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Changes in Collective Bargaining in the U.K

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Author Info
Addison, John T. () (University of South Carolina and IZA Bonn)
Siebert, W. Stanley (University of Birmingham, UK)

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Abstract

Perhaps no other country in recent years has witnessed greater change in its collective bargaining framework than the UK. This paper describes the dramatic developments and their consequences. Like Gaul, it is in three parts. The first part charts the six major pieces of legislation - conventionally described as ‘anti-union’ - that were enacted by successive Conservative administrations between 1980 and 1993, and links them to the subsequent decline in unionism and to improvements in firm performance and that of the macro economy. The second part examines the accession of ‘New Labour’ and reviews its domestic reform agenda, today largely in place. That agenda comprises two general pieces of employment and employment relations law plus a new national minimum wage. At first (and second) blush these changes do not return Britain to the mid-1970s even if they do imply an increase in union membership and rising costs for business. For evidence of more profound change one has to turn to the third part of our story: the social policy agenda of the European Union. Almost immediately upon taking office, New Labour signed up to the social chapter. This means that a slew of new legislation seeking to regulate the employment relation (mostly decided by qualified majority) is now in immediate prospect. Europe is therefore set to impact the theory and practice of British industrial relations. We provide a brief review of recent and prospective legislation.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 562.

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Length: 58 pages
Date of creation: Aug 2002
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp562

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Related research
Keywords: union legislation; Thatcher; New Labour; EU social policy;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
J58 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Public Policy
J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions
J83 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Workers' Rights
J88 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Public Policy

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    Other versions:
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  7. John T. Addison & W. S. Siebert, 1994. "Recent developments in social policy in the new European Union," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 48(1), pages 5-27, October.
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  22. David Card, 1998. "Falling Union Membership and Rising Wage Inequality: What's the Connection?," NBER Working Papers 6520, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
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