BMG346J2

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BMG346J2
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Week 8 Trade
Unionism HRM Workplace Social Partnerships
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LEARNING OUTCOMES

• By the end of the lecture you should
• understand the background to the partnership
  debate
• be able to articulate the potential advantages
  and disadvantages for the main parties involved
• be able to critically evaluate the relationship
  between trade unionism and new forms of work and
  people management in contemporary organisations.

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Employee relations and management style

• Fox (1966) made the distinction between two
  contrasting views of the employment relationship
• Unitary views where trade unions are seen as an
  unwelcome intrusion
• Pluralist views where trade unions are seen as
  the legitimate representatives of workers

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Individualism and collectivism

• Individualism a focus on the feelings and
  sentiments of each employee, with policies based
  on the right of the individual to advancement at
  work
• Collectivisim recognition of the collective
  interests of employees in decision making

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The nature of union recognition

• Present day distinction between
• Workplaces where unions have maintained a
  presence
• Workplaces where unions are being edged out
• Non-union workplaces
• Source Marchington and Wilkinson (2005)

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Why would employers choose to work with unions?

• Management may regard trade union reps as an
  essential part of the communication process
• Employers may aim for long-term stability
• Unionisation may be viewed as inevitable
• Employers may lack the power to reduce the trade
  union role

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Why do employees join trade unions?

• Support if I had a problem at work (72)
• Improved pay and conditions (36)
• Because I believe in trade unions (16)
• Free legal advice
  (15)
• Most people at work are members (14)
• Source Waddington and Whitson 1997 cited in
  Bacon (2006)

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Marginalisation edging the unions out

• Typically associated with
• Lower priority accorded to collective bargaining
  and upgrading of consultation
• Greater emphasis on individual and direct
  communication from managers to all employees
• Other HR practices stressing the individual, such
  as performance related pay

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Managing without unions

• the good, the bad and the lucky
• good large employers offering an attractive
  employment package as an alternative to tarde
  union membership
• bad focus on cost-cutting with only a minimum
  of workers rights
• lucky no strategy, but innovative practices
  following HR fashion

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MOVEMENTS IN MANAGEMENT STYLE IN EMPLOYEE
RELATIONS
Resource
Sophisticated human relations
Sophisticated consultative
Employee Development
Paternalist
Modern paternalist
Individualism
Paternalism
Bargained constitutional
Traditional
Cost Minimalisation
Commodity
Adversarial
Co-operative
None (Unitary)
Collectivism
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The unitary approach

• Traditional style
• Characterised by exploitation of labour
• Sophisticated human relations
• Objective is to develop policies and practices so
  that it is unnecessary for staff to join trade
  unions
• Paternalist style
• Exercising a benign welfarist employment regime

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Adversarial and co-operative approaches

• Adversarial
• Bargained constitutional
• Trade unions recognised but viewed as a
  constraint
• Co-operative
• Modern paternalist style
• Paternalist approach, but recognition of the
  value of the relationship with trade unions
• Sophisticated consultative style
• Active encouragement of forms of employee
  representations
• Employees seen as core elements of organisation
  success

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Partnership and the New Unionism

• Changed public policy environment following
  election of New Labour in 1997
• Statutory route for union recognition
• Extension of rights for individual employees
• Closer engagement with social policies of the
  European Union
• European Works Councils
• Information and Consultation Regulations
• Replace the notion of conflict with the promotion
  of partnership in the longer tem

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European Works Council Directive

• Applies to companies employing 1,000 or more
  workers and with 150 employees in two or more EU
  states
• Adopted in 1994, revised 1997
• Implemented in UK 2000
• Provides for establishment of information and
  consultation arrangements at European level

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Information and Consultation Regulations

• Came into effect in Northern Ireland in April
  2005
• Affecting organisations with 150 employees
  initially
• Employees can request information on a companys
  economic situation and employment prospects
• See www.delni.gov.uk

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DEFINITIONS OF PARTNERSHIP

• IPD, 1997 Partnership has more to do with an
  approach to the relationship between employers
  and employees, individually and in groups, than
  it has to do with trade unions.
• TUC, 1997 define partnership as employers and
  trade unions working together to achieve common
  goals such as fairness and competitiveness it
  is a recognition that although they have
  different constituencies and at times different
  interests, they can serve these best by making
  common cause wherever possible.
• IPA, 1992 define partnership as one where
  managers are required to declare security of
  employment as a key corporate objective
  gainsharing the results of success, and
  recognise the legitimacy of the employees right
  to be informed, consulted and represented. In
  return, TUs are required to renounce rigid job
  demarcations and commit to flexible working give
  sympathetic consideration to the Continental
  model of representation of the whole workforce by
  means of election of representatives to new works
  councils, and recognise and then co-promote
  employee involvement methods. (Redman
  Wilkinson, 2001)

