IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v21y2007i4p617-634.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Worker voice in the context of the re-regulation of employment: employer tactics and statutory union recognition in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Perrett

    (University of Bradford, r.perrett@bradford.ac.uk)

Abstract

Since the introduction of the statutory recognition procedure the vast majority of new agreements have been voluntary in nature, yet increasingly employers are using this ambiguous state regulation as a means of avoiding recognition.The legislation allows for the game of voluntarism to be enshrined within the micro level politics and social relationships of work and employment: it crystallizes the culture and history of voluntarism in the regulation itself. It is, in effect, ironic in how it balances change with tradition. It makes the new regulation pliable and difficult to see as a step to a state-led approach.There is a resistant trend to unions generally even if recognition cases may vary in terms of employer orientations.This article focuses on such issues by addressing a broader understanding of regulation through an ethnographic case study analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Perrett, 2007. "Worker voice in the context of the re-regulation of employment: employer tactics and statutory union recognition in the UK," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 21(4), pages 617-634, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:21:y:2007:i:4:p:617-634
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017007082873
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017007082873
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017007082873?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Miguel Lucio & Mike Noon & Sarah Jenkins 2, 2000. "The Flexible–Rigid Paradox of Employment Relations at Royal Mail (UK)," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 38(2), pages 277-298, June.
    2. Edmund Heery & Carola Frege, 2006. "New Actors in Industrial Relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 44(4), pages 601-604, December.
    3. Paul Smith & Gary Morton, 2001. "New Labour’s Reform of Britain’s Employment Law: The Devil is not only in the Detail but in the Values and Policy Too," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 39(1), pages 119-138, March.
    4. Brown, W & Hudson, M & Deakin, S & Pratten, C, 2001. "The Limits of Statutory Trade Union Recognition," Working Papers wp199, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zagelmeyer, Stefan, 2003. "Die Entwicklung kollektiver Verhandlungen in Großbritannien: ein historischer Überblick," Discussion Papers 17, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    2. Stephen Mustchin & Mathew Johnson & Marti Lopez‐Andreu, 2023. "Civil society organisations in and against the state: Advice, advocacy and activism on the margins of the labour market," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 117-131, March.
    3. Davide Però & John Downey, 2024. "Advancing Workers’ Rights in the Gig Economy through Discursive Power: The Communicative Strategies of Indie Unions," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(1), pages 140-160, February.
    4. Miguel Martinez Lucio & Mark Stuart, 2005. "‘Partnership’ and new industrial relations in a risk society," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 19(4), pages 797-817, December.
    5. Suzanne Konzelmann & Frank Wilkinson & Maria Hudson, 2002. "Partnership in Practice," Working Papers wp239, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    6. Alex Bryson & Erling Barth & Harald Dale-Olsen, 2013. "The Effects of Organizational Change on Worker Well-Being and the Moderating Role of Trade Unions," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(4), pages 989-1011, July.
    7. Blanden, Jo & Machin, Stephen & Van Reenen, John, 2005. "New survey evidence on recent changes in UK union recognition," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 768, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Bengt Furåker & Mattias Bengtsson, 2013. "Collective and individual benefits of trade unions: a multi-level analysis of 21 European countries," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5-6), pages 548-565, November.
    9. Miguel Martínez Lucio & Heather Connolly, 2012. "Transformation and Continuities in Urban Struggles," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(3), pages 669-684, February.
    10. Mick Marchington & Jane Suter, 2013. "Where Informality Really Matters: Patterns of Employee Involvement and Participation (EIP) in a Non-Union Firm," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52, pages 284-313, January.
    11. Gabriella Alberti & Jo Cutter, 2022. "Labour migration policy post‐Brexit: The contested meaning of regulation by old and new actors," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 430-445, September.
    12. Doug Miller & Simon Turner & Tom Grinter, 2012. "Back to the Future? A critical reflection on Neil Kearney’s mature systems of industrial relations perspective on the governance of outsourced apparel supply chains," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series ctg-2011-08, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    13. Anna Pollert & Andy Charlwood, 2009. "The vulnerable worker in Britain and problems at work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 23(2), pages 343-362, June.
    14. Michael Barry & Adrian Wilkinson, 2011. "Reconceptualising employer associations under evolving employment relations," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 25(1), pages 149-162, March.
    15. Benjamin Hopkins & Chris Dawson, 2016. "Migrant workers and involuntary non-permanent jobs: agencies as new IR actors?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 163-180, March.
    16. William Brown & Paul Ryan, 2003. "The Irrelevance of Trade Union Recognition? A Comparison of Two Matched Companies," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 6(3), pages 383-408, September.
    17. Fang Cooke, 2014. "Chinese industrial relations research: In search of a broader analytical framework and representation," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 875-898, September.
    18. John Godard, 2003. "Labour Unions, Workplace Rights and Canadian Public Policy," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 29(4), pages 449-467, December.
    19. Steve Williams & Brian Abbott & Edmund Heery, 2017. "Civil Governance in Work and Employment Relations: How Civil Society Organizations Contribute to Systems of Labour Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 103-119, August.
    20. Chris Forde & Gary Slater, 2005. "Agency Working in Britain: Character, Consequences and Regulation," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 249-271, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:21:y:2007:i:4:p:617-634. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.