The Future of Workplace Partnership

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The Future of Workplace Partnership

• Dr Tony Royle
• Department of Management and Research Centre for
  Innovation and Structural Change, JE Cairnes
  Graduate School of Business and Public Policy,
  National University of Ireland Galway
• E-Mail tony.royle_at_nuigalway.ie

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Irish social partnership

• Between corporatism and voluntarism
• Pros and Cons
• Productivity, stability, jobs, real wages
• Productivity falling, falling social spend, wage
  inequality, wage share of GDP falling, continuing
  reliance on third party resolution, failure of
  workplace partnership?
• Productivity as catch up
• Long hours
• NCPP National workplace strategy

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• Low productivity may be less a reflection of
  physical or technical shortcomings than a failure
  to find a social model that brings out the best
  in average employeesbehavioural economics
  suggests a direct link between fairness and
  productivity. People give their best when they
  feel justly treated relative to others.
• Michael Prowse Centre for Economic Performance
  (LSE)

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GDP per hour worked Source OECD
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Growth in GDP per capita (Source OECD)
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LRC conciliation services activity
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Annual average hours worked 2005
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Political economy of workplace partnership

• Continental statutory worker representation
• Collective and indirect representation
• Strategic and operational issues
• Oversee substantive and procedural rights
• Mandatory sanctions for non-compliance
• Integrative bargaining
• Organization driven
• Decentralised, individual, emphasis on direct
• Operational
• Day to day business problem solving
• Managerial prerogative dominates
• Performance driven

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The Irish Hybrid

• Blurring the lines between organization-led and
  statutory
• System cannot be imposed
• Employees as stakeholders
• Partnership committees
• Compatible with organization-led approaches
• Potentially contains strategic and integrative
  approach
• Resources provided by IBEC, ICTU, NCPP

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Challenges facing workplace partnership

• Usually found where theres a history of conflict
• Many partnerships lack innovative elements
• Focus on operational matters not strategy
• Projects not often extended to whole workforce
• Problem of buy-in
• Management fear loss of authority
• Unions fear weakening collective bargaining
• Them and us culture still pervasive

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Failure of Irish Workplace Partnership?(2003
NCPP/ESRI survey on workplace partnership)

• Unionised firms
• 17 have formal policies to avoid compulsory
  lay-offs
• 20 involved in profit sharing/gain-sharing
• 50 get paid training
• 30 of unionised companies have direct
  involvement
• Non-unionised firms
• Only 5 report 3 of the above practices
• Conclusion
• 1st generation agreements dominate
• Notable failures (Aer Rianta and RTE)
• High road optimism unfounded.
• Growing latitude for employers to ignore WP.

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EU Information and Consultation Directive

• A boost for Irish workplace partnership?
• Finally in force in 2006
• 50 firms by 2008
• Employees must opt in (in writing)
• 10 threshold (min 15, max 100)
• Pre-existing agreements
• No automatic rights for unions
• No specified role for experts
• Disputes to be d/w by the Labour Court
• Role of US Chambers of Commerce

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Research objectives

• What impact does the Act have on the take- up and
  processes of workplace partnership?
• Does the Act help to introduce innovation and
  boost productivity?
• Is the Act an effective mechanism for employee
  voice?
• Does the Act help to reduce and resolve disputes?

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Research methods

• Emphasis on qualitative case studies
• Firms with 50 or more employees
• Manufacturing
• Low paid service sectors
• Public sector
• Unionized and non-unionized
• Would complement ongoing and other research
  proposals on alternative dispute resolution

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The potential for future research

• Learning from our competitors
• International and comparative research
• Fast-moving and dynamic area in the EU
• Germany works councils and productivity
• Sweden worker directors boosting competitiveness
  
• Finland strengthening cooperation Act
• Belgium more power for labour inspectors
• Slovak Rep strengthening labour law
• Related themes on flexicurity