Role of State in British Industrial Relations

This essay analyzes the changing roles of the state in British industrial relations from 1979 and its impact on the industry. It discusses the government's focus on reducing trade union power and the resulting conflicts and protests. The essay also examines the modifications and improvements made to the regulations in the post-1997 period.

Running head: ROLE OF STATE IN BRITISH INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
ROLE OF STATE IN BRITISH INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ROLE OF STATE IN BRITISH INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
The essay is concerned with the effective analysis and evaluation of the changing roles of
the state concerning British industrial relations from 1979. Industrial or employment relations are
referred to as the various interrelations that exist between the employers, employees, unions,
organizations of employers and also the government. Industrial relationship has close connection
with human resource management. However, it is concerned more with the relationships of the
labour workforce with the other stakeholders that are concerned with the management. In the
year 1979 the Conservative Party came to the power in Britain. The party focused on reducing
the power of trade unions. In view of the same around eight major legislations were passed.
Some important things like membership of unions, right to strike and union ballots were greatly
restricted. The study focuses on finding the changing roles of the government from this year and
how it impacted the industry relations throughout the time. Understanding the importance of the
role of the state towards determining industrial relations is the focus of the essay. Moreover,
developing deeper understanding of the impact of government rules and regulations on industrial
relations is an important factor that guides the study. The discussion is focused on effective
evaluation of the most important aspects related to industrial relations.
The contemporary industrial relations have been shaped by the economic, industrial and
political conflicts that have marked the 1980s in Britain. These conflicts existed at the same time
as similar conflicts that were taking place across the world at the same time. Conflicts mainly
arose as the then Conservative government had tried to greatly limit the operations of the trade
unions. Moreover, trade unions’ to engagement in collective conflicts were also strongly resisted
by the government at the time. This led to events throughout the 1980s that greatly impacted the
formation of industry relations that is present today. As a result of the conservative legislations

2ROLE OF STATE IN BRITISH INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
of 1979 trade unions across Britain were much agitated. The laws not only limited the power of
the trade unions but also gave more power to the management of the organizations.
Some of the most important issues that came up with the new legislations of this time
were related to the legal liability of the trade unions, withdrawal of the wage councils and right
to dismiss of the employers. The legal immunity of the trade unions was withdrawn. Meaning,
the trade unions became more prone to being profiled illegally by the authorities. The dismissal
of the wage council meant that the employees had much lesser power in determining the wages
that were to be fixed. Additionally, the organizational managements were given the rights to
dismiss their striking workers. This meant that workers had much lesser ability to go on strikes in
protest for any inconvenience that were caused to them. Another important limitation that was
created for the employees was the reduction of legal rights of individuals. In order to challenge
or claim for unfair dismissal of service the employees needed to qualify with two years of
minimum service. Without working for a minimum duration of two years, employees were
unable to claim for their unfair dismissal. Along with these changes the welfare benefits also
received cuts. The same coincided with rising unemployment in the country and the privatization
of companies and utilities that were state owned.
These government decisions made way for protests and conflicts that took place
throughout the 1980s. In 1980, there were many major disputes in the industrial sector of Britain.
Moving forward there were the messenger dispute of 1982, the Miners’ strike from 1984-1985,
the P&O shipping worker’s strike in 1988-1989 and the strikes at the docks in 1995 (Grimshaw
2015). It is important to understand that unemployment also increased at the same time along
with the fall in Union density. Trade Union Congress density felt from more than 13.5 million
members in 1980 to just over 10 million people in 1984. In 2000, the membership further

