Publication: Routledge Companion to Employment Relations

The recently published Routledge Companion to Employment Relations may be of interest to our members: 

https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Employment-Relations/Wilkinson-Dundon-Donaghey-Colvin/p/book/9781138911178

30th June 2018

Event: Disclosing versus concealing a mental health problem at work: what do we know and where do we go from here?

Professor Laurent Lapierre Telfer School of Management University of Ottowa, Canada

Wednesday 18th July2018

10:30 – 12:00 (coffee and tea at 10:15)

1.004 Dover St, University of Manchester.

Abstract

Mental health is a growing global concern. For example, 41% of Canadians are at high risk for mental health issues, and recent estimates suggest that 1 in 5 working-age Canadians are adversely affected by a mental health challenge each year. In the UK, the recent results of the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey show that 1 in 6 people over the age of 16 had a common mental health problem in the week prior to being interviewed, and that nearly half of adults think that they have had a diagnosable mental health condition at some point in their life. Mental health problems represent a significant cost to companies stemming from reduced productivity, absences, and turnover (e.g., £35 billion in 2017 in the UK according to the Centre for Mental Health). Despite a notable increase in public attention given to mental health, relatively little is known on how employers, and managers specifically, can best support their employees’ mental health. When struggling with one’s mental health, a highly promising first step toward receiving support at work is to disclose the struggle to one’s manager, who would often be best positioned to provide some type of accommodation. However, many individuals prefer to conceal their challenge, often out of fear of being disadvantaged or treated poorly because of the stigmatization of mental health problems. In this presentation, Prof Lapierre will provide an overview of the limited scholarship addressing employees’ disclosure of a mental health problem. He will also list a series of research questions that he believes should be addressed in order to offer organizations the means of ensuring that their managers create a work climate where their employees feel comfortable revealing their mental health problems, and where such revelation actually leads to positive outcomes.

About the Speaker

Dr Lapierre is the Ian Telfer Professor of Workplace Behaviour and Health. His research focuses mainly on two topics: Occupational health psychology and leadership. His work on the first topic has focused on the intersection of individuals’ work and family lives. He has strived to identify how organizational policies, individuals at work (supervisors and coworkers), employees themselves, and their families can each help them experience less work-family conflict, more work-family enrichment, and overall better health. In his work on leadership, Dr Lapierre has been giving particular attention to relational dynamics between managers (supervisors) and each of their employees (subordinates). More recently, he has focused on the influence that individuals’ acts of followership can have on others’ leadership.

28th June 2018

Vacancies at University College Dublin

Please apply by following the below web link: 

20th June 2018

[ILERA 2018 World Congress] Invitation to the ILERA Council Meeting 

Greetings from ILERA World Congress 2018!

18th June 2018

Event: The Skills and Employment Survey 2017

Productivity, Skills Trends and Fairness at Work in Britain:

First Findings from the Skills and Employment Survey 2017

Date: 1.00pm – 3.30pm, Thursday 19 July 2018
Venue: Church House, Dean’s Yard, Westminster, London SW1P 3NZ

The Skills and Employment Survey 2017 is the seventh in a series of surveys stretching back to the mid-1980s.  The results will be launched on 19 July 2018 at Church House, Westminster, London.

At this event the authors – Alan Felstead, Duncan Gallie, Francis Green and Golo Henseke – will present headline findings of the survey and outline policy implications relating to three themes:

·           Productivity: Almost a decade after the financial crisis productivity growth has failed to recover to its pre-recession level.  This survey gives the workers’ perspective on what drives productivity and what could be done to spark its revival.

·           Skills Trends: Substantial public and private investment in education and training make it essential that effective use is made of the skills produced.  This survey examines the evolution of job skills, the changing nature of the post-graduate labour market and the gendered pattern of job skills over the last two decades.

·           Fairness at Work: Employees’ views about how fairly their organisations treat them and their colleagues is key determinant of job-related well-being.  This survey shows how fairness at work is distributed and examines some of the factors affecting these beliefs.

The event will also mark the launch of the Job Quality Quiz (www.howgoodismyjob.com). 

The event is free, but places are limited and attendance will be by prior registration only.  If you would like to attend please e-mail alice@inanyevent-uk.com by 5 July 2018. (Email address has now been corrected, apologies for any inconvenience caused)

If you require any further information, please contact Alice Johnson-Jelf at the SES2017 Conference Desk on Tel: 01275 266000.

Three more themes – effort, participation and insecurity – will be covered at a second launch to be held on 3 October 2018 at Canada Water Culture Space, 21 Surrey Quays Rd, London SE16 7AR.

12th June 2018

Event: Productivity, Skills Trends and Fairness at Work in Britain: First Findings from the Skills and Employment Survey 2017

Productivity, Skills Trends and Fairness at Work in Britain:

First Findings from the Skills and Employment Survey 2017

Date: 1.00pm – 3.30pm, Thursday 19 July 2018
Venue: Church House, Dean’s Yard, Westminster, London SW1P 3NZ

The Skills and Employment Survey 2017 is the seventh in a series of surveys stretching back to the mid-1980s.  The results will be launched on 19 July 2018 at Church House, Westminster, London.

At this event the authors – Alan Felstead, Duncan Gallie, Francis Green and Golo Henseke – will present headline findings of the survey and outline policy implications relating to three themes:

·           Productivity: Almost a decade after the financial crisis productivity growth has failed to recover to its pre-recession level.  This survey gives the workers’ perspective on what drives productivity and what could be done to spark its revival.

·           Skills Trends: Substantial public and private investment in education and training make it essential that effective use is made of the skills produced.  This survey examines the evolution of job skills, the changing nature of the post-graduate labour market and the gendered pattern of job skills over the last two decades.

·           Fairness at Work: Employees’ views about how fairly their organisations treat them and their colleagues is key determinant of job-related well-being.  This survey shows how fairness at work is distributed and examines some of the factors affecting these beliefs.

The event will also mark the launch of the Job Quality Quiz (www.howgoodismyjob.com). 

The event is free, but places are limited and attendance will be by prior registration only.  If you would like to attend please e-mail alice@inanyevent.com by 5 July 2018.

If you require any further information, please contact Alice Johnson-Jelf at the SES2017 Conference Desk on Tel: 01275 266000.

Three more themes – effort, participation and insecurity – will be covered at a second launch to be held on 3 October 2018 at Canada Water Culture Space, 21 Surrey Quays Rd, London SE16 7AR.

11th June 2018

BUIRA Conference 2018 - Timetable now available

The conference timetable is now availablehttps://www.buira.org/assets/images/conferences/2016/Conference-schedule%20(002).pdf

Please also select your meal choices for the Conference Gala Dinnerhttps://www.eventbrite.com/e/buira-conference-gala-dinner-tickets-46762782742

8th June 2018

Event: Work and Equalities Fourth Fairness at Work Conference 10 – 11 September 2018

Building on the three previous Fairness at Work Conferences at the University of Manchester (in 2012, 2014, and 2016), the 2018 conference aims to bring together academics and practitioners to discuss strategic issues on the subject of justice and fairness at work.

The last two years have seen a major shift in the political environment and an emergence of a politics of national insularity. Yet at the same time major strides have been made in raising awareness and support for living wage campaigns and improving workplace justice. The conference aims to discuss developments in our understandings of the impact of technological changes (e.g. the gig economy), the changing experiences of work amongst groups of vulnerable workers (e.g. younger workers), the impact of an increasingly hostile context on notions of justice and fairness at the workplace (e.g. a greater challenge to minority rights) and the responses and roles of trade unions and other civil society organisations in dealing with such challenges.

Plenary speakers include:
Professor Ralph Darlington, University of Salford
Dr Jo Grady, University of Sheffield
Professor Debra Howcroft, Work and Equalities Institute
Professor Andrew Pendleton, University of Durham
Professor Melanie Simms, University of Glasgow
Professor Vicki Waas, University of Cardiff
Dr Alex Wood, Oxford University

The conference is being held in Manchester at the same time as the 150^th Annual Conference of the UK’s Trade Unions Congress and will organise sessions linked to the TUC conference themes, with invited speakers and activities focused on the future of trade unions and worker regulation and rights.  The TUC was founded in Manchester in 1868 and the WEI Fairness at Work conference will include social and cultural activities linked to the labour history and struggles for equality of the city.

Delegates will also be able to attend the Fairness at Work/Work & Equalities Institute fringe event, "Work and Equalities: Futures and Challenges", on Tueday 11th September as part of the TUC's 150th anniversary conference also held in Manchester during that week.

Venue: The University of Manchester - Cost: £200 Waged, £100 Day rate (£50 unwaged): includes all food and drink plus the conference dinner

Register to attend the conference

Further details  available here: http://mbs.ac.uk/weifairworkconference

7th June 2018

Event: University of Greenwich, Faculty of Business PSIRU/WERU conference

University of Greenwich, Faculty of Business PSIRU/WERU conference  

FUTURE PUBLIC SERVICES

To be held on Wednesday 27^th June 2018 in Lecture theatre QA 280, Queen Anne Building, Business Faculty, University of Greenwich, Park Row, London SE10 9LS.

The proposals in the Labour Party’s 2017 manifesto for public ownership of water, energy and rail proved extremely popular in the general election. Since then there has been a resurgence of debate in the UK around the question of public ownership for the first time in a quarter of a century, involving politicians, investors, academics, unions, and the public, with substantial media coverage.  

The University of Greenwich is organising a conference on 27th June 2018 to contribute to and enhance this debate. The morning session will focus on the case for public ownership in the UK, and on the transition to public ownership, of railway, water, and energy services, and PFI schemes in the NHS, local and central government. This will be followed by contributions on the political economy of public services and public economics, including international speakers.

The afternoon session will examine how public services can be more democratic focusing on the role of public service workers, and how quality of public services can be improved when workers contribute to the design and delivery of the services.  Presentations from academics and international trade unionists will discuss this relationship between workers and public services in relation to health and education, local government, public transport, and waste management.  

