A Revised Role for Trade Unions as Designed by New Labour: The Representation Pyramid and ‘Partnership’
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6478.00229 |
| Author | Tonia Novitz |
| Date | 01 September 2002 |
| Published date | 01 September 2002 |
JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY
VOLUME 29, NUMBER 3, SEPTEMBER 2002
ISSN: 0263-323X, pp. 487–509
A Revised Role for Trade Unions as Designed by New
Labour: The Representation Pyramid and ‘Partnership’
Tonia Novitz*
A key objective of British unions is to develop their representative role so as
to establish their relevance to the workforce and thereby reverse the overall
decline in trade union membership. To many, the legislative reforms
undertaken by New Labour since 1999 offer some hope that this can be
achieved. These reforms seem to provide a pyramid of representation,
whereby trade unions can establish their relevance when they `accompany'
individual employees in grievance and disciplinary proceedings, and when
they act as recipients of information and consultation. By attracting
members in this fashion, there would seem to be the promise that unions can
reascend to the position of recognized and effective parties in collective
bargaining. However, this paper suggests that a barrier to the achievement
of this objective is the particular conception of `partnership'adopted by
New Labour, which deviates from that of the TUC. This
`partnership'is
essentially individualistic in character, procedural in form,
and unitary in
specification. These characteristics are reflected in the relevant statutory
and regulatory provisions and are therefore likely to inhibit the progression
of a trade union to recognition in collective bargaining.
INTRODUCTION: THE PROJECTED ‘PYRAMID’ OF TRADE UNION
REPRESENTATION
Over the last two decades, British trade union membership has declined
substantially. In 1979, 53 per cent of workers were union members. In the year
487
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* Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University
Institute, Via dei Roccettini, 9, I-50016 San Domenico, Florence, Italy; and
Department of Law, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens
Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, England
This research was supported through a European Community Marie Curie Research
Fellowship. A version of this paper was presented at an Industrial Law Society evening
seminar in London on 13 November 2001. Thanks go to those who attended for their
valuable comments both at the meeting and subsequently. Particular thanks go to my
colleague, Paul Skidmore, who provided extensive and valuable comments on a further
draft. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and any errors are her own.
2000, this proportion stood at 27 per cent. It would seem that this fall in
numbers has, at least temporarily, been halted. There are 169,000 more trade
union members today than there were in 1998, even though ‘union density’
(that is, the proportion of workers who are union members) has not altered in
this time.
1
Many are now wondering whether the recent legislative changes
made by New Labour in the field of industrial relations will provide unions
with the opportunity, not just to arrest this trend of membership decline, but to
reverse it.
It would seem that the attractiveness of trade union membership declined
as the ability of unions to represent their members’ interests decreased. This
can be attributed to the change in industrial legislation from 1979 onwards
and the associated difficulties experienced by trade unions when seeking to
represent their members’ interests through collective bargaining.
2
However,
the trend of membership decline has not been uniform, which indicates that
other factors are also relevant. Statistical surveys show that private sector
workers, those in smaller workplaces, and younger workers are less likely to
be trade union members.
3
Another complementary explanation is that the
problem lies in the inability of unions to access and represent workers in
establishments set up after 1980.
4
These establishments are based in the
private sector, tend to be smaller in size than older enterprises, and tend to
employ younger workers. They are the ‘new union-free workplaces’ where,
it has been observed, ‘unions are unable to get even a toe in the door’.
5
One important question is therefore how unions can gain a foothold in
such enterprises and develop their representative credibility. It has been
suggested that the best approach may be incremental. In 1990, Keith Ewing
advocated a ‘step-by step’ procedure which would have three different
elements: ‘the right to represent members in grievance and disciplinary
procedures’; ‘the right to be consulted on a range of issues on behalf of
488
1 DTI, Labour Force Survey: Great Britain, 1989–2000; R. Disney, A. Gosling, S.
Machin, and J. McCrae, The Dynamics of Union Membership in Britain: A Study
Using the Family and Working Lives Survey (1998); S. Machin, ‘Union Decline in
Britain’ (2000) 38 Brit. J. of Industrial Relations 631; A. Sneade, ‘Trade Union
Membership 1999–2000: An Analysis of Data from the Certification Officer and the
Labour Force Survey’ (2001) Labour Market Trends 433.
2 P. Smith and G. Morton, ‘New Labour’s Reform of Britain’s Employment Law: The
Devil is not only in the Detail but in the Values and Policy Too’ (2001) 39 Brit. J. of
Industrial Relations 119, at 120 summarizes the debate on this point. See, also, B.
Simpson, ‘The Changing Face of British Collective Labour Law’ (2001) 21 Ox. J. of
Legal Studies 705, at 706–8.
3 Sneade, op. cit., n. 1. Union density as at 2000, was only 16 per cent in workplaces
with fewer than 25 employees and fewer than a fifth of 20–29 year-olds were union
members. See, also, P. Bland, ‘Trade Union Membership and Recognition 1997–98’
(1999) Labour Market Trends.
4
P.B. Beaumont and R.I.D. Harris, ‘Union Derecognition and Declining Union Density in
Britain’ (1995) 48 Industrial and Labour Relations Rev. 389; and Machin, op. cit., n. 1.
5 Machin, id., at p. 643.
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