Statutory regulation and employment relations : the impact of statutory trade union recognition / Sian Moore, University of the West of England, UK, Sonia McKay, London Metropolitan University, UK with Sarah Veale, Trade Union Congress, UK.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Moore, Sian.

Contributor:

McKay, Sonia.

Veale, Sarah.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Labor unions--Recognition--Great Britain.

Labor unions.

Labor unions--Law and legislation--Great Britain.

Labor unions--Law and legislation.

Labor unions--Recognition.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

xii, 265 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke, Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

Summary:

A comprehensive socio-legal evaluation of the 2000 statutory recognition procedure over ten years of its operation, in the context of UK labour law, changing work relationships, the dissipation of collective bargaining and union membership decline. The authors of this volume consider how far it has provided a template for the incursion of the law into UK industrial relations, with voluntarism no longer a dominant model in UK, and how far it has encouraged a more limited form of joint regulation. They reflect on how the procedure has shaped union strategies and on whether it creates the conditions for worker mobilisation. The central trend has been the decline in applications and whilst the design and operation of the procedure may discourage unions from submitting claims and permit employers to undermine the process, its impact is also influenced by union capacity to generate cases, something defined by wider economic, social and political relationships. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Locating the 2000 Statutory Recognition Procedure 9

The right to union recognition 10

The history of statutory intervention 13

The 1999 Act and statutory recognition 16

The access and unfair practices provisions 20

Comparing legislative systems 23

Design or operation? - the flaws in the procedure 27

When a majority is not enough 27

Restrictions on collective bargaining 31

Legalism - an increasing focus within the cases 32

Cases getting longer to complete 35

Keeping the judges out - the fear of judicial review 36

Conclusion 41

2 A Legislative Prompt? The TUC Perspective on the 2000 Recognition Procedure 42

Discussions between the TUC and the government 45

The 'Fairness at work' White Paper 50

TUC response to the White Paper 52

CBI reaction to the White Paper 58

Third round of discussions between the TUC and the government 59

The Employment Relations Bill 62

The outcome - has statutory recognition been worth the fight? 64

3 Third Time Lucky? - The Operation and Outcomes of the Statutory Recognition Procedure 71

The level of applications 72

Applications accepted and rejected under the statutory procedure 75

Establishing the bargaining unit 82

The granting of automatic recognition 88

Ballots 93

The ballot period 96

The method of bargaining 97

Derecognition 101

The shadow effect? 106

Conclusion 108

4 Challenging Recognition - The Legitimacy of Employer Behaviour 110

Pre-empting recognition 111

Establishing alternative channels of representation 111

Employer-defined representation 113

Employer contestation within the statutory procedure 116

Testing support 116

Stalling the process 117

Exploiting technicalities 118

Influencing CAC discretion 119

Challenging likely support 120

Contesting the bargaining unit 125

Manipulating the bargaining unit 127

Promoting a ballot 130

Ballots 136

Conclusion 140

5 Organising for Recognition - Union Strategies 142

Shaping union strategy - the influence of the statutory procedure 143

Workplace mobilisation and union strategy - is there a convergence? 149

Recruitment and organising strategies and the limits of voluntarism 149

Union strategy and workplace mobilisation 152

Promoting collective identity 157

Union organising 158

The key role of activists 164

The limits of voluntarism? 170

Conclusion 175

6 Be Careful What You Wish for - Unfair Practices and the Law 177

The early experiences of unfair practices, 2000-2003 177

Calls for changes to the law 182

What the unfair practices law achieved 188

Union busters, threats of closure and intimidation 192

What is unfair about unfair practices? 202

Complaints reaching the CAC - problems with the legislation 204

Conclusion 206

7 The Fragmentation of Representation - 'Contract-based Recognition' 208

The impossibility of national bargaining units? 209

Privatisation and outsourcing - contract-based recognition and the contradictions of capitalism 214

TUPE and the complexity of representation 227

Temporary and agency workers 232

Conclusion 237.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781137023797

1137023791

OCLC:

825047316