9.00-13.00: Why public ownership?

Labour party speaker: public ownership plans

Ian Taylor (Transport for Quality of Life): Public ownership of railways

Dr. Helen Mercer (University of Greenwich): Nationalising SPVs and PFI 

Prof. David Hall (University of Greenwich): Public ownership of water and energy

Prof. Judith Clifton (University of Cantabria): Public enterprise and the future 

Dr. Emanuele Lobina (University of Greenwich): Theorising efficiency and the public sector 

Dr. June Sekera (University College London and Tufts University): Re-thinking public economics

Discussion

Lunch 13.00-14.15

14.15- 17.00: Democratising public services  

Chair: Prof Sian Moore, University of Greenwich

Dr. Jane Lethbridge (PSIRU): Worker-led management of services – towards democratic professionalism in public services

Asbjorn Wahl (Campaign for the Welfare State and NUMGE, Norway): Workers in the welfare state

Public transport:  Alana Dave (ITF): Redesigning and restructuring services

Waste management: Vera Weghmann (PSIRU): Redesigning and restructuring services

Discussion

17.00 Close

For registration, please contact  businessevents@greenwich.ac.uk

For more information please contact: Dr. Jane Lethbridge, Director, PSIRU  j.lethbridge@gre.ac.uk

7th June 2018

Event: Contemporary British Trotskyism: a symposium

Contemporary British Trotskyism: a symposium

Thursday 28 June

2pm - 4.30pm

Venue: Queen Mary University of London, Arts 1 building, Room 1.28

A symposium on British Trotskyism jointly organised by the PSA Labour Movements and Communism Specialist groups for John Kelly’s new book Contemporary Trotskyism: Parties, Sects and Social Movements in Britain (Routledge, 2018)

Speakers

John Kelly (Birkbeck)

Ian Birchall

Phil Burton-Cartledge (Derby)

Madeleine Davis  (Queen Mary)

Kevin Morgan (Manchester)

Mark Wickham-Jones (Bristol)

In a major new study of British Trotskyism, John Kelly looks in detail at the influence, resilience and weaknesses of the British Trotskyist movement, from the 1970s to the present day. This afternoon seminar brings together experts in the history and politics of the labour movement, Communism, New Left and far left to debate the arguments of the book and reflect on the significance of the Trotskyist movement for contemporary British politics. 

FREE: all welcome

Register: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/contemporary-british-trotskyism-a-symposium-tickets-46762541019

5th June 2018

Event: Time’s Up: Proposed Solutions for Equality and Diversity Challenges in 2017

The Diversity Interest Group at the University of Greenwich is showcasing its research on Equality and Diversity in a one day conference.

Date: Monday, 11 of June 2018

 Time: 9:30

Location: Queen Anne Building, Room 063, Park Row, London SE10 9LS

Key note speech from Professor Tracey Reynolds: "Mind(ful) of the gap: intersectionality and the challenges of diversity in higher education"

Plus conference presentations from researchers at the University of Greenwich on the themes of:

• Education
• Careers and Employment
• Justice

Including a practitioner focus from Sarah Crowe

Vice President | Senior Consultant- Diversity and Inclusion– EMEA, Northern Trust.

Followed by a roundtable including Professor Sian Moore and Dr Jason Arday.

To register, please email Business Events with your name and job title to attend.

Professor Tracey Reynolds: Tracey's teaching and research interests focus on transnational families and kinship networks; constructions of motherhood and parenting & youth studies, and she has established international recognition within these fields of expertise. She has conducted extensive empirical research in the UK across a range of social issues including black and minority families living in disadvantaged communities, the study of families and in the Caribbean and North America.

Professor Sian Moore: Director of the Work and Employment Research Unit, University of Greenwich. Sian joined the University of Greenwich as Professor in Employment Relations and Human Resource Management and Director of the Work and Employment Research Unit (WERU) in September 2015. She was previously Professor of Work and Employment Relations and Co-Director of the Centre for Employment Studies Research (CESR) at the University of the West of England.

Dr Jason Arday: a Senior Lecturer in Education at Roehampton University, School of Education, a Visiting Research Fellow at The Ohio State University in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and a Trustee of the Runnymede Trust and Co-Chair of the Runnymede Academic Forum.He has recently completed an edited collection with Professor Heidi Mirza (Goldsmiths, University of London) entitled Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy (Palgrave).

4th June 2018

Event: BUIRA History of Industrial Relations Study Group

Deindustrialisation and Industrial Relations in Scotland: 1960s until Today

Thursday 7 June 2018: 15.30-17.00 (Tea/ coffee from 15.00; drinks at 5pm)

Room C279, University of Westminster Business School, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS (opposite Madame Tussauds and nearly opposite Baker Street tube)

For further details or to reserve a place, please e-mail Michael Gold (m.gold@rhul.ac.uk) or Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk).

Programme:

3.00-3.20pm: Tea/ coffee/ refreshments

3.20pm: Welcome and introductions: Michael Gold and Linda Clarke (Chairs)

3.30-4.00pm: Jim Phillips, Jim Tomlinson and Valerie Wright (presented by Jim Phillips)

Deindustrialisation, Ownership and Industrial Relations, c. 1963-1993: Evidence from Linwood Car Manufacturing and Timex Dundee

Deindustrialisation was a phased and managed process, which structured industrial relations. From the mid-1950s industrial workers and communities in Scotland were persuaded to trade ‘old’ jobs in the staples for ‘new’ jobs in lighter engineering. ‘New’ employers acquired obligations, partly because public money was involved in establishing business premises and associated housing. The cases of Linwood car manufacturing and Timex Dundee show that workers exerted moral economy claims to ownership of these new jobs and factories. Through trade union organisation, embedded in community and familial ties, they challenged managerial sovereignty, particularly at points of transition or crisis.

4.00-4.30pm: Dr Jenny O’Neil and Dr Vaughan Ellis

Unheard Voices of Decline: Scottish Oil Sector

This paper examines how employment in the Scottish oil industry is changing as the industry declines, shedding in excess of 120,000 jobs between 2014 and 2016 as oil prices fell. Yet, the absence of workers’ voice in policy discussions about how best to safeguard the industry and utilise their skills has meant that other stakeholders’ interests have been privileged. Drawing from in depth oral history interviews with off shore oil workers, it is argued that workers are experiencing lower wages, fewer shifts, difficulty accessing re-training and career changes as well as adverse effects on family life and wellbeing.

4.30-5.00pm: General discussion

5.00pm: Close (followed by drinks until 5.30pm)
 

The speakers:

Jim Phillips is a Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow, where he and his c-authors are working on a Leverhulme-funded project, Employment, Politics and Culture in Scotland since 1955. Jim co-edits Scottish Labour History and Historical Studies in Industrial Relations.

Dr Jenny O’Neil is a Lecturer in Labour Relations and Global HRM at Edinburgh Napier University. Her research interests include skills development within turbulent environments, employee voice and Global HRM.

Dr Vaughan Ellis is a Lecturer in Work and Industrial Relations specialising in the contemporary organisation and experience of work, and how changes in an organisations' external environment impact upon the labour process.

1st June 2018

Workshop: What Kind of Green and Just Transition? With Special Reference to the Built Environment

ProBE – Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment

University of Westminster

WHAT KIND OF GREEN AND JUST TRANSITION?

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT 

DATE:       Thursday 12 July 2018, 12 noon-18.00pm          

VENUE:    Room CG28, University of Westminster Marylebone Campus,

35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS (opposite Madame Tussaud and diagonal from Baker Street tube station)

There is much discussion as well as divergent approaches to the question of a just transition to a low carbon economy, revolving

around what is achievable by the market or by ecological modernisation and whether instead a much more radical transformation

is necessary. This workshop addresses this debate and is concerned in particular with the active role of workers and the trade unions

in this transition, including examples from the built environment of successful intervention.

11.30-12.00     REGISTRATION AND COFFEE

12.00-12.05     Welcome: Introduction:                      ProBE/University of Westminster

SESSION 1: WHAT IS A GREEN AND JUST TRANSITION?

12.05-12.25     Just Transition and Beyond Just Transition: Strategies, Tactics, Labour Leadership            Carla Lipsig Mummé            York University, Toronto

12.25–12.45    Enabling city networks for green transitions   Fred Steward  University of Westminster

12.45-13.05     Trade Union Approaches to Just Transition Strategy Sam Mason    Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union

13.05-13.30     Discussion

13.30-14.15     LUNCH BREAK

SESSION 2:  CONSTRUCTING A LOW CARBON BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY PROVISION

14.15-14.35     From constructing carbon-intensive to low carbon energy supply    Colin Gleeson            ProBE/University of Westminster

14.35-14.55     Conflicting ways from Black to Green           Béla Galgóczi  European Trade Union Institute

14.55-15.15     Green jobs and sustainability in the European offshore wind turbine manufacturing industry            Lisa Schulte    Middlesex University

15.15-15.35     Discussion      

15.35-15.55     COFFEE BREAK

SESSION 3: GREEN TRANSITIONS, TRADE UNION ACTIONS AND LOCALITIES

15.55-16.15     Green Transitions in the built environment in Europe Linda Clarke and Melahat Sahin-Dikmen            ProBE/University of Westminster

16.15-16.35     Framing Just Transition          Dimitris Stevis Colorado State University

16.35-17.00     Discussion

PANEL SESSION:  WHERE DO TRADE UNIONS GO FROM HERE?

17.00-18.00     Mercedes Landolfi (Fillea CGIL, Italy); ITUC? tbc, Philip Pearson (GJA);

1800-18.30      Drinks

To reserve a place and for further information, contact, Melahat Sahin-Dikmen M.Sahindikmen@westminster.ac.uk or Linda Clarke: clarkel@westminster.ac.uk

1st June 2018

Event and discussion: History & Policy: Why is Equal Pay for women so difficult to achieve?

