The Wapping Dispute and Labour Law

1986 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. D. Ewing ◽  
B. W. Napier
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
International Group ◽  
Industrial Conflict ◽  
The Law ◽  
Rich Material ◽  
The Right

A decade ago the conflict between George Ward, proprietor of Grunwick Processing, and the Association of Professional, Executive Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) provided a platform for an extended debate about the role of the law in industrial relations, the right of employers to refuse to recognise trade unions for collective bargaining purposes and, in particular, the efficacy of legislation as a means of promoting such recognition. In 1986 the decision to move the printing of various newspapers within the News International Group (the chairman of which is Mr. Rupert Murdoch) from Fleet Street to a new purpose-built printing plant at Wapping in London's docklands occasioned another set-piece battle between labour and a strong-minded employer. The issues and the climate of industrial relations in which the dispute took place are very different but, like Grunwick, the Wapping dispute provides rich material for all interested in how the law can be used as part of the strategy of industrial conflict.

Collective rights of platform workers: The role of EU law

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 406-424
Author(s):  
Tamás Gyulavári
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Employment Protection ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Collective Rights ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Right

Platform work is a new umbrella concept which covers a heterogeneous group of economic activities performed through digital platforms. Effective collective rights and bargaining would be essential for platform workers due to their vulnerable employment status. Yet collective organization of platform workers is troublesome, so trade unions face difficulties. The protection of the labour law directives is limited by their personal scope, which may be gradually expanded by the broad ECJ interpretation of the ‘worker’ concept. The effective right to collective bargaining would be particularly important, but it is restricted by EU antitrust rules with an exemption only for employees. In the last decade, the European Court has moved towards a wider personal scope of collective bargaining by interpreting the concept of ‘worker’. The recent FNV Kunsten decision used the notion of ‘false self-employed’ to go beyond the national concept of ‘employee’, but the wide interpretation of ‘worker’ shall be based on the need and necessity of employment protection deriving from economic dependency. As an alternative, the Gebhard formula may be invoked to grant the right to collective bargaining for platform workers.

Legal Expertise: A Critical Resource for Trade Unionists? Insights into the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Guillaume
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
Collective Redress ◽  
Critical Resource ◽  
The Law ◽  
Legal Expertise

Abstract Based on in-depth qualitative research conducted in one of the major French trade unions (the CFDT), this article explores to what extent and under what conditions trade unions adopt different legal practices to further their members’ interests. In particular, it investigates how ‘legal framing’ has taken an increasingly pervasive place in trade union work, in increasingly decentralised industrial relations contexts, such as France. This article therefore argues that the use of the law has become a multifaceted and embedded repertoire of action for the CFDT in its attempt to consolidate its institutional power through various strategies, including collective redress and the use of legal expertise in collective bargaining and representation work.

scholarly journals Learning to live with the law? The legislative attack on British trade unions since 1979

1970 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Dickens
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Legal Intervention ◽  
British Trade ◽  
Industrial Action ◽  
The Law ◽  
Labour Legislation

This article takes as its focus the labour legislation of the Conservative governments in Britain under Mrs. Thatcher since 1979. It locates the legislation in its broader context and examines three main prongs of what is seen as a legislative attack on the trade unions: the move away from collective industrial relations; the restricted terrain for lawful industrial action; and legal intervention in internal union affairs. The immediate impact, use of and response to this legislation is discussed and a broader question raised concerning whether, as well as having to adjust to the new legal framework, British trade unions are reappraising their attitude to the role of law in industrial relations more generally.

The Working Class Goes to the Movies: Labour Law and Thatcherism in British Films

Pólemos ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Peruzzi
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
British Perspective ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Individual Dimension

AbstractThe essay focusses on the employment relationship as a privileged perspective for the analysis of the binomial “power of voices/voices of power.” In such context, the right to strike is presented as a meaningful example of the power stemming from a collective organisation of voices, the voices of the workers, granted as a means to counter-balance the power and the voice of the employer. The analysis highlights the enduring relevance of the British perspective towards the topic, from the liberalist policies fostered by Prime Minister Thatcher in the Eighties until the critical approach recently adopted by the British Government with regard to the protection of the right to strike at international level. British filmography is chosen as a lens for observing such perspective, in particular to the extent it describes the impact of Thatcherism on the British model of industrial relations as well as the economic and social consequences of such political measures in the Nineties. After a general overview, aimed at highlighting common features across the films, like the pivotal role of music and dance in the storyline, the analysis focusses on Billy Elliot, examining the ambiguous relationship between the collective and individual dimension in its narration.

The Right to Collective Bargaining in Malaysia in the Context of ILO Standards

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabiu Sani Shatsari ◽  
Kamal Halili Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Right ◽  
Legal Mechanism ◽  
Conditions Of Employment

Collective bargaining is the best mechanism to attain a cordial relationship between employers and employees. It is also an effective forum to agree on terms and conditions of employment. In order to achieve such purposes, industrial relations systems in a country must provide legal mechanism to enable parties to bargain collectively with a view to concluding a collective agreement. The ILO has adopted a convention providing a framework for member states to enact laws that would facilitate such a mechanism. In this respect, Malaysia has enacted the Industrial Relations Act 1967, which provides among others a mechanism for collective bargaining. In this article we argue on the extent of the right of Malaysian workers to collective bargaining in the context of the ILO standards. Here we argue that despite the legal mechanism available that facilitates collective bargaining between the two parties, Malaysian workers and their trade unions face some difficulties in bargaining with their employers.