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Views on partnership

• IPD (now CIPD) emphasise the relationship between
  employers and employees
• TUC definition is pluralistic, emphasising
  respect for trade union influence
• Given the lack of general consensus on the
  meaning of partnerships, it may be surprising
  that the term has acquired such a topical
  currency. A principal reasonIs that it offers an
  industrial relations solution to the low
  competitiveness of much of UK industry (Bacon,
  2006196)

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PRINCIPLES OF PARTNERSHIP (Tailby and Winchester,
2005)

• TUC list 6 principles
• Employment security
• Commitment to success of the enterprise
• Openness and transparency
• Recognizing legitimate interests
• Focus on the quality of working life
• Adding value

• IPA list 4 principles
• security and flexibility
• sharing financial success
• developing good communication and consultation
• representative and employee voice

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Example of partnership agreements

• United Distillers
• Decentralisation of decision making and
  empowerment
• Teamworking
• 3 year job security guarantee
• 3 year pay deal

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Example of partnership agreements

• Welsh Water
• Single-table, representative council
• New work patterns
• Harmonisation of conditions
• New pay formula
• Productivity improvements
• No compulsory redundancy policy

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PARTNERSHIP IN PRACTICE

• 8 classes of partnership practice
• direct participation in decisions about own work
• direct participation in decisions about personal
  employment issues
• participation by employee reps in decision about
  employment issues
• participation by employee reps in decisions about
  broader org. policy issues
• flexible job design and focus on quality
• performance management
• employee share ownership
• communication, employment security

• Guest Peccei (2001) study of 54 organisations -
• 4 principles of partnership
• good treatment of employees now and in future
• empowerment
• employee rights and benefits
• employee responsibilities

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WHAT MAIN PARTIES HOPE TO GAIN FROM PARTNERSHIP
(MARCHINGTON, 1998)

• Management Advantages
• greater commitment from employees
• better quality solutions from shop stewards
• more stable relationships with TUs
• achievement of change
• Trade Union Advantages
• provision of more and timely info
• influence over mgt decisions
• closer inter-union relations
• increased status for shop stewards
• more trade union members
• job security

• Management Reservations
• slow pace of change
• direct and indirect cost of convening meetings
• loss of managerial prerogative
• doubts about contribution of partnership
• Trade Union Reservations
• terms of partnership defined by mgt
• TUs may become too close to mgt
• TUs may become implicated in negative
  decision-making
• blurs logic of traditional trade unionism

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POTENTIAL BARRIERS TO PARTNERSHIP(Bacon, 2006)

• Workable partnership agreements require strategic
  long-term commitment by mgt to work closely
  with unions
• To what extent are mgt and unions able to commit
  to a single strategy of co-operative industrial
  relations?
• Partnership agreements may form part of a longer
  term strategy to marginalise TUs
• Will partnership deliver greater returns for
  managers and trade unions?

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Partnership as union strategy a preliminary
evaluation (Haynes and Allen, 2000)

• Uses two case studies to illustrate the dynamics
  of workplace partnerships
• MSF and Legal and General
• USDAW and Tesco
• Concludes that three elements are necessary for
  enduring union-management partnerships
• Mutual legitimation of differing interests
• Expectations about roles and behaviour must be
  clearly defined
• Union leaders and members, along with managers,
  must experience co-operative practices as
  mutually beneficial

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Partnership at work mutuality and the benefit of
advantage Guest and Peccei, 2001)

• Presents a framework for analysis of partnership
  at work emphasising principles, practices and
  outcomes
• Investigated links using evidence from 54
  organisations
• Showed that the balance of advantage is skewed
  towards management and reflects low management
  trust in employee representatives

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Social partnership strategies in two health
service trusts (Mason, Heaton and Morgan, 2004)

• Analyses workplace partnership strategies
  developed in two health trusts in Northern
  Ireland
• Compares a top down strategy with one based on
  incremental change
• Concludes that the challenge is to spread
  partnership to encompass all employees including
  professional groups

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Conclusions?

• Trade unions have made little progress in
  increasing union membership density
• Relatively few employers have sought partnership
  agreements with unions despite the evidence that
  they often deliver more substantial benefit to
  employers

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References

• Bacon, N. (2006) Industrial relations in
  T.Redman and A. Wilkinson (eds) Contemporary
  Human Resource Management, FT/Prentice Hall
• Guest,D. and Peccei,R. (2001) Partnership at
  work mutuality and the balance of advantage,
  British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol 39,
  pp207-236
• Marchington,M. (1998) Partnership in context
  towards a European model? in P.Sparrow and M.
  Marchington (eds) Human Resource Management the
  New Agenda, FT/Pitman
• Tailby ,S. and Winchester,D. (2005) Management
  and Trade Unions Partnership at Work? in S.
  Bach (ed) Managing Human Resources, Blackwell

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Suggested further reading

• Haynes,P. and Allen,M. (2000) Partnership as
  union strategy a preliminary evaluation,
  Employee Relations, Vol 23, No 2, pp164-187
• Mason,B., Heaton,N. and Morgan,J. (2004) Social
  partnership strategies in two health service
  trusts, Personnel review, Vol 33, No 6, pp648-664