The issue of trade union democracy has been the subject of considerable controversy in recent years. The government has pursued a policy designed in part to 'give unions back to their members' and the decline in the numbers of employees joining unions raises the question of whether trade unionism is losing its relevance. This book presents research papers which deal with these issues and reveals how the unions are adopting to legislative and other changes as they enter the 1990s.

Published in collaboration with BUIRA, this book provides a critical review of the field of industrial relations (IR) and evaluates its future in the rapidly evolving world of work. Written by key names in IR, the book captures the significant transformations that have taken place within the field over the past decade. It traces the historical development of IR, exploring its ongoing impact on our lives. The chapters delve into various aspects, including union organization and mobilization, the influence of new technology, and the examination of intersectionality in the context of work and employment. This is an invaluable resource for academics and students of employment and industrial relations, as well as HR professionals, trade union organizations and representatives.

Published in collaboration with BUIRA, this book provides a critical review of the field of industrial relations (IR) and evaluates its future in the rapidly evolving world of work. Written by key names in IR, the book captures the significant transformations that have taken place within the field over the past decade. It traces the historical development of IR, exploring its ongoing impact on our lives. The chapters delve into various aspects, including union organization and mobilization, the influence of new technology, and the examination of intersectionality in the context of work and employment. This is an invaluable resource for academics and students of employment and industrial relations, as well as HR professionals, trade union organizations and representatives.

For the past two decades employment in Britain has been marked by a search for greater flexibility in the availability and use of labour. In recent years, however, there has been mounting concern at the costs of this trend and an appreciation that the consequence of a flexible labour market may be an insecure workforce, vulnerable to exploitation. It is also widely claimed that rising worker insecurity imposes costs on the wider economy and society through lower rates of skill formation, reduced consumer confidence and family instability. This collection of essays uniquely brings together writers from the fields of human resource management, industrial relations, social policy, sociology, economics and politics to explore the validity of these claims. Specific issues considered in the book include: * labour markets and the growth of insecure work * trade unions and the representation of insecure workers * job insecurity and personal well-being * insecurity and political behaviour. This original analysis through the outstanding essays, leads to the book's key message: that re-building security at work should be a major concern of policy makers.

An in-depth look at concerns that a more flexible labour market may lead to an increasingly insecure workforce. This book brings together writers in Human Resource Management, industrial relations, social policy, sociology, economics and politics to condider the costs to the wider economy and the possible emergence of significant social problems. Issues considered include:
*Trade Unions
*Job insecurity and personnel well-being
*Insecurity and consumption patterns.

The authoritative source of precise and easy to understand definitions of words, terms, and phrases that are used in the fields of Human Resource Management, Personnel, and Industrial Relations, this new edition of the Dictionary of Human Resource Management has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect changes in vocabulary and usage.
All the previous editions' entries have been reviewed, around 300 new entries have been added, and the existing entries thoroughly edited to reflect changes in the usage of terms, changes in institutions and official bodies, and keeps pace with the evolving HRM vocabulary. With over 1,400 entries, this new edition of the Dictionary features:
* The latest terms and management buzzwords
* Key theoretical terms and concepts from academics and consultants
* Technical terms used by practising personnel/HR managers and trade unionists
* Major policies, practices, and institutions
* Jargon from the present and the past
* Legal terms
* Thematic categorization of the main concepts
* Cross-referencing of entries
The second edition of the Dictionary of Human Resource Management is a vital companion for students and practitioners in HRM, Personnel, and Industrial Relations.

The issue of trade union democracy has been the subject of considerable controversy in recent years. The government has pursued a policy designed in part to 'give unions back to their members' and the decline in the numbers of employees joining unions raises the question of whether trade unionism is losing its relevance. This book presents research papers which deal with these issues and reveals how the unions are adopting to legislative and other changes as they enter the 1990s.

This book presents a broad-ranging survey of contemporary writing about work and employment. It identifies three broad traditions of research and commentary on work - the unitary perspective, the pluralist perspective and the critical perspective - and describes the contemporary output of these traditions; i.e. it surveys current research and argument found within these traditions. The book also surveys debate between these traditions, and the second part of the book presents a detailed account of debate over four current issues. These issues are employee participation, customer culture, equality and diversity and the impact of the global financial crisis. The source material for the book comes from the UK, USA and other countries and the arguments contained within it have international relevance. The book provides an overview of recent work on the employment relationship and the debate and controversy that can be seen in this area of study. Framing Work will be of interest to academics researching and writing about employment and to advanced students in Industrial Relations, Human Resource Management, Organization Studies, and Sociology.

This book is a study of the relationship between full-time union officials and shop stewards across the whole of British industry (public and private, manufacturing and services) in 1986-91. It is the first major study of union officials for 20 years, and one of the most detailed studies of workplace collective bargaining and union organisation following the recession of the early 1980s. In the wake of recession, union decline, industrial restructuring, anti-union legislation, and changes in union policies (towards a new realism), Britain is said by some commentators to be entering a new era of industrial relations. This book provides a unique body of evidence that throws new light on this claim, and casts serious doubt on its validity. It combines survey, interview, questionnaire and observation data and thus overcomes the well known limitations of both large-scale surveys and individual case studies.

The book examines the nature of the Real Living Wage as a body of civil regulation, the organizations behind the campaign and the methods they have used, the response of employers, including the motives and characteristics of businesses that have adopted the Living Wage. It also examines the responses of trade unions, which have included both cooperation and conflict, the role of public authorities, which have used a variety of non-statutory policy levers to encourage employers to adopt the Living Wage, and the outcomes of the campaign in terms of redistributive benefits for employees, economic benefits for adopting businesses, and wider social and institutional impacts. The book concludes by considering what the campaign tells us about the evolution of the employment system in the UK, noting that civil regulation and the institutions which create it have become important new system-elements.

