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Worker voice in the context of the re-regulation of employment: employer tactics and statutory union recognition in the UK

Author

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  • Robert Perrett

    (University of Bradford, r.perrett@bradford.ac.uk)

Abstract

Since the introduction of the statutory recognition procedure the vast majority of new agreements have been voluntary in nature, yet increasingly employers are using this ambiguous state regulation as a means of avoiding recognition.The legislation allows for the game of voluntarism to be enshrined within the micro level politics and social relationships of work and employment: it crystallizes the culture and history of voluntarism in the regulation itself. It is, in effect, ironic in how it balances change with tradition. It makes the new regulation pliable and difficult to see as a step to a state-led approach.There is a resistant trend to unions generally even if recognition cases may vary in terms of employer orientations.This article focuses on such issues by addressing a broader understanding of regulation through an ethnographic case study analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Perrett, 2007. "Worker voice in the context of the re-regulation of employment: employer tactics and statutory union recognition in the UK," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 21(4), pages 617-634, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:21:y:2007:i:4:p:617-634
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017007082873
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paul Smith & Gary Morton, 2001. "New Labour’s Reform of Britain’s Employment Law: The Devil is not only in the Detail but in the Values and Policy Too," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 39(1), pages 119-138, March.
    2. Brown, W & Hudson, M & Deakin, S & Pratten, C, 2001. "The Limits of Statutory Trade Union Recognition," Working Papers wp199, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    3. Miguel Lucio & Mike Noon & Sarah Jenkins 2, 2000. "The Flexible–Rigid Paradox of Employment Relations at Royal Mail (UK)," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 38(2), pages 277-298, June.
    4. Edmund Heery & Carola Frege, 2006. "New Actors in Industrial Relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 44(4), pages 601-604, December.
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