Spanish Employment Legislation Reforms in the Recent Crisis - Towards a New Model of the Industrial Relations System

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-288
Author(s):  
Fernando Fita Ortega
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Ability To Work ◽  
New Model ◽  
Managerial Power ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
Employment Legislation ◽  
Political Decisions

The recent crisis and its consequences have induced major changes in Spanish employment legislation which may lead into what could be recognized as a new model of the industrial relations system. Since the early 90's, and as a reaction to globalization, the need of introducing measures for promoting adaptability and flexibility have had echoes in Spanish employment legislation. However, the crisis we are experiencing nowadays is having a greater impact upon the Spanish economy, and hence on employment regulations, than any other previous crisis. The legislature's reaction in order to reverse the situation is leading to a new model of the industrial relations system, since this is happening in the whole European Union, where the power of collective bargaining has been undermined, and with it the role of trade unions. This has had a huge impact on the essence of Spanish labour law (derecho del trabajo). These regulations seek to protect employees at their working places from the managerial power of the employer, but without forgetting the need of protecting the efficiency of the enterprise. In fact, after the new legislation following the political decisions of the Spanish Government, we are closer than ever to an Employment Law (derecho alempleo) where the protection is focused on the citizens' ability to work, protecting them in the labour market. The aim of this paper is to give a short description of the Spanish labour market's situation showing the most relevant data; to provide an analysis of the main measures introduced into Spanish employment legislation, and to draw some conclusions about where and why some decisions are made and what consequences they have for the industrial relations system. 

British Industrial Relations Policy Transformed: The Thatcher Legacy

1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Union Power ◽  
Limited Evidence ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
The Law

ABSTRACTIt is widely believed by political scientists that the Thatcher Governments transformed British industrial relations and ‘curbed union power’. In contrast, most industrial relations scholars have argued that despite the legislative onslaught relatively little has changed on the shopfloor. This paper examines both claims. Much has changed in Britain since 1979. In particular, the political role of unions has altered substantially. Unions in 1991 are infrequently consulted and have very little influence. In addition, the legislative framework within which unions operate is very different; their activities are much more circumscribed by the law than previously. But much less has changed on the shopfloor; for example, there is limited evidence of a major move to derecognise unions or restrict collective bargaining. Governments can only set the legislative framework within which shopfloor industrial relations operate; it cannot determine outcomes.

The New Structure of Labour Law in Britain

1978 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wedderburn
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Collective Agreement ◽  
Voluntary Agreements ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Traditional Concept ◽  
The Law ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The One

The privilege of giving a lecture in honour of so great a jurist as Lionel Cohen demands of the lecturer a fitting and challenging subject matter. My tribute to his memory takes the form of choosing such a topic. For the structure of Labour Law in Britain today has the appearance of an absurd paradox.On the one hand, labour law still rests upon the traditional concept of the primacy of “voluntary” collective bargaining between employers and independent trade unions. Other than in exceptional war-time periods, the law, both in statutes and in certain areas of judge-made common law, recognises the priority to be accorded to voluntary agreements and arrangements, even to that “custom and practice” which is at the heart of the way things really work on the British factory floor. The law does not regulate the pattern of “bargaining units” as in the United States; it regulates neither the nature nor the administration of the collective agreement, even on interpretation of “rights”. as in so many European countries and in Israel; it establishes no national minimum wage. The law does not “intervene”. it is said, in industrial relations.Even the exceptions prove the rule. Nearly four million workers of our 24 million workforce have their terms of employment legally determined by Wages Councils set up by Ministerial Order under statute. These bodies, first established in 1909, have on them employers' and workers' representatives with independent members.

In Defence of Trade-Unionism: Bill Wedderburn and Rookes v. Barnard

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-110
Author(s):  
Paul Smith
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Trade Disputes ◽  
High Court ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
The Right

Bill Wedderburn (1927-2012) - from 1977, Lord Wedderburn of Charlton - was a towering figure in the world of labour law. His commitment to trade-unionism and the right of workers to take industrial action, given the asymmetrical nature of the employment relationship, ran deep, pervading every aspect of his forensic, sometimes biting, analysis of labour law and the role of the common law. Prompted by the Rookes decision in the High Court, 1961, and the subsequent decision of the House of Lords Judicial Committee, 1964, Wedderburn launched a wide-ranging defence - academic and public - of trade unions’ freedom to strike and the Trade Disputes Act (TDA) 1906. He argued that the House of Lords’ decision had created a new common law liability which evaded the protections in the TDA 1906. This was neutralized by the Trade Disputes Act 1965, but a new wider version of the TDA had to wait for the passage of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act, as amended in 1976.

Industrial relations in France

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udo Rehfeldt
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Peak Level ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strong State

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the actors, institutions and changing rules of the French system of industrial relations (IR). It questions whether the traditional view of the French model as “state-centric” is still adequate. Design/methodology/approach Based on institutionalist IR theories of social regulation and neocorporatism, the paper analyses the evolution of the French IR system from a “State-centric” model to the development of collective bargaining, both at the sector and company level, as well as of tripartite concertation. Findings Initially based on adversarial relations between trade unions and employers, compensated by strong state interventionism, the French IR system has experienced a series of reforms, adopted under the pressure of the unions in the 1980s and mostly under the pressure of the employers’ organisations since the turn of the century. These reforms boosted collective bargaining at the workplace level and tripartite concertation at the peak level. The paper analyses the limits of both developments and explains why a reversal of the hierarchy of norms was imposed in 2016 by law without prior concertation. Originality/value The paper presents an original explanation of the change of the initial French IR model, stressing the importance of power relations and the role of IR experts in the different reform moments.

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