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declined to only around 7.4 million members. The recovery of employment did occur however,
there was growth witnessed only in the light manufacturing and service sectors, which had
poorly organized trade unions.
Analysis of the causes and effects of the government roles in the 1980s points to the fact
that an attempt was made to lower the role of the trade unions in the context of industrial
relationships. There was a definite attempt by the government to give more power to the
employers while reducing the power of the employees. This was done to facilitate the smooth
flow of businesses and reduce the instances of trade union strikes that could be harmful for
productivity and profitability. Hence, it became imperative that protest against the regulations
came from the part of the employees and trade unions. This period created the foundation for the
employee rights movements and campaigns that would continue into the 21st century. The
limitations that were provided to the employees actually provided a basis on which the laws
would be amended in view of the public unrests. From 1997 onwards the role of the government
experienced some smaller but important changes.
After 1997, some of the legislations of the conservative government were repealed.
However, some of the initial constraints still remained. This included the secondary and
unofficial action, closed shops and the internal affairs and ballot conduction of the unions. In
1999, the employment relations act was brought forward by the government. According to this,
the unions were given the right to participate in collective bargaining only if the bargaining
group was over 50% of the bargaining group of the workplace. The individual rights were
strengthened. This was done through the introduction of minimum wage, maximum working
weeks, right to union at hearings of grievance and disciplinary. Additionally, the unfair dismissal
period of qualification was reduced from 2 to 1 year.

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It can be said that the government regulations after 1997 were to actually change some of
the more unpopular regulations of 1979. It was mainly focused toward improving the power of
the employees to some extent. However, it can be seen that many of the previous issues did
remain. Hence, it can only be regarded as a partial solution to the larger problems of industrial
relations that arose due to the conservative government decisions of 1979 that remain till the
mid-1990s. Some important developments were the restoration of some of the bargaining power
of the employees. The individual employment qualification period for challenging unfair
dismissal was reduced to 1 year, which was also a significant development. However, not
changing the ballot, internal affairs and secondary and unofficial actions meant that the powers
of the unions were still very much resisted. The regulations only focused on giving a somewhat
better opportunity for collective bargaining and improving the power of the individual employee.
The minimum wage, maximum working week and rights to unionism were significant
developments. In a way this strengthened the foundation for better employee relations in the
industrial sector of the country (Morozov et al. 2017).
In 1997, the Labour government that was in power and took a pluralism inclined
approach. The role of the legislation was made more comprehensive. This was quite opposed to
relying on collective bargaining for setting the standards of employment. The employment
relationship changed into the 21st century in Britain. However, some of the collective bargaining
powers of the trade union were reinstated which improved the scope and sphere for the same. In
2010, the coalition government was formed with the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
This resulted in further changes to the regulations of employee relations. Cuts were made to the
Public Sector employment and provisions of pensions. In 2015, the conservative government was
elected. They placed restrictions on the unions again in their trade union act of 2016. In 2017,

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however, the Conservatives had a loss of their overall majority resulting in no further major
changes brought concerning employment legislation.
According to the current employment relations in Britain there are some important
regulations. The Trade Union Act of 2016 is the currently implemented regulation in terms of
industrial relations (Simpson 2018). A strike will only be termed legitimate if at least 50% of the
voters agree on a vote for the same. If the services are within the ‘essential services category’ at
least 40% of the members are to vote in favour of actions for it to be legitimate. There is a 14 day
notice period that should be provided by the unions before industrial actions. More details need
to be provided by the unions of any trade dispute for industrial action. A picket supervisor need
to be appointed for the picket lines.
The above mentioned regulations that are currently present actually provide much greater
scope for the trade unions to operate. However, at the same time it can be seen that Trade
Unionism is being greatly regulated. The current policies also focus on the greater accountability
of the trade unions to the government and the people. This is very much different in comparison
with the previously existing regulations that greatly regulated the functional abilities of the trade
unions. It can definitely be said that the presently existing employee relations regulations are
actually the modifications and changes that were brought forward through the regulation of 1979.
In both the cases the focus has been towards limiting the scope of operations of the trade unions
in Britain. The power of Trade Unions can be said to have been considered as detrimental to the
establishment of good employee relations. However, the 1990s saw the changes being made in
industrial relations regulations that focused on giving more power to the individual employee.
The post 1997 regulations were modifications and improvements on the existing laws that were
brought forward in 1979. The current regulations that were formed were further modifications on

