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Union Exclusion and the Decollectivization of Industrial Relations in Contemporary Britain
Author(s) -
Smith Paul,
Morton Gary
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8543.1993.tb00382.x
Subject(s) - subsidiary , labour economics , discretion , industrial relations , collective bargaining , principal (computer security) , trade union , restructuring , government (linguistics) , power (physics) , legislature , bargaining power , market economy , business , economics , political science , law , management , linguistics , philosophy , physics , finance , quantum mechanics , multinational corporation , computer science , microeconomics , operating system
A major focus of the Conservative government's employment policy since 1979 has been the reduction of union power within the labour market, the employment relationship and as representatives of a separate ‘labour interest’ in society ' union exclusion. The principal impact of the legislative changes is to deny workers access to resources of collective power, thereby commensurately increasing employers' discretion to determine the terms of the employment relationship. When forming new subsidiaries and establishments, or purchasing non‐union subsidiaries, employers have been able to resist unionization and recognition except on their own terms, but comparatively few have terminated existing union recognition agreements, preferring to marginalize the role of unions through the adoption of partial exclusion policies ' joint consultation, direct communication, performance‐related pay, and the fragmentation of common employment and bargaining.