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Salaman, ‘Industrial Relations’, P77 From the end of the second world war, and up until the 1970’s trade unionism was continually growing. By 1979, 57.3% of all people employed were members of trade unions. Annual abstract Statistics, 1990, ‘Industrial relations’, M.P. Jackson, 1991, P57 ‘Trade unionism may be seen as a social response to industrialisation and capitalism’ Salaman, Industrial relations, P79 In the early days of trade unionism, there was a direct need for workers to be represented, in areas such as manufacturing, there were little channels of communication and as a result of this workers had little or no representation. The collective bargaining approach, is a system used by trade unions to regulate industrial conflict. If conflict arises, the collective bargaining approach allows the trade unions to come together in a public forum to discuss any conflicting issues. The collective barganing approach in Trade Unionism assumes that the Trade Union is bargaining for the collective group rather than individuals. The collective bargaining group is given the opportunity to resolve any conflicting issues and in some cases but not all can prevent disputes from occurring. Harbison concludes that collective bargaining ‘Provides a drainage channel for worker dis satisfaction’ Harbison in Industrial Relations, M.P.Jackson In 1970, Britain saw the return of the Conservative government under the power of Edward Heath. After the minors strike, the Conservative government lost power and Britain reverted back to a Labour government. After the ‘winter of discontent’ in 1979, Britain once again saw the return of the Conservative government, however this time it was under the power of Margaret Thatcher. Previous to Margaret Thatcher, the government had always seen their main focus to be the achievement of ‘full employment’, a solution which in times of 1979 could prove somewhat impossible. The new Conservative government saw their future, as one of creating more jobs and encouraging greater success in competitive product markets, this was in an attempt to achieve full employment. The main priority of the new Conservative government was to reduce inflation. The one associated problem with this, was that in order to reduce inflation, the government would have to allow unemployment to occur. The government used monetary policy over demand management, and concentrated on the control of the rate of interest in an attempt to stop low levels of unemployment causing inflation. The government decided to use collective bargaining as a means of setting rates of pay for the first time, the government no longer required Trade Unionists as negotiators of pay, because private negotiating bodies were now used. It was now assumed that in the present economic climate, in accordance with interest rates and government objectives that the price which was set would be reasonable, and if not then the government assumed that the employers knew better, this being one indication of Mrs Thatchers non-tolerance towards Trade Unions, also shown by Mrs Thatcher passing control of pay structures to private bodies and employers. This attitude is very different to the present day ‘New’ Labour government, who sees government interaction in the wage structure as being very important. For example, the introduction of the National Minimum Wage. In the past, previous governments have always placed great emphasis upon collectivism, yet, Margaret Thatchers government saw the future as being more individual and made an attempt at reducing/abolishing collectivist thinking. The government wanted people to think more individually. Mrs Thatcher viewed that the collectivist way of thinking would get in the way of the governments policies, and that it was in the way of freeing market forces. Mrs Thatcher viewed collectivist views in Trade Unions as ‘ Barriers to the achievement of government objectives’ Industrial Relations, Theory and Practice, P15 There have been many explanations for the decrease in Trade Union recognition. Metcalf (1991,P22) see the decline in the membership as being due to five factors. He views the changes as being ‘A complex interaction of five factors’ 4. Attitudes and the conducts of the employers and the stance taken by the unions themselves Industrial Relations, Theory and Practice, P22 During the 1980’s unemployment was significantly high and Trade Union membership was slowly decreasing. During the 1980’s, there was record unemployment and as people left jobs they left unions behind. In 1979, Trade Union membership stood at ‘13.2’ million yet by 1992, it had fallen to ‘9’ million Employment Gazette, June 1994 There was a great decrease in the numbers employed in the manufacturing sectors due to high unit costs and increased competition from overseas, these manufacturing sectors being highly unionised closed shop employers. As employment within the manufacturing sector was slowly decreasing, the service sector was expanding with new positions becoming available in modern none unionised environments, there