A bridge over troubled water. A decade of representation at South West Water
| Pages | 238-258 |
| Date | 01 June 2005 |
| Published date | 01 June 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450510591585 |
| Author | Carole Bonner,Paul J. Gollan |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
A bridge over troubled water
A decade of representation at
South West Water
Carole Bonner
Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT),
London, UK, and
Paul J. Gollan
Department of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, London, UK
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to examine union and non-union consultation and representative
arrangements at South West Water (SWW) over a ten-year period, from 1992 to 2002.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper attempts to fill the gap in the current research by
examining the processes leading from union derecognition, non-union employee representation (NER),
to recognition of union representation using SWW as an example.
Findings – The SWW experience suggests that any representative structures within firms need to
have full support of the majority of employees and to have been seen as being organic to the workplace
rather than an imposed arrangement by management. Without such a bottom-up approach, the
legitimacy and respect for such arrangements will diminish, creating obstacles for developing
meaningful dialogue and trust between management, staff and unions. For unions, maintaining high
membership density, while no guarantee of continuing recognition, creates an environment of strong
union organisation and representation at workplace level.
Originality/value – As the experience at SWW has shown, where unions have been excluded from
the workplace, maintaining a presence through the representation of individual employee interests and
through colonisation of NER structures has been shown to pay dividends in the long run. However, a
recognition agreement is not enough on its own to secure new members and unions need to be effective
and relevant to the workforce.
Keywords Trade unions, Waterindustry, Trade union recognition,Employee representatives,
Industrial relations, United Kingdom
Paper type Case study
During the 1980s, 1990s and through to the present day there have been rapid changes
in industrial relations in the UK which have included derecognition, non-union
employee representation (NER), partnership and union recognition. These changes
have taken place against a background of changing political emphasis, economic
pressures, declining union membership and density and a rise in the use of
individualistic human resource management (HRM) practices. The privatised utilities
have, perhaps, been a sector where these changes have been most prevalent. The water
industry in particular has been through rapid changes since 1989 with a change in
Government policies and wide variation in employer strategies within this sector[1].
The importance of workplace representative arrangements in the UK has been
highlighted by recent initiatives from the European Commission. On 11 March 2002 a
general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European
Community was formally adopted and came into force on 23 March of the same year[2].
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
ER
27,3
238
Employee Relations
Vol. 27 No. 3, 2005
pp. 238-258
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/01425450510591585
This Directive will eventually apply to undertakings or businesses in Member States
with at least 50 employees (or establishments with 20 employees or more), and will
require them to inform and consult their employees in good time about issues directly
affecting work organisation, job security and employment contracts regarding terms
and conditions. More specifically, the new Directive will require employers under a
legal obligation to inform their staff on an ongoing basis about matters such as firm
performance and strategic planning.
While the Directive offers a substantial degree of flexibility in relation to the shape
of information and consultation arrangements, some commentators have suggested
that this proposal implies the establishment of national-level works councils in the UK,
or at least in non-union establishments some form of NER (Gospel and Willman, 2002,
2003). For some member states, notably the UK, it will require organisations to have
much more extensive employee consultation processes than are currently in place.
Importantly, the Directive requires workplace bodies comprising elected
representatives, and consultation to be undertaken in such a way that these
representatives and their constituencies can influence management decisions.
Overall, this paper examines union and non-union representative arrangements at
South West Water (SWW) over a ten-year period, from 1992 to 2002. In particular, the
paper attempts to fill the gap in the current research by examining the processes
leading from union derecognition, NER[3], to recognition of union representation. To
achieve this, the paper addresses a number of research questions into union and
non-union representation arrangements. First, what factors do organisations consider
when choosing the type of representation strategy? Second, how effective are NER
structures at representing the interests of and providing voice for employees at SWW?
Third, can NER arrangements complement union representation? And finally, in
practice what are the outcomes and limitations for employers in adopting NER forms?
These issues have several consequences for the research outcomes. They allow an
review of representative arrangements, such as those between union representatives
and other workplace representatives, and between the representatives and senior
management. They also provide a framework for examining the operation of NER
forms and how they impact on employee trust in management, perceptions of
influence, and sense of grievance. What this all means for unionism is also explored by
studying NER and its impact on voice arrangements before and after union recognition
at SWW.
Current debates
The development of NER arrangements and the establishment of union-employer
partnership arrangements in the UK have highlighted a number of issues. These issues
can be divided into two main themes: first, the influence of NER arrangements on
management decision-making and second, management strategies and approaches to
NER and approaches to unionism.
Freeman and Medoff (1984) have argued that although unions can provide an
effective method of collective employee “voice”[4], there may be an incentive for
employers to provide a voice mechanism where workplace union organisation is weak
or absent[5]. The academic literature has identified the important role of unions in
giving employees a voice, enabling them to express dissatisfaction with the working
environment without fear of management retaliation[6]. Thus, it is suggested, where
unions are weak or non-existent this voice effect will be absent, or alternatively an
A bridge over
troubled water
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