31st May 2018

Vacancy - Research Assistant (Institute for Research into Organisations, Work and Employment (IROWE))

Great job opportunity for new Research Assistant to come and join iROWE (Institute for Research into Organisations, Work and Employment), University of Central Lancashire.

iROWE covers diverse research topics from domestic violence to co-working to leadership in healthcare to conflict resolution.  We run events with internal and external stakeholders, and are very keen on engagement with the community – for instance our forthcoming conference on domestic violence in the workplace with the TUC, and speakers from practitioners, expert groups, policy and academia.

Research Assistant (Institute for Research into Organisations, Work and Employment (IROWE))

University of Central Lancashire – Lancashire School of Business and Enterprise.

REQ003665

Hours:  Full time (36.5 hours per week - 1.0 FTE).  Job Share and part time applications also considered.

Basis:  Fixed term contract for 12 months initially

Grade: E (£21585-24285)

Closing Date:  24/06/2018

Applications and all details please search vacancies:  https://www.uclan.ac.uk/work/index.php

 If anyone wants to talk to me about the role they are very welcome to do so Dr Gemma Wibberley,  gwibberley@uclan.ac.uk

30th May 2018

Call for Abstracts: BUIRA 2018 PhD Workshop

The British Universities Industrial Relation Association holds 2018 conference at Middlesex University, London (Hendon campus), Wednesday 27th – Friday 29th June, 2018.

The PhD session is planned to hold on first day of the conference, Wednesday 27th June. The session will have two main features (PhD Workshop paper presentations and panel discussions). Professor Michael Gold, Royal Holloway, University of London, and Dr Danat Valizade, University of Leeds, have been confirmed to be amongst the panel.

29th May 2018

Vacancy: Professor and Director, Centre for Global Business

Job: Professor and Director, Centre for Global Business (Research Only)

Our Centre comprises six research groups:

If you're after a rewarding career, Monash University can help make it happen. With leading academics and world-class resources, combined with a ranking in the top 100 universities worldwide, we offer all you need to build a brighter future.

We are seeking a strong and committed leader and researcher to fulfil the role of Professor and Director of the Centre for Global Business. The Director will maintain and enhance the Centre's profile as a leading national centre of research and provide strategic leadership to the existing team.

The Director is responsible for representing the Centre and its interests, views and needs across external, professional, business and government platforms. You will be responsible for maintaining a strong program of research, capable of attracting high calibre research staff and substantial external funding, publish research outcomes in the highest impact journals and foster postgraduate research training through the supervision of postgraduate students.

The successful applicant will be a researcher of international repute with a vision for the needs and development of global business studies both nationally and internationally. This vision will be supported by superior communication skills and a demonstrated commitment to the promotion of global business as a research area.

To thrive in this appealing role, you will have a relevant postgraduate qualification, an internationally-recognised career in a relevant discipline, a demonstrated record of academic excellence, and extensive experience and expertise in strategic management and leadership, particularly in a multidisciplinary environment.

Your application must address the selection criteria. Please refer to "How to apply for Monash Jobs".

Enquiries

Professor Gary Magee- Deputy Dean (Research), <Gary.Magee@monash.edu> 

or if you wish, for an informal discussion, contact Professor Greg Bamber <greg.bamber@monash.edu>

Position Description

 PD - Professor and Director, Centre for Global Business

Monday 9 July 2018, 11:55 pm AEST

24th May 2018

Event: WERU Seminar - Self-Employed Workers: Who Are They And Can They Be Organised?

THE UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH WORK AND EMPLOYMENT RESEARCH UNIT 
 
SELF-EMPLOYED WORKERS: WHO ARE THEY AND CAN THEY BE ORGANISED? 
 
WEDNESDAY 30^th MAY 2018. 15.00 – 18.00 
 
VENUE: ROOM HH102, HAMILTON HOUSE, PARK VISTA, GREENWICH, SE10 9LZ 
 
Recently there has been a new focus on the role of self-employment in the labour market. In large part this is because of the substantial rise in self-employment since the financial crash of 2007/08 and the rise of 'bogus' self-employment in the new logistics industries (and elsewhere) which has challenged the legal concept of the 'employee' and workers' rights generally. This seminar seeks to shed new light on the different kinds of work undertaken by the self-employed - from window cleaners to accountants, and the wide range of incomes achieved. Our four presentations include recent research on the self-employed by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES); analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) of the national statistics on the self-employed workforce; a speaker from BECTU on the union organisation of self-employed workers in the film and broadcasting industries; and Professor Patricia Leighton on research she has been conducting among self-employed professionals. Our speakers are as follows: 
 
Andrea Broughton (Ecorys) and Matthew Williams (IES) will present the findings of recent IES research on segmentation of the solo self-employed workforce. The research highlights the diverse nature of this workforce, identifying nine distinct segments, ranging from highly independent, secure and well-paid individuals to those with a low degree of control over their working life, working in low-paid and insecure jobs. The research is based on a literature review and analysis of three datasets: the Labour Force Survey, the Family Resources Survey and Understanding Society. Andrea Broughton joined Ecorys as an Associate Director in January 2018, prior to which she was Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies. Andrea has a degree in modern languages (French and German) and an MA in international industrial relations and human resource management. She has over 20 years of experience in conducting research into European comparative employment relations, working for clients such as the European Commission, the European Parliament and Eurofound, Dublin. Andrea’s research interests include social dialogue, management of change and restructuring, precarious work and atypical employment. Matthew Williams re-joined IES in May 2013, having started his career at the Institute in the 1990s. An economist by training, Matthew has considerable experience and expertise in labour market analysis, at a local, regional and national level and for employers and public bodies, and he is a strong quantitative researcher and skilled in using SPSS to analyse administrative and survey datasets. He also has experience in the work areas of disability and higher education research. Prior to re-joining IES Matthew worked for 12 years as a self-employed research consultant, often working in conjunction with IES, and worked on a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research projects.

Mark Chandler (ONS) will discuss the national data available on the self-employed workforce, looking at their characteristics, income and wealth.  Mark Chandler is a Senior Economic Adviser currently leading four teams of economists in the economics hub at the Office for National Statistics. His experience includes defining, measuring and developing measures of service output and productivity, providing the economics component to the annual local government finance settlements and the business rates retention scheme, monitoring and evaluation of local Growth Deals and Devolution Deals, and developing the WebTAG system of economic appraisal for transport investments. Prior to becoming a civil servant, he was an academic teaching and leading research projects in the Baltic States. His Ph.D. in economics, on a public choice model of local government finance, is from the University of Connecticut.
 
Paul Evans (BECTU) will cover the union organisation of the self-employed in the film and broadcasting industries and show how a collective agreement was negotiated for these workers. Paul is an Assistant National Secretary of BECTU, the sector of the Prospect trade union that covers the entertainment industry. He oversees a rapidly growing 11,000-strong division of the union representing London TV, feature film and commercials production and post-production crew – mostly freelancers. He has a previous background as the founder of a Worker Co-op in the tech sector, a period of work in publishing and as a European Parliament researcher. In his spare time, he is the whistle player in a Pogues tribute band and is the author of a book titled ‘Save Democracy – Abolish Voting’, published by The Democratic Society in November 2017.

Professor Patricia Leighton (IPag Business School, France and University of South Wales UK) argues for a more radical, comprehensive and robust re-assessment of the employment law framework applying to workers generally, but the self-employed in particular. While Patricia’s background is as an employment lawyer, she will draw on a lot of empirical data on the experience of self-employed people and the legal and other responses to them in her presentation. She sees employment rights (and, indeed, other rights, e.g. to compete, work as a professional etc, work across borders etc) as important but by no means the only area for exploration and there is a need to set employment rights alongside social protections and a range of other issues. Patricia Leighton is Professor Emeritus at the University of South Wales UK and was previously Jean Monnet Professor of European Law  and a Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges. She is currently Professor of European Law at the IPag Business School  France and a member of their research group. Her research and publishing interests are employment relationships, atypical contracts and self-employment. She has written several books on employment contracts and their management, flexible and emerging work patterns, and on opportunity and wellbeing at work. She has undertaken many research projects for international and national governments and other organisations, including the ILO, the European Commission and UK government departments, for private sector organisations and professional bodies.

This is a free seminar open to the public and all are invited but please can you inform us if you are planning to attend from outside the University of Greenwich by registering your interest at:   Business School Events with your name, job title and organisation to attend. Or email Professor Geoff White on wg08@gre.ac.uk

 
HOW TO FIND US

Hamilton House, 15 Park Vista, Greenwich, London SE10 9LZ 
Telephone: +44 20 8331 9083 E-mail: i3centre@gre.ac.uk​

23rd May 2018

Journal of Industrial Relations - Call for special issue proposals

The Journal of Industrial Relations (JIR) is inviting proposals for special issues for the years 2020 and 2021.

The Journal of Industrial Relations is an ISI-ranked, peer-reviewed international journal administered by the Australian Labour and Employment Relations Association (ALERA). The editors invite scholarship from a range of disciplinary perspectives, examining any aspect of employment relations. Contributions exploring the traditional concerns of industrial relations as well as studies addressing the intersection of workplace, family and community are welcome.

The guidelines for special issue proposals, editorial guidelines and the JIR's aims and scope can be found at http://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/JIR/JIR_Call%20for%20SI%20proposals__2020-2021.pdf.

Please submit your special issue proposal to the JIR Editors at business.jir@sydney.edu.au by June 2018

23rd May 2018

Book Publication: Kettling the Unions: A Guide to the 2016 Trade Union Act

Kettling the Unions?