was also a great increase in part-time work. The changes also showed a significant increase in female part-time employees and professional managerial and highly skilled work. The Conservative government from 1979 also took great steps to decrease the power of trade unions and to develop anti-union legislation. This legislation ‘one Act every two years’ was to eventually to reduce the power of Trade Unions. The governments aims were to reduce the influence of pressure groups on the newly formed freer market. Freeman and Pelletier see the change in union density as being due to ‘A changed legal environment for industrial relations’ Kahn and Freud take the opinion that there is ‘No major country in the world in which law has been a less significant role in the shopping of industrial relations’ The five Acts delivered by the Conservative government included the following: 3. The Trade Union Act 1984 4. The Employment Act 1988 This was the first of the laws to reduce the effectiveness of the closed shop, this made it difficult to arrange and maintain it. The act gave employers legal remedies against secondary picketing. The Act made it so new closed shops had to be agreed by at least four fifths of the workforce. The Act also meant that anybody could claim unfair dismissal if sacked for refusing to join a union, for any other reason other than religious purposes. The Act made it available for public funds to be used to hold unambiguous postal ballots for the election of office. ‘In 1984, 80% of nationalised industries had manual closed shops, yet by 1990, there was less than 1%’ Milllward et al., 1992, P98 The Employment Act of 1982 tightened the law on closed shops and outlawed union labour only contracts. Trade Unions became responsible and liable for damages if they were to investigate unlawful industrial action. Employers were given legal remedies against political strikes. The main point of this Act was against Trade Unions and the way they ran their internal affairs. The Act stated that union executives had to submit themselves for re-election by secret ballot every five years, and unions had to hold a secret ballot every ten years, if they wished to keep their contribution of the political fund. The Act also stated that pre strike ballots were required for unions not to be sued for civil action and damages. This Act was aimed of strengthening the rights of individual union members. Workers were allowed to take out court orders against unions if they were to take industrial action without a ballot. Unions were banned from disciplining members for refusing to support industrial action. After the Act a new commissioner was appointed to support and fund a union a union members court action against their unions. This Act removed all legal rights of the closed shops, and made it lawful for anyone not to be employed on accounts of any union status. It made nearly all forms of secondary action unlawful, and removed all immunity for unions to take action against an employee dismissed whilst taking The Conservative government had many objections towards unions. The government fealt that their new policies towards a freer market clashed with everything that Trade Unions represented. The government saw Trade Unions as being too powerful in terms of pay, often attempting to pass that of international countries, thus, making it difficult to compete in an international market. There where threats of strike action when new more efficient methods had been put into place, this again was a problem as it continued to prevent Britain competing in a larger market. The government saw that Trade Unions were responsible for protecting practices which limited productivity. Due to the massive strikes of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, the government saw their countries future as being in ‘Competitive, efficient, non-unionised environments’ Industrial Relations of the future, by Poole Et al., 1984 The government favoured companies, for example, IBM over ICI, and felt that non-unionised firms fitted better within their plans. The Public Sector was another area of government which was about to undergo a radical change. During the mid 1980’s, the government under went a great change with relation to the Private Sector, having a great impact on Trade Unionism within organisations. By 1991, the government had sold off the telecommunications industry, gas, buses, electricity, water, airlines, airports and steel. They then went onto making government bodies, for example, benefits and tax collection departments into agencies which were managed out of control of the government as individual business’. The hospitals were made into trusts. The government succeeded in reducing the power of Trade Unions, through this, as with unemployment, it meant that the Trade Unions had reduced their bargaining power. One of the main factors of decentralisation meant that pay deals were no longer central arrangements and were changed to local arrangements giving the new managers more bargaining power with unions. The Conservative government had great impact on