Tread carefully
3 Nov 08
Improved policies and a desire to work together are seen as making an epidemic of strikes less likely
by Andrew Beach
When staff at ACAS, the agency that works to resolve industrial disputes, go on strike themselves it says a lot about the bleak state of industrial relations in the UK.
That is exactly what happened (in September this year) but fears that Britain is headed for another “winter of discontent” may not be justified, according to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
The CIPD found that, although more organisations are affected by increasingly turbulent employee relations, the problem is concentrated in the public sector and most employers report positive relationships with their unions and no increase in union membership.
The CIPD survey of more than 850 employers found that a quarter of unionised organisations had been affected by strike action in the last year and almost a third of unionised employers believe they may experience some strike action in the next year. Industrial unrest was concentrated in the public sector, with 49 per cent of public sector respondents reporting strike action in the past 12 months and 51 per cent believing employees were likely to strike in the year ahead. In all, 12 per cent of private services companies were affected by strike action last year and 28 per cent of respondents in this sector believed strike action was possible in the coming 12 months.
Where strikes have occurred, or are thought likely, pay lies at the root of the problem, the CIPD said. The survey found that eight out of 10 employers cited pay as the reason for recent strikes, while nearly 90 per cent of organisations anticipating possible strike action in the next year believe pay will be the critical issue in any such disputes.
CIPD chief executive Jackie Orme says: “Pay restraint is undoubtedly having an effect on the industrial relations climate, but talk of a winter of discontent is wide of the mark. As employers have got better at engaging their employees, union influence has declined and employee understanding of the realities facing employers has grown.
“We expect to see some strike action in the months ahead, but the vast majority of people will work with their employers to get through these tougher times, and come out the other side in good shape.
“It is sometimes said that you get the unions you deserve,” Orme says. “The reality of the modern workplace is that employers are far better at engaging and motivating their workforce. Those that have been successful at building engagement in better times will find themselves far less likely to be facing industrial unrest now.
“Motivation and commitment is greater in organisations where people feel well-treated by their managers and have trust in the senior leadership, and is far more likely to withstand the unrest that can be associated with pay restraint and the other challenges that tougher times bring.”
However, the trade union movement has disputed some of the report’s finding, saying that union membership is growing.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber says the report did not offer an accurate assessment of trade union membership: “Both the TUC and the certification officer reported an increase in union membership this year and there is no objective evidence to suggest that union influence has weakened over the last two years.
“On the contrary, the TUC believes that the continuing economic uncertainty means that more workers are realising the value of a union voice.”
He adds that the survey’s findings showed that speculation about a winter of discontent is “driven by lazy headline writers, rather than a realistic assessment of what is really happening in workplaces”.
“But with job losses in the civil service, and real worry and frustration with the Government’s attempt to force through pay cuts across the public sector, it’s not surprising that there has been an increase in industrial action.”