Working with Unions: The new skills required for productive employee relations

Union deregulation in the 1980s meant that for all but a few large employers, trade unions became virtually irrelevant. Consequently, few of today's managers have any experience of dealing with unions. But things are set to change. The Employment Relations Act 1999 contains new legislation on union recognition, dismissal for taking part in industrial action and discrimination for union involvement. As a result, unions will have a stronger role in many organisations. Employers and managers will need to acquire a new skill set to deal with an increasingly unionised workforce. Practical, comprehensive and up-to-date, this briefing provides you with the background, knowledge and skills required to handle union relations smoothly and productively. Contents include: Rights of union officials and members Trade union recognition Partnership or confrontation? Training managers to work with unions Collective bargaining The negotiation and consultation process The role of unions in specific cases

About the Author :
Barry Cushway is an independent human resources consultant and Personnel Adviser to the Institute of Directors. He has over 10 years’ consultancy experience, including 3 years with Price Waterhouse and 6 years with Hay and MSL. He has worked for over 100 publics and private sector organisation reviews, introduction of reward systems, performance management and reviews of personnel policies and procedures. Before entering consultancy he had almost 20’years experience in all aspects of human resource management, including training and development, recruitment and selection and employee relations. He held senior personnel posts in a Times Top 100 company, set up and managed the organisation’s first training function covering some 12,000 employees and was at the same time the personnel Manager to 1,000 Headquarters staff. His work during this period included a substantial amount of consultation and negotiation with trade unions, particularly in relation to the introduction of productivity schemes, new organisation structures and changes to terms and conditions of employment. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, a Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development and has an MA in Management studies. He is a specialist in employment law and is Executive Editor of Essential Facts – Employment, a market-leading employment handbook. He is also the author of a number of other publications on the subject of employment law.