A Guide to the 2016 Trade Union Act

 By Alan Tuckman

Foreword by Mark Serwotka, PCS General Secretary

 Published with the support of the Public and Commercial Services Union

ORDER NOW FROM SPOKESMAN BOOKS:

£14.99 + £1P&P

http://spokesmanbookshop.com/Kettling-the-Unions

From Mark Serwotka’s foreword:

‘This very welcome book is intended to provide an analysis of the roots of the Trade Union Act 2016. Those roots lie in Thatcher’s legislation of the 1980s and further back to the undermining of collective bargaining in UK industrial relations that developed in the 1970s, in the context of neoliberalism’s rise to dominance. 

The Trade Union Act was a transparent attempt to contain trade unions in the position they held before the turn of the 20th century. It has introduced draconian restrictions on the right to strike, and new restrictions covering balloting and picketing. It has also changed the rules on union political funds from the current ‘opt-out’ system to an ‘opt-in’ system, an anti-democratic attempt to reduce the ability of trade unions to fund not only political parties, but also a wide range of other non-party political activities. 

As well as aiming to be a guide to the 2016 Trade Union Act and its effect on the trade union movement, this book sets it in the context of decades of attacks on the rights of workers to organise by Conservative governments.’

Contents:

Foreword by Mark Serwotka 7

Preface Oil on the Fire? Brexit and Workers’ Rights 9

Introduction 16

 Chapter 1 - The Trade Union Problem 28

The Emerging Problem 28 | The Rise of Trade Unionism 31 | Regularising Trade Unions? 36 | Taff Vale and the Trade Disputes Act 1906 39 | Voluntarism 44 | The Enemy Within: the challenge to consensus 47 | The Establishment of Trade Unionism and its Growing Challenge 53

Chapter 2 - Containing the Unions 58

The Attack on Voluntarism 58 | Heath, the ‘Quiet Revolution’ and the Industrial Relations Act 60 | Labour and the Social Contract 64 | Trade Unions Under Thatcher and Major 71 | Fairness at Work? The Labour Government 1997-2010 78 | The Coalition, the State of the Unions, and the Carr Review 83

Chapter 3 - The Trade Union Act 2016: A Guide 102

Introduction 102

2. Industrial Action Ballots 107

Ballot Thresholds 107 | Electronic Balloting 113 | Information Requirements associated with industrial action ballots 117 | Timing of and Duration of industrial ballots 119 | Expiry of industrial action mandate 121 | Picketing 122 | Use of agency workers during strikes 127

3. Political Funds 129

The Nature of Trade Union Political Funds 129 | Reform of Political Funds 131

4. Facilities Time and Check-Off 134 Facilities Time 134 | Check-Off 138
5. The Role of the Certification Officer 141

 Chapter 4 - Flexing the Kettle? 153

A ‘Winter of Discontent’? 153 | Implementing the Act 155 | Testing the Trade Union Act 158 | Immediate Impact of the Act 161 | Pension Disputes in the Universities and Royal Mail 164 | Pensions and the Pay Cap 173 | Conflict in the ‘new economy’?: Organising the unorganised 175 | Recognition in the global economy 179 | A revival of trade unionism? 181 | Repealing the Trade Union Act 187

Appendices 196

Appendix 1 - Examples of workers who deliver ‘important public services’ under the 40% threshold 196 Appendix 2 - Facilities Time 198 Appendix 3 - Role of Certification Officer 200 Appendix 4 - Institute of Employment Rights, Manifesto for Labour Law 201

Acknowledgements 204

About the Author 204

-----

Press review copies: PDF copies of the book can be sent to papers, magazines and journals in advance of publication upon request and consideration.

22nd May 2018

Event: Work & Equalities Annual Lecture

The 2018 WEI Annual Lecture, in partnership with the Health Services Research Centre (HSRC) will take place on Thursday 24^th May from 3pm – 5pm.

The topic is:

New Forms of Governance: Striving for Better Jobs and Public Services.

Can new forms of governance help in the search for better jobs and public services: evidence from developments in health care and community services in the United States.

Hallsworth Professors Rose Batt and Ron Applegate of Cornell University will present.

Further details are given in the flyer attached, and you can register here.

18th May 2018

Invitation to apply: Advert for BUIRA Executive Committee Members

The BUIRA Executive Committee will have 2 vacancies as from July 2018.

As discussed and agreed at the AGM in Leeds 2016, the voting system for vacancies on the Executive Committee will be conducted differently.

We now invite all members to forward their interest in becoming a member of the BUIRA Exec Committee to BUIRA admin who isJess Douglas at admin@buira.org.

All members are welcome to apply regardless of career stage i.e. early, senior, or type of contract.

However, this year we would like to strongly encourage women to apply for these positions as they are under-represented on the Committee.

Of course this does not remove open competition and the selection process is still via the membership at the AGM, not the Stewardship or the Executive Committee.

Please include a short biography of no more than 300 words and your reasons for applying for the vacant position.

Executive Committee members are expected to

• attend Committee meetings (3 a year)
• attend the annual conference
•  chair sessions at the conference
• review conference abstracts
• engage in e-mail discussions as appropriate

11th May 2018

Times Up In Academia

We are keen to hear from members interested in joining a working group concerning the ‘times up in academia’ movement.  If you might be willing get involved, or simply want to share experiences, ideas and thoughts on what BUIRA could do to support this important issue,  please let us know ASAP at admin@buira.org

10th May 2018

Call for expressions of interest in hosting BUIRA 2020 Conference

We are currently inviting expressions of interest in hosting the 2020 BUIRA conference.  If you might be interested in hosting the conference at your institution in summer 2020 please do let us know by at admin@buira.org

10th May 2018

Call for Streams, Abstracts and Papers - Global Work Quality Work? AIRAANZ Conference, 12-14 February 2019, RMIT University, Melbourne

Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ) Conference
Global Work, Quality Work?
12-14 February 2019, Melbourne, Australia

CALL FOR STREAMS, ABSTRACTS AND PAPERS

The Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ) is pleased to invite industrial relations scholars worldwide to present their research at the next annual conference to be held in Melbourne, hosted by the School of Management at RMIT University. The conference theme ‘Global Work, Quality Work?’ invites us to consider the dilemmas arising from growing disparities in the quality of jobs and from fragmentation of employment, especially in the context of the rapidly changing landscape of global capitalism, labour regulation, labour migration and labour movements.

The contributions of industrial relations scholarship and practice to understanding and responding to the challenges of growing inequalities in employment, pressures on job quality and poor labour market outcomes for diverse groups of workers will set the direction for the conference. Papers that engage with innovative responses to the challenges and issues of regulation, labour organisation and labour movements are of particular interest. Along with contributions that address the conference themes, abstracts and papers addressing a wide range of issues drawing on industrial relations, human resources, sociology of work and labour rights are invited.

Stream Proposals: Stream proposals should provide a brief (one page maximum) outline of the stream and include stream title, organiser/s’ names and email addresses. Organisers of accepted streams are expected to encourage participants and assist with organising refereeing of papers. Stream proposals should be emailed to airaanz@con-sol.com by 18 May 2018.

Abstracts: Abstracts of 250 words should succinctly set out the research question, methods used, theoretical focus and major conclusions. For full details go to: www.airaanz2019.org.au.

Papers: Refereed and non-refereed papers should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words. Submission details can be found at www.airaanz2019.org.au.

KEY DATES AND DEADLINES:
Stream proposals due: 18 May 2018
Abstract & paper submissions open: 4 June 2018
Paper submissions close: 31 August 2018
Abstract submissions close: 28 September 2018
Acceptance notification: 5 November 2018
Early bird registrations close: 8 December 2018

Contacts: Fiona Macdonald fiona.macdonald@rmit.edu.au; Diane Holland diane.holland@rmit.edu.au
Conference Solutions (Mandy Winter and Greg Vickers) airaanz@con-sol.com .

For full details see the AIRAANZ Website

9th May 2018

Event: WERU Seminar on the Self-EmployedWorkforce

THE UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH WORK AND EMPLOYMENT RESEARCH UNIT 
 
SELF-EMPLOYED WORKERS: WHO ARE THEY AND CAN THEY BE ORGANISED? 
 
WEDNESDAY 30^th MAY 2018. 13.00 – 18.00 
 
VENUE: ROOM HH102, HAMILTON HOUSE, PARK VISTA, GREENWICH, SE10 9LZ

 
Recently there has been a new focus on the role of self-employment in the labour market. In large part this is because of the substantial rise in self-employment since the financial crash of 2007/08 and the rise of 'bogus' self-employment in the new logistics industries (and elsewhere) which has challenged the legal concept of the 'employee' and workers' rights generally. This seminar seeks to shed new light on the different kinds of work undertaken by the self-employed - from window cleaners to accountants, and the wide range of incomes achieved. Our four presentations include recent research on the self-employed by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES); analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) of the national statistics on the self-employed workforce; a speaker from BECTU on the union organisation of self-employed workers in the film and broadcasting industries; and Professor Patricia Leighton on research she has been conducting among self-employed professionals. Our speakers are as follows: 
 
Andrea Broughton (Ecorys) and Matthew Williams (IES) will present the findings of recent IES research on segmentation of the solo self-employed workforce. The research highlights the diverse nature of this workforce, identifying nine distinct segments, ranging from highly independent, secure and well-paid individuals to those with a low degree of control over their working life, working in low-paid and insecure jobs. The research is based on a literature review and analysis of three datasets: the Labour Force Survey, the Family Resources Survey and Understanding Society. Andrea Broughtonjoined Ecorys as an Associate Director in January 2018, prior to which she was Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies. Andrea has a degree in modern languages (French and German) and an MA in international industrial relations and human resource management. She has over 20 years of experience in conducting research into European comparative employment relations, working for clients such as the European Commission, the European Parliament and Eurofound, Dublin. Andrea’s research interests include social dialogue, management of change and restructuring, precarious work and atypical employment. Matthew Williams re-joined IES in May 2013, having started his career at the Institute in the 1990s. An economist by training, Matthew has considerable experience and expertise in labour market analysis, at a local, regional and national level and for employers and public bodies, and he is a strong quantitative researcher and skilled in using SPSS to analyse administrative and survey datasets. He also has experience in the work areas of disability and higher education research. Prior to re-joining IES Matthew worked for 12 years as a self-employed research consultant, often working in conjunction with IES, and worked on a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research projects.

