employee relations lecture 7 the state
DESCRIPTION
it is about hw to retain employeeTRANSCRIPT
The State and Employment Relations
From Voluntarism to New Labour
What is the state?
‘A set of institutions, comprising the legislature, the executive, central administration, the judiciary, the police and local government … (it) is the institutional system of political domination with a monopoly over the legitimate use of violence and over taxation and money supply’
(Hill 1981: 239)
Note also growing importance of pan-national state initiatives – EU (Employment Strategy)
The State and the Employment Relationship
The state influences the relationship between employer and employee directly and indirectly:
Directly – through legislation, dispute resolution and for some, as employer
Indirectly – providing important context
‘Rules of engagement’ in employee relations – boundaries of acceptability and legitimacy
Shaping climate and priorities in employee relations
‘Best practice’ in employee relations ‘setting an example’
The StateSpecific interests and objectives of the State in employee
relations more complex – at various times
Maintenance of order and stability
Protection of employees at work in the absence of alternatives
Maintenance of parity of bargaining power between the main parties
Control of earnings and inflation – incomes policies
Economic growth - Productivity and earnings
Skills acquisition and low unemployment
The State: Objectives in Employee Relations
Achieved through multiple roles
As legislator
As peacekeeper
As economic manager
As employer
Ideological role (hegemonic power)
Importance of each of these roles has varied over time
The State
Legislator PeacekeeperEconomic Manager
Ideology
EmployerCivil Society Civil Society
Contrasting Roles of the State
Statism – State control over major elements of employee relations – China, Eastern Europe (in past), Singapore(?)
Corporatist/Neo-Corporatist/Bargained Corporatist (tripartite arrangements – shared decision-making) Scandinavia, Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Denmark
Liberal Collectivism – State support for free CB and for trade unions (Voluntarism in C20th Britain)
Market Individualism – free market model (Thatcher 1980s) support for managerial prerogative, constraints on market imperfections (e.g trade unions)
Ideology Areas of Concern and Activity
The State
Market Regulation
Social Justice
Industrial Conflict
Laissez- Faire
Corporatism
Market Individualism
Bargained Corporatism
State Corporatism
Liberal Collectivism
Statism
Trade Union Power
The State and Employee Relations in Britain: Historical Background
Traditional view – limited state role in employee relations for much of C20th - voluntarist period of ‘collective laissez faire’ (Ewing 1998)
State encouraged voluntary collective bargaining
By 1939, voluntary collective bargaining at industry level established in many sectors
Post war social settlements in Britain and Europe
By 1960s state concerns with low productivity, inflation and the role of unions in ‘restrictive practices’ – Royal Commission (Donovan) 1968
The State: Historical Background
Donovan argued for voluntary reforms in collective bargaining
State response more interventionist – In Place of Strife (1969), Industrial Relations Act 1971 – attempts at restrictive labour law but failed
Mid 1970s - return to support for CB – ACAS and auxiliary legislation 1974-79 and ‘Social Contract’.
1970s Present day. Growth of individual employment rights – areas of discrimination law, maternity, equal pay.
Breakdown in 1978/79 – ‘Winter of Discontent’
The State: Historical Background
Recent revisionist work by Howells (2005) argues
State has played the major role in shaping development of employment relations in Britain in last 150 years
Highly interventionist in three key stages 1890 – 1940 and establishment of industry-wide CB
‘voluntarism’ highly interventionist (Ewing 1998) 1940 – 1979 shift to decentralised system of
employment relations 1979 de-regulation of employment relations; neo-
liberal offensive
The State and De-regulation: Thatcherism and Beyond
Thatcherism - break with post-war consensus and ‘social settlement’ – major ideological shift
See now in France, Germany and much of EU
Free market ideology and ‘New Right’ policies but ‘strong state’ in employee relations – restrictive law until 1997.
Unions and collective bargaining ‘market imperfections’ - influence curbed.
Period 1979-97 an attack on the bases of trade union power – and emphasis on managerial prerogative.
The State and De-regulation: Thatcherism and Beyond
Legal regulation dominant post-1979 supplants CB
Six major pieces of legislation 1980-1989 curbed trade union power and influence.
Different notion of ‘model employer’ in public sector – GCHQ, changes to ACAS remit
New Labour and Employee Relations
Concerns with ‘fairness’ but also competitiveness as a route to culture change in employment relations
‘Fairness’ reflected in: NMW, statutory recognition procedure, reduction in
qualifying period for many employment rights and ‘social chapter’
‘Floor of rights’ from EU and from NMW Emphasis on social partnership – win/win employee rels
Competitiveness in: Britain still the most lightly regulated labour market in EU
(Blair 1997 in preface to Fairness at Work White Paper) Retention of most of Conservative governments’ trade
union laws and resistance to some EU law
New Labour and Employment Relations
Individual labour law extended to areas previously untouched by statute law – wage levels, hours of work, holidays
Efficiency wage thesis – higher labour costs force employers to use labour more efficiently
Business friendly – has made changes but emphasis on flexibility and anti – EU initiatives that impose undue burdens on business (I&C)
Blair sees the New Labour project as nothing less than a culture change in employment relations – is he right?
New employment relations for a modern (knowledge) economy
New Labour and Employment Relations
Recent assessment (Dickens and Hall 2006) suggests pursuit of ‘Fairness’ but only up to a point – contingent on business concerns
Others, less generous (Smith and Morton 2006) many of the claimed benefits are rarely attained in practice
Anna Pollert (2005, 2007), highlights continuing problems faced by unorganised workers
Many unaware of their rights but even when they are, unable to defend them through lack of effective representation.
The State and Employee Relations: Some Reflections Role and influence of the state in employment
relations considerable
Sets the ‘rules of engagement’, establishes ‘climate and context’ and sets an example.
Influence on the issues and conduct of employment relations greater than is commonly assumed.
Often does this by appearing to do very little – collective laissez-faire – can be a distant observer at the ‘ringside’ but intervenes when necessary.
At times a more interventionist stance – Industrial Relations Act, Miners Strike, Firefighters dispute.
The State and Employee Relations: Some Reflections
Globalisation threat to power of nation state but
Continuing evidence that national institutions matter (Boyer 1999)
National systems of regulation continue to exert influence even in EU (Rubery et al. 2008)
Legal regulation in nation state continues to be dominated by the laws of that state
Many employee relations institutions remain firmly located within the nation state