This book is a study of the relationship between full-time union officials and shop stewards across the whole of British industry (public and private, manufacturing and services) in 1986-91. It is the first major study of union officials for 20 years, and one of the most detailed studies of workplace collective bargaining and union organisation following the recession of the early 1980s. In the wake of recession, union decline, industrial restructuring, anti-union legislation, and changes in union policies (towards a new realism), Britain is said by some commentators to be entering a new era of industrial relations. This book provides a unique body of evidence that throws new light on this claim, and casts serious doubt on its validity. It combines survey, interview, questionnaire and observation data and thus overcomes the well known limitations of both large-scale surveys and individual case studies.

The authoritative source of precise and easy to understand definitions of words, terms, and phrases that are used in the fields of Human Resource Management, Personnel, and Industrial Relations, this new edition of the Dictionary of Human Resource Management has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect changes in vocabulary and usage.
All the previous editions' entries have been reviewed, around 300 new entries have been added, and the existing entries thoroughly edited to reflect changes in the usage of terms, changes in institutions and official bodies, and keeps pace with the evolving HRM vocabulary. With over 1,400 entries, this new edition of the Dictionary features:
* The latest terms and management buzzwords
* Key theoretical terms and concepts from academics and consultants
* Technical terms used by practising personnel/HR managers and trade unionists
* Major policies, practices, and institutions
* Jargon from the present and the past
* Legal terms
* Thematic categorization of the main concepts
* Cross-referencing of entries
The second edition of the Dictionary of Human Resource Management is a vital companion for students and practitioners in HRM, Personnel, and Industrial Relations.

In Union Voices, the result of a thirteen-year research project, three industrial relations scholars evaluate how labor unions fared in the political and institutional context created by Great Britain's New Labour government, which was in power from 1997 to 2010. Drawing on extensive empirical evidence, Melanie Simms, Jane Holgate, and Edmund Heery present a multilevel analysis of what organizing means in the UK, how it emerged, and what its impact has been.

Although the supportive legislation of the New Labour government led to considerable optimism in the late 1990s about the prospects for renewal, Simms, Holgate, and Heery argue that despite considerable evidence of investment, new practices, and innovation, UK unions have largely failed to see any significant change in their membership and influence. The authors argue that this is because of the wider context within which organizing activity takes place and also reflects the fundamental tensions within these initiatives. Even without evidence of any significant growth in labor influence across UK society more broadly, organizing campaigns have given many of the participants an opportunity to grow and flourish. The book presents their experiences and uses them to show how their personal commitment to organizing and trade unionism can sometimes be undermined by the tensions and tactics used during campaigns.

In Union Voices, the result of a thirteen-year research project, three industrial relations scholars evaluate how labor unions fared in the political and institutional context created by Great Britain's New Labour government, which was in power from 1997 to 2010. Drawing on extensive empirical evidence, Melanie Simms, Jane Holgate, and Edmund Heery present a multilevel analysis of what organizing means in the UK, how it emerged, and what its impact has been.

Although the supportive legislation of the New Labour government led to considerable optimism in the late 1990s about the prospects for renewal, Simms, Holgate, and Heery argue that despite considerable evidence of investment, new practices, and innovation, UK unions have largely failed to see any significant change in their membership and influence. The authors argue that this is because of the wider context within which organizing activity takes place and also reflects the fundamental tensions within these initiatives. Even without evidence of any significant growth in labor influence across UK society more broadly, organizing campaigns have given many of the participants an opportunity to grow and flourish. The book presents their experiences and uses them to show how their personal commitment to organizing and trade unionism can sometimes be undermined by the tensions and tactics used during campaigns.

This handbook is an indispensable teaching, research and reference guide for anyone interested in issues of labour and employment. The editors have assembled a top-flight group of authors and the end-product is an encompassing state-of-the-art review of the industrial relations field' - Professor Bruce E Kaufman, AYSPS, Georgia State University 'This Handbook will quickly become the standard reference in industrial relations research. It provides the most comprehensive and challenging presentation of the key theoretical debates and topics of research that will shape our field well into the 21st century. All who wish to contribute to this field will need to read this volume and then build on what these authors have to say' - Professor Thomas A. Kochan, MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research 'This authoritative panorama of the field demonstrates the contemporary vitality, breadth and critical depth of industrial relations scholarship and research. Thirty-four stimulating essays, by an international blend of leading academics, expertly review the analytical and empirical state of play across all aspects of industrial relations enquiry. In doing so, a rich agenda for further scholarly endeavour emerges' - Paul Marginson, University of Warwick Over the last two decades, a number of factors have converged to produce a major rethink about the field of Industrial Relations. Globalization, the decline of trade unions, the spread of high performance work systems and the emergence of a more feminized, flexible work-force have opened new avenues of inquiry. The SAGE Handbook of Industrial Relations charts these changes and analyzes them. It provides a systematic, comprehensive survey of the field. The book is organized into four interrelated sections: " Theorizing Industrial Relations " The changing institutions that shape employment practice " The processes used by governments, employers and unions " Income inequality, employee wellbeing, business performance and national comparative advantages The result is a work of unprecedented scope and unparalleled ambition. It offers a compete guide to the central debates, new developments and emerging themes in the field. It will quickly be recognized as the indispensable reference for Teachers, Students and Researchers. It is relevant to economists, lawyers, sociologists, business and management researchers and Industrial Relations specialists.