Public Sector Industrial Relations

Abstract

Abstract In recent years organizational change in the public sector has been unprecedented in its scope and speed of introduction. It has not only focused on alternative methods of service delivery, but has put industrial relations firmly in the spotlight, both as a necessary partner in service reforms, and as a focus for reform in its own right. The changes have all affected the way in which the employment relationship in the public sector is managed, both at the collective and individual levels. How this relationship has been affected, and with what actual and potential consequences provide the two main themes of this chapter. What has been the rationale for the changes which have occurred over the last decade or so, and do they reflect a substantial shift in what is considered important in the employment relationship by public sector managers, unions, and employees? In seeking to answer these questions, we concentrate on the most important developments of the 1980s and 1990s, analysing different aspects of the management of industrial relations. Section 3 focuses on the collective, formal organization of industrial relations, with particular reference to pay determination mechanisms. In Section 4, a partial assessment of these arrangements is given by looking at two key industrial relations outcomes, pay and strikes. We then look at some of the main tools used in the management of human resources, such as pay and grading structures (Section 5), to understand what is happening to the employment relationship at the individual level. Throughout, it should be borne in mind that where changes are noted, they should not be viewed as departures from some neat model of the ‘old’ public sector employment relationship.