctive bargaining
mutual coercion - agreed truce - indispensible to each other - Lose-lose
 cooperative bargaining
both accept neither will gain advantages unless the other gains too. Win-Win -
willingness to concede - to increase size of cake
 Walton & McKersie
 distributive bargaining
basic conflict over slice of the cake. Fixed-sum game - if you win, I lose.
 integrative bargaining (common perception & acceptance of issue)
Mgt accept employee influence. TU accepts business responsibility.
Cooperate to increase cake. Adversarial- cooperative tension remains
 intra-organisational bargaining.

Chris Jarvis 31
Content & Scope of Collective Bargaining
 Substantive rules (economic matters)
 pay (basic, overtime, PBR, guaranteed payments.....bonuses???), hours
(37, 40, shifts, shorter week, flexi-time?) , holidays, fringe benefits
(pension, sick pay, company cars?, BUPA?). Annual negotiations.
 Procedural rules
 status quo (no change until disputes procedure exhausted). Shop
stewards, grievance, negotitating, disputes, redundancy, consultation,
discipline?
 Work methods/arrangements. The nature of work & how it is
=carried out. Flexibility, multi-skilling, productivity, assignments,
teams, use of contractors, operating procedures?
 Bargaining levels
 National/Industry wide (multi-employer & TU Federations?)
 Company-wide
 Plant/shop level

Chris Jarvis 32
What enables bargaining power?

Chris Jarvis 33
Involvement & participation in decision making
 industrial democracy (worker control) - little currency in
contemporary market-driven economies
 participation in decisions traditionally the prerogative of
management
 equal power or management style/good-will?
 HRM & reaction against confrontation management
 involvement to mobilise cooperation, talent & creativity
 Task participation: empowerment, cell technology, team working, briefing
groups & quality circles, delegation, job enrichment & MbO joint problem-
solving. McGregor Theory Y. Employee reports. 360 degree appraisal
 financial particpation profit-related bonuses, share ownership
schemes
 approved deferred share trusts
 SAYE to buy company shares
 employee share ownership plans

Chris Jarvis 34
Employee participation
 Worker directors
 Bullock report
 Works Councils
 European pressure for Mgt to consult employee
representatives
 collective redundancies, transfer of undertakings, health &
safety.
 European Works Council Directive (1994)
 EWC for information & consultation to be estabished in any
multinational organisation with at least 1000 employees
(including 150 in each of at least 2 member states)

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