the Trade Union movement of Great Britain, through the powers of legislation they managed to initiate some form of control. There are also many other reasons for the fall, which are explored by many other writers, for example, Metcalf, who believes the fall of Trade Unionism to be due to a number of complex factors WIS data points to a decrease in recognition, from 1984-1990 Trade Union recognition fell from 66% in 1984, to 53% in 1990. Karen Legge ‘Rhetoric’s and Realities’, P252 Till the early 1970’s Trade Unions had always been followers of the Labour party, yet by 1979 this was no longer the case and a proportion of Labour Trade Union voters had become Conservative voters. This is often linked to taxation policies as the Conservative government had introduced reduced income tax policy. The reduction in income tax meant that anyone money earned more under the Conservative government, increasing popularity of the party and persuading voters to change sides. The policy also kept Trade Unionists happy as it meant that they were more relaxed about pay claims. The changes made in legislation with relation to Trade Unionism meant that unlike the past strikes were looked at with the intention of defeat, due to the increase in fixed penalties on Trade Unions for their incorrect action. It was thought that the move to look at employees as individuals with single bargaining procedures, Trade Unionists would see the benefits if individualism over collectivism. The abolishment of the closed shop meant that Trade Unionists would have the opportunity to move away from the collective union group, towards other unions that this would limit strikes and unlawful picketing. The changes made by the Conservative government moved away from the concept of collectivism to individualism and gave Trade Union power back to its members. American writers, Tichy Frombrum and Devana, see the role of Trade Unions in a Human Resource Management environment to be irrelevant and rarely mentioned. Legge ‘Rhetoric’s and Realities’, P..... The role of Trade Unionism within Human Resource Management poses some what of a threat. Storey’s view (Legge, P273) was, Trade Unionism in Human Resource Management organisations as being by passed ‘In the development of Human Resource Management initiatives’. Organisations were ‘soft’ models of Human Resource Management are adopted, may pose some threat to Trade Unions. ‘Soft’ models of Human Resource Management to look at the importance of the individual in an attempt to meet the need of the individual and to encourage commitment, yet the individuals collective needs, for example, socialisation, may not be considered. Another consideration may be, that if the employee is happy and committed in their job that the need for union representation may not be required, as if the employer is satisfied and does not feel the need to exploit the employee, and the employee is committed then there will be no requirement for arbitration between both parties. One other threat to Trade Unions, can be seen if the employer is satisfied with Human Resource Management policies in place, they may feel that there is no need for a union. In conclusion, legislation has held a dramatic effect on the reduction of Trade Unionism, and politics has played a big role in attempts in the reduction of Trade Union power. However, economics has also played a particularly big role. Another contributing factor has been large scale unemployment. The composition of jobs from heavy manufacturing closed shop organisations to the newly arriving service sector has also reduced union power, as people whom were members of unions in the past may now not choose to become union members, particularly on non-unionised greenfied sits. The rise of Human Resource Management has had great impact on the reduction of power of Trade Unions. Legislation has played a big part in reducing the power of Trade Unions yet it has not been the only downfall. Bibliography: Bibliography 1. Industrial Relations in Britain Edited by: Geoge Sayers Bain Published : 1983 Basil Blackwell Publisher Ltd, Oxford 2. The Origins of British Industrial Relations By: Keith Burgess Published: 1979 Croom Helm Ltd, London 3. The Free Economy and the Strong State- The Politics of Thatcher, second edition By: Andrew Gamble Published: 1994 MacMillan Press Ltd, Hampshire 4. Contemporary British Industrial Relations By: S Kessler & F Bayliss Published: 1988 MacMillan Press Ltd, London 5. Human Resource Maanagement Rhetorics and Realities By: Karen Legge Published: 1995 MacMillan Press Ltd, Hampshire 6. Workplace Industrial Relations in Transition By: Millard et al. Published: 1997 Dartmouth Publishing Co., Aldershot 7. Industrial Relations in the Future By: Poole et al. Published: 1984 Routledge & Kegon Paul Plc, London 8. Human Resource Management: A Strategic Introduction, second edition By: G Salaman & C Maby Published: 1988 Blackwell, Oxford 9. Industrial Relations: Theory & Practice By: Micheal Salaman Published: Prentise & Hall, Hemel Hamstead Word Count: 2448
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