Mark Chandler (ONS) will discuss the national data available on the self-employed workforce, looking at their characteristics, income and wealth.  Mark Chandler is a Senior Economic Adviser currently leading four teams of economists in the economics hub at the Office for National Statistics. His experience includes defining, measuring and developing measures of service output and productivity, providing the economics component to the annual local government finance settlements and the business rates retention scheme, monitoring and evaluation of local Growth Deals and Devolution Deals, and developing the WebTAG system of economic appraisal for transport investments. Prior to becoming a civil servant, he was an academic teaching and leading research projects in the Baltic States. His Ph.D. in economics, on a public choice model of local government finance, is from the University of Connecticut.
 
Paul Evans (BECTU) will cover the union organisation of the self-employed in the film and broadcasting industries and show how a collective agreement was negotiated for these workers. Paul is an Assistant National Secretary of BECTU, the sector of the Prospect trade union that covers the entertainment industry. He oversees a rapidly growing 11,000-strong division of the union representing London TV, feature film and commercials production and post-production crew – mostly freelancers. He has a previous background as the founder of a Worker Co-op in the tech sector, a period of work in publishing and as a European Parliament researcher. In his spare time, he is the whistle player in a Pogues tribute band and is the author of a book titled ‘Save Democracy – Abolish Voting’, published by The Democratic Society in November 2017.

Professor Patricia Leighton (IPag Business School, France and University of South Wales UK) argues for a more radical, comprehensive and robust re-assessment of the employment law framework applying to workers generally, but the self-employed in particular. While Patricia’s background is as an employment lawyer, she will draw on a lot of empirical data on the experience of self-employed people and the legal and other responses to them in her presentation. She sees employment rights (and, indeed, other rights, e.g. to compete, work as a professional etc, work across borders etc) as important but by no means the only area for exploration and there is a need to set employment rights alongside social protections and a range of other issues. Patricia Leighton is Professor Emeritus at the University of South Wales UK and was previously Jean Monnet Professor of European Law  and a Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges. She is currently Professor of European Law at the IPag Business School  France and a member of their research group. Her research and publishing interests are employment relationships, atypical contracts and self-employment. She has written several books on employment contracts and their management, flexible and emerging work patterns, and on opportunity and wellbeing at work. She has undertaken many research projects for international and national governments and other organisations, including the ILO, the European Commission and UK government departments, for private sector organisations and professional bodies.

This is a free seminar open to the public and all are invited but please can you inform us if you are planning to attend from outside the University of Greenwich by registering your interest at:   Business School Events with your name, job title and organisation to attend. Or email Professor Geoff White on wg08@gre.ac.uk

 
HOW TO FIND US

Hamilton House, 15 Park Vista, Greenwich, London SE10 9LZ 
Telephone: +44 20 8331 9083 E-mail: i3centre@gre.ac.uk

9th May 2018

Event: WERU Seminar on the Self-EmployedWorkforce

THE UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH WORK AND EMPLOYMENT RESEARCH UNIT 
 
SELF-EMPLOYED WORKERS: WHO ARE THEY AND CAN THEY BE ORGANISED? 
 
WEDNESDAY 30^th MAY 2018. 13.00 – 18.00 
 
VENUE: ROOM HH102, HAMILTON HOUSE, PARK VISTA, GREENWICH, SE10 9LZ

Recently there has been a new focus on the role of self-employment in the labour market. In large part this is because of the substantial rise in self-employment since the financial crash of 2007/08 and the rise of 'bogus' self-employment in the new logistics industries (and elsewhere) which has challenged the legal concept of the 'employee' and workers' rights generally. This seminar seeks to shed new light on the different kinds of work undertaken by the self-employed - from window cleaners to accountants, and the wide range of incomes achieved. Our four presentations include recent research on the self-employed by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES); analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) of the national statistics on the self-employed workforce; a speaker from BECTU on the union organisation of self-employed workers in the film and broadcasting industries; and Professor Patricia Leighton on research she has been conducting among self-employed professionals. Our speakers are as follows: 
 
Andrea Broughton (Ecorys) and Matthew Williams (IES) will present the findings of recent IES research on segmentation of the solo self-employed workforce. The research highlights the diverse nature of this workforce, identifying nine distinct segments, ranging from highly independent, secure and well-paid individuals to those with a low degree of control over their working life, working in low-paid and insecure jobs. The research is based on a literature review and analysis of three datasets: the Labour Force Survey, the Family Resources Survey and Understanding Society. Andrea Broughtonjoined Ecorys as an Associate Director in January 2018, prior to which she was Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies. Andrea has a degree in modern languages (French and German) and an MA in international industrial relations and human resource management. She has over 20 years of experience in conducting research into European comparative employment relations, working for clients such as the European Commission, the European Parliament and Eurofound, Dublin. Andrea’s research interests include social dialogue, management of change and restructuring, precarious work and atypical employment. Matthew Williams re-joined IES in May 2013, having started his career at the Institute in the 1990s. An economist by training, Matthew has considerable experience and expertise in labour market analysis, at a local, regional and national level and for employers and public bodies, and he is a strong quantitative researcher and skilled in using SPSS to analyse administrative and survey datasets. He also has experience in the work areas of disability and higher education research. Prior to re-joining IES Matthew worked for 12 years as a self-employed research consultant, often working in conjunction with IES, and worked on a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research projects.

Mark Chandler (ONS) will discuss the national data available on the self-employed workforce, looking at their characteristics, income and wealth.  Mark Chandler is a Senior Economic Adviser currently leading four teams of economists in the economics hub at the Office for National Statistics. His experience includes defining, measuring and developing measures of service output and productivity, providing the economics component to the annual local government finance settlements and the business rates retention scheme, monitoring and evaluation of local Growth Deals and Devolution Deals, and developing the WebTAG system of economic appraisal for transport investments. Prior to becoming a civil servant, he was an academic teaching and leading research projects in the Baltic States. His Ph.D. in economics, on a public choice model of local government finance, is from the University of Connecticut.
 
Paul Evans (BECTU) will cover the union organisation of the self-employed in the film and broadcasting industries and show how a collective agreement was negotiated for these workers. Paul is an Assistant National Secretary of BECTU, the sector of the Prospect trade union that covers the entertainment industry. He oversees a rapidly growing 11,000-strong division of the union representing London TV, feature film and commercials production and post-production crew – mostly freelancers. He has a previous background as the founder of a Worker Co-op in the tech sector, a period of work in publishing and as a European Parliament researcher. In his spare time, he is the whistle player in a Pogues tribute band and is the author of a book titled ‘Save Democracy – Abolish Voting’, published by The Democratic Society in November 2017.

Professor Patricia Leighton (IPag Business School, France and University of South Wales UK) argues for a more radical, comprehensive and robust re-assessment of the employment law framework applying to workers generally, but the self-employed in particular. While Patricia’s background is as an employment lawyer, she will draw on a lot of empirical data on the experience of self-employed people and the legal and other responses to them in her presentation. She sees employment rights (and, indeed, other rights, e.g. to compete, work as a professional etc, work across borders etc) as important but by no means the only area for exploration and there is a need to set employment rights alongside social protections and a range of other issues. Patricia Leighton is Professor Emeritus at the University of South Wales UK and was previously Jean Monnet Professor of European Law  and a Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges. She is currently Professor of European Law at the IPag Business School  France and a member of their research group. Her research and publishing interests are employment relationships, atypical contracts and self-employment. She has written several books on employment contracts and their management, flexible and emerging work patterns, and on opportunity and wellbeing at work. She has undertaken many research projects for international and national governments and other organisations, including the ILO, the European Commission and UK government departments, for private sector organisations and professional bodies.

This is a free seminar open to the public and all are invited but please can you inform us if you are planning to attend from outside the University of Greenwich by registering your interest at:   Business School Events with your name, job title and organisation to attend. Or email Professor Geoff White on wg08@gre.ac.uk

 
HOW TO FIND US

Hamilton House, 15 Park Vista, Greenwich, London SE10 9LZ 
Telephone: +44 20 8331 9083 E-mail: i3centre@gre.ac.uk

9th May 2018

Policy report and debate “On AI and Robotics”

Excerpt:
This publication is designed to help employers, regulators and policymakers understand the potential nature of these effects by reviewing a variety of application areas in which AI and robots are deployed, both individually and together. The more that is known about how different fields or industries might be disrupted, the better prepared institutions, companies and systems will be.

A number of researchers and associates of The University of Manchester have contributed, across a range of different specialisms, coordinated by Policy@Manchester. These insights cover advice in four key areas; hazardous environments, healthcare, research, and industry(covering employment and future technical progress).

Full Policy report and debate “On AI and Robotics” (Industry, Work, Employment ...).   Available at:

9th May 2018

Event: Making use of Oral History - Update to Schedule

Making use of Oral Labour History

Britain at Work (B@W) 1945-95 in association with British Universities’ Industrial Relations (BUIRA) IR History Group and Oral History Society (OHS)

Saturday 2 June 2018, 11am – 5.00pm

University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS

(opposite Madame Tussauds and nearly opposite Baker Street tube)

Room C279 (lunch C287)

For further details and to reserve a place please email Michael Gold (m.gold@rhul.ac.uk) or Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk)

This year’s Britain at Work Oral Labour History Day will focus on what we do with the recordings we make, both audio and video. How do we share what we learn from interviews and how do we make sure that oral histories we collect are preserved for future use in safe environments and archives? The day will begin with an opening address byRobert Perks, Lead Curator, Oral History and the Director of National Life Stories at the British Library. Rob is also secretary of the Oral History Society and an editor of the journal Oral History. He will talk about developments and opportunities for the dissemination and sustainability of oral history collections.

