Centre for Employment Studies Research (CESR)

Trade unions, employee representation and voice

In the 1980s, debates on the 'new' industrial relations in Britain centred on the extent to which employers were developing employee involvement practices as an alternative to union recognition and collective bargaining. During the 1980s the merits of 'partnership at work', in terms of industry competitiveness and social justice, were promoted, but the process of achieving this remained controversial. The requirement for research in the area became more urgent in the new millennium, as the UK was obliged to ratify the European Directive on the Information and Consultation of Employees.

CESR used a multiple case study approach to explore the dynamics of workplace partnership in research funded by the ESRC's Future of Work Programme, and is currently involved in collaborative projects (with researchers at Warwick in a DTI funded study and with colleagues at Strathclyde) on the impact of the ICE Regulations.

The majority of UK workers are not unionised. In the private sector, which employs 80 per cent of the workforce, union membership density is below 17 per cent. The UK has placed its main employment policy emphasis on individual employment rights, including ratification of European Directives and introduction of the national minimum wage. Very little is known about how workers use such rights and deal with problems at work, however, and the problem of 'voice' for the unorganised has become more pressing with growing attention to 'vulnerable' workers by government, trade unions and the voluntary sector. CESR is breaking ground in addressing the 'unorganised' and the 'vulnerable' along diverse research themes.

In the ESRC Project: ‘The Unorganised Worker: Routes to Support, Views on Representation’, Feb 2003 – Oct 2006, Anna Pollert conducted the Unrepresented Worker Survey, which provides evidence on the demographic and workplace characteristics of 500 non-unionised, lower paid workers who have had problems at work, how they attempt to resolve such difficulties, what the outcomes are and what their views are on representation at work. This survey is complemented by a qualitative study of 50 lower paid, non-unionised workers with a problem at work who contacted a Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) for support and advice. See Working Papers and Anna Pollert.

In 2007, the TUC set up the Commission on Vulnerable Employment (CoVE) to look into the issues surrounding vulnerable employment. In 2007, CESR members Anna Pollert, Andy Danford, Stephanie Tailby, Nick Wilton and Stella Warren conducted a six months project for CoVE, ‘A Survey of Employment Rights Professionals from Citizens Advice Bureaux and Law Centres’. This was a survey of the advice-provision experience of 56 CAB and 32 Law Centre advisers, augmented by in-depth qualitative interviews with 44 advisers.

The Commission on Vulnerable Employment report “Hard Work, Hidden Lives” was published on 7th May 2008, which contains the findings of the CESR Team, and is available to download from the CoVE website. Link to full report