The Bullock Committee, Industrial Democracy, and the Trade Unions: The Revolution that Never Was

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-228
Author(s):  
John Edmonds
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
White Paper ◽  
The State ◽  
Industrial Democracy ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
Margaret Thatcher ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
Working Lives ◽  
Minority Report

The report of the Bullock Committee on Industrial Democracy aimed to transform British industrial relations by instituting worker directors on the board of large companies. This transformation never took place. A minority report by the three committee members representing business interests opposed putting workers’ representatives on the board. The aftermath was even more disappointing: the Labour government’s White Paper diluted several of Bullock’s recommendations but before legislation could be tabled, in May 1979, the incoming Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher declared that the Bullock recommendations would never be enacted. The goal of industrial democracy is to reduce the autocratic power of management and give all employees greater control of their working lives. Given the weakness of trade unions today, it is time to look again at statutory works councils in Germany and representation of a minority of worker directors on the board, both elected by all employees. This would give workers and their unions information about the state of the company and about management intentions.

Reading Hugh Clegg’s ‘The Bullock Report and European Experience’ (1977) in Historical Context

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-196
Author(s):  
Peter Ackers
Keyword(s):  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Industrial Democracy ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
European Experience ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Practical Task

Hugh Clegg’s riposte to the 1977 Bullock Report on Industrial Democracy was one of seven papers published from a conference on the subject in April that year. His contribution has to be seen against his long-standing views (expressed, for example, in 1951 and 1960) on industrial democracy which he saw in practical terms as free trade unions conducting collective bargaining. On the Donovan Commission (1965-68), he supported the majority opposition to recommending even voluntary schemes for worker directors. In 1977 he regarded worker directors as irrelevant to the urgent, practical task of reforming British industrial relations. For Clegg, continental versions of industrial democracy worked where there was already a successful prior industrial relations system, developed through workplace and industry institutional practices over decades. One new, top-level initiative could not create that.

Turkish Industrial Relations at the Crossroads: Revisiting the History of Industrial Relations in the Early Post World War Two Period

2018 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 151-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didem Özkiziltan ◽  
Aziz Çelik
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Critical Juncture ◽  
History Of ◽  
Critical Account ◽  
The Right

AbstractThe 1961 constitutional reform in Turkey recognized the right to strike and granted other rights and freedoms related to the collective actions of labor. Conventional wisdom holds that Turkish trade unions became independent of the state power with class-based interests only after this reform. Across mainstream literature, this is considered, in historical institutionalist terms, as the first critical juncture in Turkey's industrial relations. This paper provides a critical account of the institutional continuity, development, and change that took place in Turkey's industrial relations starting from its establishment as a republic in 1923 until the end of the 1950s, by considering the socioeconomic and legal-political environment during these years. Considering the historical evidence employed, and under historical institutionalism, it is argued that the first critical juncture in the country's industrial relations occurred in 1947, when the ruling cliques permitted the establishment of trade unions. In this paper, it is purported that the consensus reached by the trade unions on the necessity of the right to strike from the mid-1950s onwards initiated a peaceful class struggle between Turkish labor and the state, which gradually steered the industrial relations toward the second critical juncture following the promulgation of the 1961 constitution.

Developments in Worker Participation in New Zealand

1979 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
David F. Smith
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Marked Effect ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Industrial Democracy ◽  
International Debate ◽  
Worker Participation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government

Industrial democracy and worker participation have become important topics for international debate, with developments taking place in many countries. Despite its former reputation for advances in the social field, little has been heard about developments in worker participation in New Zealand. The aim of the present paper is to report and assess such developments whilst placing these within the context of developments in industrial relations in that country. The strong reliance upon legal arrangements and government intervention in industrial relations matters have had a marked effect upon the development of the industrial relations system in New Zealand. Yet, despite this tradition of legalism, successive governments remain singularly reluctant to legislate in the field of worker participation. Recent initiatives by employers have been strongly unitary in nature, whilst the trade unions appear to be concentrating their efforts upon extending the scope of collective bargaining, an opportunity afforded to them due to recent changes in the law. The present Government's wish that voluntary arrangements between employers and trade unions will eventuate to cover worker participation seems less than pragmatic, since employers, unions and the Government itself differ so fundamentally upon what constitutes worker participation, and the forms it might take.

