BARGAINING STRUCTURE AND THE PERSONNEL/INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS MANAGEMENT FUNCTION IN BRITISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT
P. B. BEAUMONT AND M. INGHAM
DOI: 10.2190/UJ2M-DBQX-VPT1-YXGB
Abstract
The local government sector has long been one of the most highly unionized parts of the workforce in Britain, although a centralized personnel/industrial relations management function was not established there until the 1970's. This late development is attributed to the strength of multi-employer, industry-level, wage bargaining arrangements in that sector of employment. An analysis of survey data reveals that central personnel/industrial relations management departments are most likely to exist in authorities with considerable localized industrial relations activity, as reflected in the number of shop stewards and the number of bonus schemes. Larger-sized authorities and those with a relatively high proportion of Labor party councilors are also more likely to have such departments.
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