Sisson, Keith

The way to EMU has deeply changed the macroeconomic conditions of the British economy. This report looks at the main features of industrial relations in the United Kingdom. It analyses the impact on three sectors: banking and finance, automotive and road haulage, which have undergone or are undergoing intense restructuring with important implications for employment and working conditions.

In 1998, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EFILWC) launched a major programme of inquiry [1] into the impact of EU Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on industrial relations, with two major objectives: [1] http://www.eurofound.ie/projects/0200.html

TheInstitute of Personnel and Development (IPD), the professional organisation representing some 80,000 personnel and training managers in the UK, prides itself on being a catalyst for discussion and debate in the area. Its /Computers in personnel/ conference at the end of June 1998 appeared to do just that in sparking off reflection about the role of information technology and information systems in the management of human resources and industrial relations.

Public service pay is again in the spotlight following the publication of the results of the Labour Government's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) in early July 1998. The CSR proposes a substantial increase in public expenditure for the next three years in two areas where commitments were made by Labour prior to the 1997 general election: education, which is due to receive an increase of GBP 21 billion; and the National Health Service, where the figure is GBP 19 billion.

One interesting aspect of some recent industrial disputes over summer 1997 (UK9708153F [1]) to have received comment is the relative success trade unions have had in the public relations battle that appears to accompany industrial action in recent times. In the recent British Airways cabin crew dispute, one close adviser to the company has been quoted as admitting: "The union ran rings round us." In particular, journalists found it much easier to get answers to their questions from trade union representatives, who therefore tended to exercise greater influence than the management over the emerging agenda. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-working-conditions-business/a-summer-of-discontent

One of the first acts of the new Labour Government, elected in May 1997, was to reverse the ban on trade unions at the General Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) imposed by the Government of former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, in 1984. GCHQ is the UK main "spy-tracking" station, which also works for USA intelligence, and it was felt that trade union membership and collective bargaining - with the threat of industrial action they carried - were incompatible with its key role. Reversal of the, together with the reinstatement of the 14 workers who were dismissed for refusing to give up union membership, became a cause célèbre for the trade union movement .

The timetable for the introduction of the UK's first national minimum wage (UK9704125F [1]) is becoming clearer. The signs are that the Government will be bringing forward legislation in autumn 1997. In the meantime, the new Low Pay Commission (LPC) will consider the level of the minimum wage to recommend to ministers. The hope is that its recommendation would be available by the late spring of 1998, to allow the Government to announce the national minimum wage in the summer, to become operational by October of the same year. Strictly speaking, as with the Pay Review Bodies in the public sector (UK9702104F [2]), the government will not be bound to implement the LPC's recommendation. It is recognised, however, that to reject it would to undermine the whole process and its own credibility. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-labour-market/the-industrial-relations-consequences-of-the-new-labour-government [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/public-sector-pay-policies

One of the Labour Party' s manifesto commitments (UK9704125F [1]) was to introduce a statutory procedure to allow trade unions to achieve recognition for the purposes of collective bargaining where they can demonstrate majority support. Such a procedure, which was a feature from 1971 until its abolition by the Conservative Government in 1980, has come to be regarded as especially important in a country without wider legislative support for collective bargaining through sectoral agreements. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-labour-market/the-industrial-relations-consequences-of-the-new-labour-government