scholarly journals Industrial relations in Italy in the twenty-first century

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 654-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Pulignano ◽  
Domenico Carrieri ◽  
Lucio Baccaro
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
First Century ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Classical Source ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Government ◽  
Institutional Actors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the developments which have characterized Italy’s industrial relations from post-war Fordism to neo-liberal hegemony and recent crisis, with a particular focus on the major changes occurred in the twenty-first century, especially those concerning concertative (tripartite) policy making between the government, the employers’ organizations and the trade unions. Design/methodology/approach This study is a conceptual paper which analysis of main development trends. Findings Italy’s industrial relations in the twenty-first century are characterized by ambivalent features which are the heritage of the past. These are summarized as follows: “collective autonomy” as a classical source of strength for trade unions and employers’ organization, on the one hand. On the other hand, a low level of legislative regulation and weak institutionalization, accompanied by little engagement in a generalized “participative-collaborative” model. Due to the instability in the socio-political setting in the twenty-first century, unions and employers encounter growing difficulties to affirm their common points of view and to build up stable institutions that could support cooperation between them. The result is a clear reversal of the assumptions that had formed the classical backdrop of the paradigm of Italy’s “political exchange.” This paradigm has long influenced the way in which the relationships between employers, trade unions and the state were conceived, especially during 1990s and, to some extent, during 2000s, that is the development of concertative (tripartite) policy making. However, since the end of 2000s, and particularly from 2010s onwards national governments have stated their intention to act independently of the choices made by the unions (and partially the employers). The outcome is the eclipse of concertation. The paper explores how the relationships among the main institutional actors such as the trade unions (and among the unions themselves), the employers, and the state and how politics have evolved, within a dynamic socio-political and economic context. These are the essential factors needed to understand Italy’s industrial relations in the twenty-first century. Originality/value It shows that understanding the relationship among the main institutional actors such as the trade unions (and among the unions themselves), the employers and the state and their politics is essential to understand the change occurred in contemporary Italy’s industrial relations.

scholarly journals Industrial legislation in Australia in 2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Schofield-Georgeson ◽  
Michael Rawling
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Wage Theft ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Liberal Government ◽  
Policy Trend ◽  
Union Governance

In this 2019 electoral year, a federal Morrison Liberal Government was returned to power with little in the way of an industrial agenda. It failed to implement its key legislation, which mainly included reform to union governance and changes to religious freedom in the workplace. Meanwhile, the state governments, particularly the Victorian Andrews Labor Government, reviewed a swathe of labour law, including wage theft, industrial manslaughter, owner–driver legislation and workers' compensation laws and implemented a host of progressive changes. This year has also seen the continuation of a key policy trend, observable at both state and federal levels of government, towards regulation of aspects of industrial relations by the state that were once exclusively the province of employers and trade unions through a twentieth-century system of conciliation and arbitration.

The Disappearance of Strikes in Tanzania: Incomes Policy and Industrial Democracy

1979 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dudley Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Industrial Democracy ◽  
Incomes Policy ◽  
Three Strikes ◽  
Definition Of

During the last few inflation-ridden years many countries have experienced a severe crisis of industrial relations as workers tried, through collective action, to preserve their living standards against the pressure of rising prices. But Tanzania stands as a conspicuous example of one country where, during the 1970s, strikes seem virtually to have disappeared, as may be seen from Table I.1 It is true that the Tanzanian definition of a strike excludes disputes lasting less than one day; and it is also true that there have been occasions since 1972 when workers have ‘downed tools’ for brief protest periods. But the lack of reported strikes in Tanzania is not a statistical illusion. The Labour Officers of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare keep a close watch on the state of industrial relations, and these occurrences are known to and are reported by them, as is shown by their recording of three strikes in 1977. This last fact also demonstrates that strikes can still occur in Tanzania.

scholarly journals The Evolution of Industrial Democracy in a Small-Island Economy, Mauritius

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
Nirmal Kumar Betchoo
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Employee Relations ◽  
Industrial Democracy ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Employee Protection ◽  
The Indian Ocean

This research work concerns an evaluation of the Employment Relations Act 2008, ERA 2008, from its inception in 2008 up to the present date. Considered as a major revolution in industrial relations, the legislation has met with mitigated results. Firstly, trade unions have contested the legislation in terms of loopholes and inadequacies concerning employee protection. Secondly, the public including people at work are not fully knowledgeable of the legislation because of its complexities and numerous issues that are addressed but not looked into. The assessment of the ERA is seen from the perspectives of employee relations whereby it addresses better the pluralistic perspective since Mauritius, a small-island economy in the Indian Ocean, has maintained its cultural identity of democracy and alongside industrial democracy. The research emphasises that through amendments to the legislation, it is seen that employee relations must sound and dynamic to maintain the concept of industrial democracy and see that employees are better off with the ERA 2008 since it replaced the former Industrial Relations Act (1973).

scholarly journals Το μέλλον των εργασιακών σχέσεων

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Bevort,
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Technological Changes ◽  
Future Evolution ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
French Experience ◽  
Neoliberal Policies

The end of Keynesian thinking and the advent of neoliberal policies that induced globalization, the new management models and technological changes have all confined the role of state regulation. At the same time they have also enhanced flexibility in working patterns. This change is more evident in the French industrial relations model, due to the importance of the state and the weakness of trade unions. Based on the French experience, the paper attempts to depict the future evolution of industrial relations, beyond current changes, by putting forward two possible scenarios; the state-market and the democratic. The argument presented by the author supports the second one, yet the paper shows that the first one seems more possible based on current trends.

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