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the same. It can be said that the 1980s were important because the changes that were brought
forward later were due to the protests and conflicts that took place in the decade and continued in
to the 1990s. Here, it can be said that the individual conflicts gradually gave rise to the conflict at
work. The industrial conflicts of the time actually made the government rethink about the
employment prospects of the individual employees.
The regulations of 1979 were centred on the theory of Unitarianism. In this theory the
employees are expected to share only the objectives of the employer as the principle objective.
Moreover, workplace conflicts are seen to be irrational and harmful for productivity and
profitability. Most importantly, in this theory, the Trade Unions are seen to be harmful and
threatening in regards to the relationship between the employer and the employee. At the same
time managers are considered to have a right to manage. In view of the same the government
focused on increasing the power of the management of the organization and limited the power of
the trade unions at the same time. Conflict of interest was created as a result of which, the
various conflicts came into being. Critiques have opined that in Unitarianism, there is no
acknowledgement of the fact that workers can have legitimate interests that are different from the
interests of the management. Hence, this is the type of employee relations that is only strongly
focused towards profitability. Liberal collectivism had existed from 1945 to 1979 in British
Industrial Relations. This included the liberal perspectives of limiting the role of the state and
develops a welfare approach to industrial relationship. It also had the perspective of the
collectivist agenda focusing on the right of the employees under the trade unions. The conflicts
arising in the 1980s actually ended in a more pluralistic stance being taken by the government.
The pluralism theory is based on the systems theory of Dunlop. In accordance with the same,
there are 3 essential participants in an employment relations context. These are the workers and

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representatives, management and specialist state institutions. Thus, a more harmonious stance is
taken by involving all the major stakeholders in employee relations. The focus is on improving
the prospects of the employees through the effective integration of all the major stakeholders in
the process. This can also be seen in the present regulations in in regards to employee relations in
Britain. In all, it can be said that since 1979 the British industrial relations have been moving
from a more liberal collective mind-set to a government controlled employee relations that
focuses on reducing conflicts. The currently present laws and regulations can only be said to be a
dilution of the regulations that came into being in the 1979. Hence, it can be said that the
regulations that are currently present came into being due to the dissatisfaction and conflict of
the working class that were evident throughout the 1980s. This resulted in a number of strikes
that unfortunately coincided with the loss of memberships of the larger Trade Union Congress. It
can be said that the British trade union grew in power in the 1960s and the 70s (Simpson 2018).
However, after the implementation of the 1979 conservative regulations, the Union was unable
to keep up its membership despite being present in many of the strikes and industrial conflicts
that arose in this period. It can be seen that from a liberal collectivist view, the industrial
relations in Britain became at first a very much Utilitarian and then a pluralist form of industrial
relations. However, it is important to note that the unrest that took place in the 1980 played a
crucial part in shaping the new regulations that were passed post 1997 and was further modified
recently (Dansereau 2018). The transition from a Unitarian based industrial relation fostered by
the regulations of the government to a more pluralistic approach taken by the government
recently points towards the fact that the labour forces had been successful in having some of their
needs addressed. It is important that this is considered essentially in the future regulations that

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are passed. The unrest of the 1980s was able to modify the industrial relations and the role of the
government to a great extent.
The implications derived from the study point to the fact that the role of the British
administration in determining the industrial relations had been shaped by various issues post the
1979 conservative regulation. The regulations met with significant protest that went on for more
than one and a half decade after which the 1997 regulations were passed by the labour
government incorporating the important changes. The contemporary laws were passed that
provided much more emphasis on providing limited powers to the trade unions. Hence, it is
important to note that that post 1979, the events and the conflicts actually created a better
environment for the government and the employees to come into terms with each other. This
ultimately helped to form the more pluralistic developmental relationship between the
government, the management and the workers.

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