IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v42y2021i4p960-982.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public sector employment relations after the crisis: A comparative case study analysis of UK local authorities

Author

Listed:
  • Mathew Johnson

    (University of Manchester, UK)

  • Jill Rubery

    (University of Manchester, UK)

  • Damian Grimshaw

    (International Labour Organisation, Switzerland)

Abstract

Through a comparative case study analysis of the restructuring practices of six large UK local authorities, this article finds that although macro-level fiscal pressures are a trigger for cutbacks clear differences can be found between local level restructuring ‘bundles’. These differences are explained by the local power dynamics between politicians, trade unions and management. A radical marketisation approach of outsourcing and hostility towards the trade unions at one Conservative-controlled council is contrasted to a political partnership approach at two Labour councils which delivered a living wage and minimised job losses and outsourcing. Two ‘hybrid’ models of incremental marketisation and pragmatic partnership saw the remaining councils trying to balance cost minimisation and stable employment relations by making more incremental changes. However, the cumulative effect of repeated cutbacks could yet prove to be transformative for the public sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathew Johnson & Jill Rubery & Damian Grimshaw, 2021. "Public sector employment relations after the crisis: A comparative case study analysis of UK local authorities," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 42(4), pages 960-982, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:42:y:2021:i:4:p:960-982
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X18823699
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X18823699
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0143831X18823699?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:42:y:2021:i:4:p:960-982. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ekhist.uu.se/english.htm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.