Rob will be followed by roundtable reports from participants currently involved in oral history in work settings. After lunch, there will be presentations, beginning with Martin Astell, Sound and Video Archivist at Essex Record Office, who will talk about being an archivist working in a local authority museum/archive and the challenges besetting local archives and archivists. This is followed by presentations on the diverse results of oral history projects: books, films, a pop-up museum and a comic.

B@W is an initiative to capture the memories of people at work between 1945 and 1995, some of which are to found at the TUC Library Collections held at London Metropolitan University (www.unionhistory.info/britainatwork)..

DRAFT PROGRAMME

10.30-11.00 Registration

11.00-11.15 Welcome and introduction: Michael Gold and Linda Clarke

11.15-12.00 Keynote: How can I future-proof my oral history project? Guidance on best archival and legal practice for preservation and public access and reuse’. Rob Perks, Lead Curator, Oral History & Director of National Life Stories at the British Library. Chair: Joanna Bornat

12.00-13.00 Roundtable: brief contributions from participants on their current interest in oral labour history. Chair: Michael Gold

13.00-14.00 Lunch: 

14.00-15.30. Diverse uses of oral history. Chair: John Gabriel

·         Local collections: Martin Astell onOral history collections at the county record office - and how to set them free, Senior Archivist (Sound and Video), Essex Record Office

·         Film: Alex Gordon/ Chris Reeves (RMT History Project)

·         Book: Sally Groves (author of Trico: a victory to remember)

15.30-15.50 Break

15.50-16.40 More diverse uses: Chair: Linda Clarke

·         Educational website and book: Sundari Anitha / Ruth Pearson (Striking Women)

·         Pop-up Museum: Padmini Broomfield and Emma Golby-Kirk (Ford Transition, Southampton)

16.40-17.00 Discussion + chair’s closing observations: Michael Gold

9th May 2018

Call for Abstracts - BUIRA 2018 PhD workshop

The British Universities Industrial Relation Association holds 2018 conference at Middlesex University, London (Hendon campus), Wednesday 27th – Friday 29th June, 2018.

The PhD session is currently planned to be held on first day of the conference, Wednesday 27th June. The session will have two main features: PhD Workshop paper presentations and panel discussions.

Invitation is hereby extended to doctoral students, who are researching in the field of Industrial/Employment Relations, to submit abstracts for workshop paper presentations.

Abstracts could be on any research ideas, from a work in progress paper (WIP), or from a section of ongoing PhD work- the idea of this is to offer a platform away from main BUIRA conference paper sessions, where we could 'test the waters', and have feedback from peers and from a panel of established academics.

This call for abstracts opens from Tuesday 8th May to Friday 8th June. Please send abstract of 250 words to: buiraphd@outlook.com.

7th May 2018

Call for contributions: Gender Issues in Business Schools Network

4th May 2018

Specially Extended Plenary Session: BUIRA Conference 2018 (Update to Speakers)

Specially Extended Plenary Session:

BUIRA Conference

The 2018 UCU Pensions Dispute:

Assessment and Implications

Wednesday 27 June 1.15pm-3.15pm

Middlesex University, London (Hendon campus)

Speakers: John Kelly (Birkbeck), Phil Taylor (Strathclyde),

Jo Grady (Sheffield), Rachel Cohen (City) and Sean Wallis (UCL)

BUIRA members will undoubtedly agree that the 2018 British Universities pensions’ dispute has been a watershed moment for both industrial relations and trade unionism within higher education. Ironically, given the predominant discourse that suggests strike activity and trade unionism has become increasingly irrelevant in today’s changed world of work, the USS dispute had some of the elements of the industrial battles of the 1970s, albeit there were also new innovative forms of organisation and activity, the combination of which produced unprecedented transformative developments that have been ‘grist for the mill’ for BUIRA members.

            Significantly, UCU’s central strategy of strike mobilisation (in line with its recent Commission on Effective Industrial Action) broke with the limited one or two-day national strikes of the past (over pay, and pensions) with its call for sustained (virtually continuous) 14-days of strike action. If the busting of the Tories’ 2016 Trade Union Act balloting thresholds (both in terms of participation levels and percentage voting in favour of strike action) surprised many, the way in which the protracted nature of the action was then enthusiastically embraced by the mass of the union’s eligible membership also staked completely new ground with wide-ranging implications.

            In forcing the employers to rethink and climb down (in some respects at least) - as vice chancellors in a number of institutions broke ranks with UUK - it demonstrated in graphic relief the enduring power of effective collective strike action. It also provided time for strikers to organise, gain confidence and build links among themselves within their respective institutions and across universities. If in the past picket lines had been small and routine affairs, they now developed over the course of four weeks into relatively much larger and more vibrant pickets of defiance. The sustained nature of the action provided the basis for regular (often daily) mass meetings, the formation of strike committees, organisation of ‘Teach-Ins’ and ‘Teach-Outs’, local rallies and two London demonstrations. It also led to the development of very important links with students, who joined picket lines, signed a nationally-organised petition demanding financial compensation for missed classes, and in a number of places engaged in highly impressive solidarity occupations directed at university administrations.

            Animated UCU members’ discussions and debates on the picket line and at meetings then translated into the infusion of life into many semi-moribund UCU branches. The underlying transformation of the union was also manifested in the stunning union recruitment figures of thousands of new members, including many insecure, short-term and part-time contract staff. The #NoCapitulation and #ReviseandResubmit revolts, including the mass lobbying of the HEC/branch delegate meetings, as well as the large minority vote against accepting the second offer that called off the action, were indicative of a wider rank-and-file rebellion against national negotiators. The use of social media by numerous local UCU branches and active strikers, notably Twitter (particularly #USSbriefs) and local WhatsApp groups, further enhanced the horizontal exchange of information, ideas, arguments and debates. Also of major significance was the way in which the strike went well beyond the immediate issue of pensions to represent a generalised questioning of the neoliberal transformation of universities in recent years (with its marketization, commodification and rampant managerialism) in favour of an alternative democratised public higher education system.

            Notwithstanding the differences in viewpoint as to whether the dispute should have been called off or not (amongst BUIRA members as well as union members generally), the 2018 UCU strike action should clearly not be viewed as a one-off or closed affair. Quite apart from the way in which the pensions issue is likely to rear its head again a few months down the road, there are other crucial issues on which the battleground is likely to continue, such as pay, casualization, restructuring and job losses, REF, etc, in which case the recent transformative experience of collective strike action and rejuvenation of UCU that has occurred will require assessment and reassessment.

            In the process, if the 2018 pensions dispute will have ‘brought home’ the enduring relevance of the academic subject matter of employment relations and trade unionism to BUIRA members within higher education, it has also underlined the importance for many BUIRA academics of being trade unionists whose ‘partisan’ ideological and practical intervention – in being active participants who took the side of university staff in struggle against the employers - is an integral part of their identity and portfolio at work.

            It is against this backcloth we are delighted to announce a special extended 2-hour plenary session on the UCU strike has been organised at BUIRA’s annual conference. It will be comprised of two panels of speakers that will run back-to-back. The first panel will discuss/debate the overall strategy and tactics adopted by UCU within the dispute, with two speakers: John Kelly (Birkbeck) and Phil Taylor (Strathclyde). The second panel will have three UCU speakers, Jo Grady (Sheffield), Rachel Cohen (City) and Sean Wallis (UCL), reflecting on aspects of the dispute, such as local union organisation, social media usage, links with students, balloting process, final deal, and wider questions and implications raised about employment relations and trade unionism within higher education. The intention is to keep both sets of panel contributions fairly brief (no more than 10 minutes for each speaker) in order to enable plenty of time for discussion, debate and argument from the floor of the conference (albeit speakers will have the opportunity to come back within the questions and discussion period).  We hope you will be able to come along to join the discussion, hopefully attending the whole of the BUIRA conference, or just this special plenary session.

Further details: Professor Ralph Darlington r.r.darlington@salford.ac.uk

4th May 2018

Support of "European Appeal" as part of the ETUC strategy for "More Democracy at work"

The ETUC is issuing a European appeal for more democracy at work and isseeking signatures in support. Details of the policy can be found at:
https://www.etuc.org/documents/etuc-resolution-strategy-more-democracy-work-0#.Wul1IvlKuUn

To register support, send a mail to Wolfgang Kowalsky via WKOWALSK@ETUC.ORG

2nd May 2018

Event: BUIRA conference 2018 - Registration now open

Registration for the BUIRA conference is now open!

 Please register by following the link https://www.buira.net/conference/11/register

Note that you must be a BUIRA member to register - you can join on the same page.

Below you will find some information about accommodation and the general conference schedule.

We look forward to seeing you in June!

The BUIRA team

BUIRA Conference 2018, Middlesex University, London

When: 27-29 June

Where: Hendon Campus 

Accommodation: 

Student accommodation

Other: 

Hendon Hall   

Travelodge (Finchley)   

 (143 bus every 12 mins – 15 mins to Hendon campus)

Holiday Inn Brent Cross 

Schedule

Wednesday 27^thJune

09.00                    Registration opens

09.15-13.00         PhD workshop

12.00-13.00         Lunch

13.00-13.15         Conference opens, welcome

13.15-15.15         Plenary: the 2018 Universities Pension Dispute

15.15-15.30         Refreshments

15.30-17.00         Paper Session 1 

17.15-18.45         Paper Session 2 

19.00                   Drinks reception and Barbecue meal at MDX House Quad

Thursday 28^thJune

09.00-10.30         Paper Session 3

10.30-10.45         Refreshments

10.45-12.15         Paper Session 4 

12.15-13.15         BUIRA AGM

13.15-14.00         Lunch

14.00-15.45         Unions, politics and policy plenary 

15.45-16.15         Refreshments

16.15-17.45         Paper Session 5

17.45-18.30         BUIRA study groups

19.30                   Conference dinner – Canal Museum, Kings Cross

Friday 30^thJune

09.30-11.00         Paper Session 6  

11.00-11.15         Refreshments

11.15-12.45         Paper Session 7 

12.45-13.30         Lunch

13.30                   Conference closes 

27th April 2018

Event: Greenwich Diversity Interest Group Conference

Greenwich Diversity Interest Group Conference
11th Jun 2018 9:30am - 6:30pm
Greenwich Campus, Queen Anne Building, Room 063, Park Row, London SE10 9LS

The Diversity Interest Group at the University of Greenwich is showcasing its research on Equality and Diversity in a one day conference on Monday 11 June 2018 9:30am – 6:30pm in QA063.

