
The Representation Gap
Change and Reform in the British and American Workplace
Brian Towers(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 6. November 1997
Book
Hardback
312 pages
978-0-19-828946-3 (ISBN)
Description
For up to twenty years after the Second World War both in Britain and the US boasted `mature' industrial relations systems supported by their governments and, allowing for some differences in degree, by most employers. Since the early 1980s, these systems have been critically weakened. This comparative industrial relations text explains this development primarily through the withdrawal of public policy support and, mainly in Britain's case, its replacement by government hostility.
An important consequence of this is the erosion of the effective defence and representation of employee interests as the managerial prerogative has been allowed, even encouraged, to extend its authority in the workplace. The `representation gap' has grown so that six out of seven US employees, and two out of three British, are not represented at work, at the same time as there has been increasing discussion of `team' working etc. This could be a serious negative development for economic performance.
A growing body of research is indicating that employers who bargain with trade unions, or enter into partnerships with them, are likely to be more productive than their non-union competitors. More importantly, the size of the representation gap presents a clear denial of the democratic rights of citizens, in their role as employees, with potentially serious implications for social stability both within and beyond the workplace.
An important consequence of this is the erosion of the effective defence and representation of employee interests as the managerial prerogative has been allowed, even encouraged, to extend its authority in the workplace. The `representation gap' has grown so that six out of seven US employees, and two out of three British, are not represented at work, at the same time as there has been increasing discussion of `team' working etc. This could be a serious negative development for economic performance.
A growing body of research is indicating that employers who bargain with trade unions, or enter into partnerships with them, are likely to be more productive than their non-union competitors. More importantly, the size of the representation gap presents a clear denial of the democratic rights of citizens, in their role as employees, with potentially serious implications for social stability both within and beyond the workplace.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
tables
Dimensions
Height: 243 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
641 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-828946-3 (9780198289463)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Author
Professor of Industrial Relations, Department of Human Resource ManagementProfessor of Industrial Relations, Department of Human Resource Management, University of Strathclyde
Content
Introduction: Two Systems in Crisis ; 1. Economic and Employment Contexts ; 2. Politics, Public Policy, and the Law ; 3. Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining in Decline ; 4. Is Decline Inevitable? ; 5. Democracy and Efficiency in the Workplace ; 6. Change and Reform in the British Workplace ; 7. Change and Reform in the American Workplace ; 8. Bridging the Representation Gap ; Conclusions: The Prospects ; Appendix 1. British Governments Since 1945 ; Appendix 2. American Governments Since 1945 ; Bibliography