Industrial relations climate and staff attitudes in the fire service: a case of union renewal?
| Published date | 01 January 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450610633046 |
| Date | 01 January 2006 |
| Pages | 26-45 |
| Author | Tom Redman,Ed Snape |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Industrial relations climate and
staff attitudes in the fire service:
a case of union renewal?
Tom Redman
Durham Business School, University of Durham, Durham City, UK, and
Ed Snape
Department of Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Hong Kong
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the evidence for trade union renewal in the UK
fire service. Its aim is to consider two main questions: “How have union-management relations and the
industrial relations climate been affected by management reforms?” and “To the extent that there is
deterioration in the IR climate, has this had an effect on union leadership style and also on union
commitment and participation amongst ordinary members?”
Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on interviews with managers and union
representatives and a survey of firefighters in the north of England.
Findings – The research finds that a marked deterioration in the industrial relations climate led to
changes in union leadership and to an increase in union commitment and participation amongst
ordinary members. The poor climate created the conditions for union renewal by bringing forward
union activists with more inclusive styles and by raising membership awareness of the need to
vigorously defend their existing terms and conditions.
Research limitations/implications – There is a research gap in the industrial relations literature
on how industrial relations climate impacts on the renewal of workplace trade unionism.
Originality/value – This paper helps to fill the research gap in the industrial relations literature on
how industrial relations climate impacts on the renewal of workplace trade unionism.
Keywords Industrial relations, Trade unions,Fire services, Employee attitudes,England
Paper type Research paper
The public and former public sector has been the main focus for the study of union
“renewal”, with studies of union organisation in local government, health, the civil
service, and the fire service (Darlington, 1998; Fitzgerald and Stirling, 1999;
Fairbrother, 2000). The public sector has been of particular interest for several reasons.
First, the move from national to local bargaining brings the potential for a revitalised
local unionism. Second, union density continues to be relatively high, providing greater
potential than much of the private sector for more assertive unions. Third, reduced
funding and pressures for greater efficiency, effectiveness and “value for money ” have
impacted on workplace industrial relations (IR) and trade union organisation. Finall y,
the development of a so-called “new public management” and “modernisation” has
seen the implementation of a range of private sector management techniques, which
challenge existing working methods and organisational cultures.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
The two authors have contributed equally to this paper.
ER
28,1
26
Received 6 October 2004
Revised 24 May 2005
Accepted 8 June 2005
Employee Relations
Vol. 28 No. 1, 2006
pp. 26-45
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/01425450610633046
The debate on union renewal is important for the future of the trade union
movement. According to Fairbrother (2002, p. 73), without renewal the future is bleak
as unions will “ossify, become narrowly focused, with little real presence in the
workplace”. A key element of the renewal thesis is that as local managers reshape the
employment relationship, employment practices, terms and conditions are challenged,
and IR deteriorates, creating the potential for local unions to respond in defence of their
members. Fosh (1993), for example, discusses the mediating impact of “industrial
relations atmosphere” on surges in members’ participation in workplace unionism. So
far, however, a detailed examination of how IR climate impacts on the renewal of
workplace trade unionism is lacking. The main aim of this paper is to provide such an
account.
The paper draws on a case study of a fire service, an important yet relatively
neglected part of the public services. While the service was initially spared the more
drastic cut backs in public spending, there has been growing pressure to contain cos ts
and enhance efficiency from the mid 1990s. The paper begins with a review of the
union renewal and IR climate literatures. We then discuss the nature of IR in the fire
service before reporting the research methods employed and our case study findings.
In our case study, we consider the following questions: “How have union-management
relations and IR climate been affected by management reforms?”, and “To the extent
that there is deterioration in IR climate, has this had an effect on union leadership style
and also on union commitment and participation amongst ordinary members?”
Trade union renewal and IR climate
There is a growing international debate on union renewal (Bacharach et al., 2001).
However, the term “union renewal” has been used to describe quite different
phenomena. Thus, Kessler and Heron (2001) see it being used to refer to the general
wellbeing of unions and also to the development of a particular form of union
democracy. While Corby and Blundell (1997) discuss union renewal largely in terms of
membership levels and meeting participation, others use the term in a more ambitious
way. Pocock (2000, p. 2), for example suggests that “real union renewal relies on a
fundamental transformation of a union’s institutional practices”.
The union renewal thesis in the UK is closely associated with the work of
Fairbrother (2000). In these accounts, the emphasis is on the way unions re-organise,
re-establish and re-compose themselves in order to meet the current problems of work
and employment, at the same time reasserting their relevance and legitimacy in wider
society. Renewal is seen has being driven from the bottom-up, and as placing a
premium on active and independent workplace unionism. The focus is on union
members’ activism and self-organisation in counterbalancing the management
offensive in a period of economic restructuring.
The literature derives a set of pre-requisites for successful union renewal, thus
bringing into focus the conditions required for workplace trade unionism to regain a
significant influence in the workplace. These include shop steward turnover, active
membership participation, an emphasis on participative union democracy, active
communications, membership education, and overcoming sectionalism (Danford et al.,
2002; Fairbrother, 2000). However, Gall’s (1998) critique of the union renewal thesis
suggests that it is underdeveloped. There is a danger of equating renewal with
effective trade unionism per se, without first adequately identifying the goals of
Industrial
relations climate
27
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