Key note speech from Professor Tracey Reynolds: "Mind(ful) of the gap: intersectionality and the challenges of diversity in higher education"

Plus conference presentations from researchers at the University of Greenwich on the themes of:

• Education
• Careers and Employment
• Justice

Including a practitioner focus from Sarah Crowe

Vice President | Senior Consultant- Diversity and Inclusion– EMEA, Northern Trust.

Followed by a roundtable including Professor Sian Moore and Dr Jason Arday.

To register, please email Business Events with your name and job title to attend.

Professor Tracey Reynolds: Tracey's teaching and research interests focus on transnational families and kinship networks; constructions of motherhood and parenting & youth studies, and she has established international recognition within these fields of expertise. She has conducted extensive empirical research in the UK across a range of social issues including black and minority families living in disadvantaged communities, the study of families and in the Caribbean and North America. Research awards include Economic Social Research Council awards on Caribbean youths and transnational identities; Big Lottery on care planning among BAME older people in London (with Age UK Lewisham and Southwark) and Arts Humanities Research Council on migrant mothers' citizenship.

Professor Sian Moore: Director of the Work and Employment Research Unit, University of Greenwich. Sian joined the University of Greenwich as Professor in Employment Relations and Human Resource Management and Director of the Work and Employment Research Unit (WERU) in September 2015. She was previously Professor of Work and Employment Relations and Co-Director of the Centre for Employment Studies Research (CESR) at the University of the West of England. 

Dr Jason Arday: a Senior Lecturer in Education at Roehampton University, School of Education, a Visiting Research Fellow at The Ohio State University in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and a Trustee of the Runnymede Trust and Co-Chair of the Runnymede Academic Forum. He has recently completed an edited collection with Professor Heidi Mirza (Goldsmiths, University of London) entitled Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy (Palgrave).

Target audience: current students, staff, alumni, general public​

27th April 2018

Event: Framing Work: Competing Analytical Perspectives on Employment Relations

Framing Work: Competing Analytical Perspectives on Employment Relations

Manchester Industrial Relations Society

Shirley Lerner Memorial Lecture

Speaker: Professor Ed Heery 

Professor of Employment Relations

Cardiff Business School, University of Cardiff

http://www.mirs.org.uk/index.html

Thursday 3 May 6pm
Lecture Theatre G33, Ground Floor
Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
All Saints, Oxford Road (near Oxford Road railway station), Manchester M15 6BH
Map:  http://www.mmu.ac.uk/travel/allsaints/

Free ‘nibbles and drinks’ buffet after the meeting from 7.30pm

Contemporary writing on the employment relationship falls into three broad traditions: a unitary tradition that assumes there is a natural coincidence in the interests of employer and worker; a pluralist tradition that believes regulation is required to enable workers to advance their own, separate and distinct interests against those of the employer; and a critical tradition that perceives a fundamental cleavage in the interests of workers and employers and celebrates worker resistance to employer domination.

This presentation will identify the defining features of these competing traditions, or frames of reference as they are often known, and will show how their separate conceptions of the relative interests of workers and employers leads to distinctive research agenda, modes of explanation, prescriptions for practice, and particular ways of engaging with the public sphere. The presentation will also consider the relationship between the frames and will identify the typical forms of contention and debate in which they engage.

For further details see:

Professor Ralph Darlington: r.r.darlington@salford.ac.uk 0161-295-5456

Twitter: @ManchesterIRS

26th April 2018

Event: Central London BUIRA Seminar: Union Organising Globally: Chinese and Latin American Ports Compared

Central London BUIRA Seminar:

 Union Organising Globally:

Chinese and Latin American Ports Compared

Katy Fox-Hodess, Worker Power, Trade Union Strategy and International Connections: A Cross-National Comparison of Dockworker Unionism in Latin America

Dr Tim Pringle (SOAS) Labour organizing, trade union reform and working class power in China

Friday 25 May 2018, 10.30am – 12.30pm, followed by buffet lunch

University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS

(opposite Madame Tussauds and nearly opposite Baker Street tube)
Room C279 (lunch C287)

For further details and to reserve a place, contact Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk)

This regular monthly seminar is focused on unions and labour movements in Europe, Latin America and China, with the examples of maritime and dock workers and we are fortunate to have two very expert speakers:

Katy Fox Hodess presents some of the findings of her PhD, entitled Dockworkers of the World Unite: Transnational Class Formation and the New Labor Internationalism, in which she examines the construction of ‘bottom-up’ labor internationalism by rank-and-file dockworker union activists affiliated to the International Dockworkers Council. Katy will discuss union coordination in response to recent labor disputes in Latin America (Chile, Colombia). Katy is undertaking her PhD thesis in Sociology at the University of California at Berkeley and is currently is a lecturer in Work, Employment, People and Organisations at the University of Sheffield. Her publications include ‘(Re-)Locating the Local and National in the Global: Multi-Scalar Political Alignment in Transnational European Dockworker Union Campaigns’ British Journal of Industrial Relations,2017

Tim Pringle is a senior lecturer in Labour, Social Movements and Development. His research is focussed on East Asia, in particular labour relations, trade union reform and social movements and labour migration in China and Vietnam. He is also the editor of China Quarterly. Tim will present research focuses on the extent that the Party-led All-China Federation of Trade Unions is able to establish functioning trade union branches at enterprise level, drawing on a case study of the Yantian International Container Terminal. Tim will argue that the YICT union developed a system of annual collective bargaining in order to ‘tame’ the power of militant dockworkers and prevent strikes. This required an effective enterprise-level trade union that was able to manipulate members’ somewhat ambiguous acceptance of its role.

This seminar is an opportunity to air and discuss these issues in an open forum and consider their implications for industrial relations. Anyone interested is welcome to attend this event. These meetings can be full though so, if you would like to attend and to help forecast catering provision, please Contact:Professor Linda Clarke,  clarkel@wmin.ac.uk or 020350 66528

25th April 2018

Journal of Industrial Relations - Call for special issue proposals

20th April 2018

Specially Extended Plenary Session: BUIRA Conference 2018

The 2018 UCU Pensions Dispute:

Assessment and Implications

Wednesday 27 June 1.15pm-3.15pm

Middlesex University, London (Hendon campus)

Speakers: John Kelly (Birkbeck), Phil Taylor (Strathclyde), Jo McNeill (Liverpool),  Jo Grady (Sheffield) and Sean Wallis (UCL)

BUIRA members will undoubtedly agree that the 2018 British Universities pensions’ dispute has been a watershed moment for both industrial relations and trade unionism within higher education. Ironically, given the predominant discourse that suggests strike activity and trade unionism has become increasingly irrelevant in today’s changed world of work, the USS dispute’s well organised and innovative forms of collective organisation and activity produced unprecedented transformative developments that have been ‘grist for the mill’ for BUIRA members.

Significantly, UCU’s central strategy of strike mobilisation (in line with its recent Commission on Effective Industrial Action) broke with the limited one or two-day national strikes of the past (over pay, and pensions) with its call for sustained (virtually continuous) 14-days of strike action. If the busting of the Tories’ 2016 Trade Union Act balloting thresholds (both in terms of participation levels and percentage voting in favour of strike action) surprised many, the way in which the protracted nature of the action was then enthusiastically embraced by the mass of the union’s eligible membership also staked completely new ground with wide-ranging implications.

In forcing the employers to rethink and climb down (in some respects at least) - as vice chancellors in a number of institutions broke ranks with UUK - it demonstrated in graphic relief the enduring power of effective collective strike action. It also provided time for strikers to organise, gain confidence and build links among themselves within their respective institutions and across universities. If in the past picket lines had been small and routine affairs, they now developed over the course of four weeks into relatively much larger and more vibrant pickets of defiance. The sustained nature of the action provided the basis for regular (often daily) mass meetings, the formation of strike committees, organisation of ‘Teach-Ins’ and ‘Teach-Outs’, local rallies and two London demonstrations. It also led to the development of very important links with students, who joined picket lines, signed a nationally-organised petition demanding financial compensation for missed classes, and in a number of places engaged in highly impressive solidarity occupations directed at university administrations.

Animated UCU members’ discussions and debates on the picket line and at meetings then translated into the infusion of life into many semi-moribund UCU branches. The underlying transformation of the union was also manifested in the stunning union recruitment figures of thousands of new members, including many insecure, short-term and part-time contract staff. The #NoCapitulation and #ReviseandResubmit revolts, including the mass lobbying of the HEC/branch delegate meetings, as well as the large minority vote against accepting the second offer that called off the action, were indicative of a wider rank-and-file rebellion against national negotiators. The use of social media by numerous local UCU branches and active strikers, notably Twitter (particularly #USSbriefs) and local WhatsApp groups, further enhanced the horizontal exchange of information, ideas, arguments and debates. Also of major significance was the way in which the strike went well beyond the immediate issue of pensions to represent a generalised questioning of the neoliberal transformation of universities in recent years (with its marketization, commodification and rampant managerialism) in favour of an alternative democratised public higher education system.

Notwithstanding the differences in viewpoint as to whether the dispute should have been called off or not (amongst BUIRA members as well as union members generally), the 2018 UCU strike action should clearly not be viewed as a one-off or closed affair. Quite apart from the way in which the pensions issue is likely to rear its head again a few months down the road, there are other crucial issues on which the battleground is likely to continue, such as pay, casualization, restructuring and job losses, REF, etc, in which case the recent transformative experience of collective strike action and rejuvenation of UCU that has occurred will require assessment and reassessment.

            In the process, if the 2018 pensions dispute will have ‘brought home’ the enduring relevance of the academic subject matter of employment relations and trade unionism to BUIRA members within higher education, it has also underlined the importance for many BUIRA academics of being trade unionists whose ‘partisan’ ideological and practical intervention – in being active participants who took the side of university staff in struggle against the employers - is an integral part of their identity and portfolio at work.

            It is against this backcloth we are delighted to announce a special extended 2-hour plenary session on the UCU strike has been organised at BUIRA’s annual conference. It will be comprised of two panels of speakers that will run back-to-back. The first panel will discuss/debate the overall strategy and tactics adopted by UCU within the dispute, with two speakers: John Kelly (Birkbeck) and Phil Taylor (Strathclyde). The second panel will have three UCU speakers, Jo McNeill (Liverpool), Jo Grady (Sheffield) and Sean Wallis (UCL), reflecting on aspects of the dispute, such as local union organisation, social media usage, links with students, balloting process, final deal, and wider questions and implications raised about employment relations and trade unionism within higher education. The intention is to keep both sets of panel contributions fairly brief (no more than 10 minutes for each speaker) in order to enable plenty of time for discussion, debate and argument from the floor of the conference (albeit speakers will have the opportunity to come back within the questions and discussion period). 

We hope you will be able to come along to join the discussion, hopefully attending the whole of the BUIRA conference, or just this special plenary session.

Further details: Professor Ralph Darlington r.r.darlington@salford.ac.uk

20th April 2018

Event: BUIRA History of Industrial Relations Study Group

Deindustrialisation and Industrial Relations in Scotland: 1960s until Today

Thursday 7 June 2018: 15.30-17.30 (Tea/ coffee from 15.00)

Room C279, University of Westminster Business School, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS (opposite Madame Tussauds and nearly opposite Baker Street tube)

For further details or to reserve a place, please e-mail Michael Gold (m.gold@rhul.ac.uk) or Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk).

Programme:

3.00-3.20pm: Tea/ coffee/ refreshments

3.20pm: Welcome and introductions: Michael Gold and Linda Clarke (Chairs)

3.30-4.00pm: Jim Phillips, Jim Tomlinson and Valerie Wright (presented by Jim Phillips)

Deindustrialisation, Ownership and Industrial Relations, c. 1963-1993: Evidence from Linwood Car Manufacturing and Timex Dundee

Deindustrialisation was a phased and managed process, which structured industrial relations. From the mid-1950s industrial workers and communities in Scotland were persuaded to trade ‘old’ jobs in the staples for ‘new’ jobs in lighter engineering. ‘New’ employers acquired obligations, partly because public money was involved in establishing business premises and associated housing. The cases of Linwood car manufacturing and Timex Dundee show that workers exerted moral economy claims to ownership of these new jobs and factories. Through trade union organisation, embedded in community and familial ties, they challenged managerial sovereignty, particularly at points of transition or crisis.

4.00-4.30pm: Dr Jenny O’Neil and Dr Vaughan Ellis

Unheard Voices of Decline: Scottish Oil Sector

This paper examines how employment in the Scottish oil industry is changing as the industry declines, shedding in excess of 120,000 jobs between 2014 and 2016 as oil prices fell. Yet, the absence of workers’ voice in policy discussions about how best to safeguard the industry and utilise their skills has meant that other stakeholders’ interests have been privileged. Drawing from in depth oral history interviews with off shore oil workers, it is argued that workers are experiencing lower wages, fewer shifts, difficulty accessing re-training and career changes as well as adverse effects on family life and wellbeing.

4.30-5.00pm: General discussion

5.00pm: Close (followed by drinks until 5.30pm)
 

The speakers:

Jim Phillips is a Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow, where he and his c-authors are working on a Leverhulme-funded project, Employment, Politics and Culture in Scotland since 1955. Jim co-edits Scottish Labour History and Historical Studies in Industrial Relations.

Dr Jenny O’Neil is a Lecturer in Labour Relations and Global HRM at Edinburgh Napier University. Her research interests include skills development within turbulent environments, employee voice and Global HRM.

Dr Vaughan Ellis is a Lecturer in Work and Industrial Relations specialising in the contemporary organisation and experience of work, and how changes in an organisations' external environment impact upon the labour process.

18th April 2018

Event: Making use of Oral History

Britain at Work (B@W) 1945-95 in association with British Universities’ Industrial Relations (BUIRA) IR History Group and Oral History Society (OHS)

Saturday 2 June 2018, 11am – 4.45pm

University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS

(opposite Madame Tussauds and nearly opposite Baker Street tube)

Room C279 (lunch C287)

For further details or to reserve a place, please email Michael Gold (m.gold@rhul.ac.uk) or Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk)

This year’s Britain at Work Oral Labour History Day will focus on what we do with the recordings we make, both audio and video. How do we share what we learn from interviews and how do we make sure that oral histories we collect are preserved for future use in safe environments and archives? The day will begin with an opening address by Robert Perks, Lead Curator, Oral History and the Director of National Life Stories at the British Library. Rob is also secretary of the Oral History Society and an editor of the journal Oral History. He will talk about developments and opportunities for the dissemination and sustainability of oral history collections.

Rob will be followed by a roundtable reports from participants currently involved in oral history in work settings. After lunch, there will be presentations from presenters whose oral history projects have resulted in books, films, pop-up museum and a comic. The day will end with a presentation from Martin Astell (tbc), Sound and Video Archivist at Essex Record Office, who will talk about being an archivist working in a local authority museum/archive and the challenges besetting local archives and archivists at the moment.

B@W is an initiative to capture the memories of people at work between 1945 and 1995, some of which are to found at the TUC Library Collections held at London Metropolitan University (www.unionhistory.info/britainatwork)..

Draft Programme

10.30-11.00 Registration

11.00-11.15 Welcome and introduction: Michael Gold and Linda Clarke

11.15-12.00 Keynote: How can I future-proof my oral history project? Guidance on best archival and legal practice for preservation and public access and reuse’. Rob Perks, Lead Curator, Oral History & Director of National Life Stories at the British Library. Chair: Joanna Bornat

12.00-13.00 Roundtable: brief contributions from participants on their current interest in oral labour history. Chair: Michael Gold

13.00-14.00 Lunch: 

14.00-15.25

Presentations. Chair: John Gabriel tbc

• Alex Gordon/ Chris Reeves (RMT History Project)
• Sally Groves (author of Trico: a victory to remember)
• Sundari Anitha / Ruth Pearson (Striking Women educational website + book)
• Padmini Broomfield (Ford Transition Pop-up Museum, Southampton)

15.25-15.45 Break

15.45-16.15 Local collections: Martin Astell, Essex Record Office tbc. Chair:

16.15-16.45 Discussion + closing observations. Chair: tbc

18th April 2018

Event: Central London BUIRA Seminar: Labour Migration

Labour Migration

Professor Bridget Anderson (University of Bristol) on Labour market flexibility and citizenship rights

Dr Rachel Marangozov (Institute of Employment Studies) on Brexit and beyond: A perfect storm for our nursing workforce?’

Friday 27 April 2018, 10.30am – 12.30pm, followed by buffet lunch

University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS

(opposite Madame Tussauds and nearly opposite Baker Street tube)
Room C279 (lunch C287)

For further details and to reserve a place, contact Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk)

This regular monthly seminar is focused on labour migration, a particularly topical theme given on-going Brexit negotiations and we are fortunate to have two expert speakers:

Bridget Anderson, Professor of Professor of Migration, Mobilities and Citizenship in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol, explores the tension between labour market flexibilities and citizenship rights. She will discuss the functions of immigration in key labour market sectors and the ways in which immigration controls increasingly impact on citizens as well as migrants. From 2013-2017 Bridget was Research Director of COMPAS (Centre of Migration, Policy and Society) at the University of Oxford. She has always worked closely with migrants’ organisations, trades unions and legal practitioners at local, national and international level. Her publications include: Us and Them? The Dangerous Politics of Immigration Controls (Oxford University Press, 2013); Who Needs Migrant Workers? Labour Shortages, Immigration and Public Policy, co-edited with Martin Ruhs (Oxford University Press, 2012); The Social, Political and Historical Contours of Deportation with Matthew Gibney and Emanuela Paoletti (Springer, 2013); and Migration and Care Labour: Theory, Policy and Politics with Isabel Shutes (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Rachel Marangozov, Research Associate at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and Director of MigrationWork CIC, will present findings from 2 IES studies:1) for the Migration Advisory Committee, on whether nursing should be kept on the Shortage Occupation List; and 2) on the risks of Brexit to the nursing workforce. She will question the sustainability of continued reliance on a foreign workforce of nurses. Rachel specializes in the labour market disadvantage of ethnic minority groups and migrant workers. She previously worked at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) on a range of equality and diversity issues and is a Director of MigrationWork CIC, which helps communities, policymakers, and practitioners respond to migration. Her work there has involved projects for the European Commission in both the United Kingdom and in several European Member States on a range of integration issues.

This seminar is an opportunity to air and discuss these issues in an open forum and consider their implications for industrial relations. Anyone interested is welcome to attend this event. These meetings can be full though so, if you would like to attend and to help forecast catering provision, please Contact: Professor Linda Clarke,  clarkel@wmin.ac.uk or 020350 66528

17th April 2018

TUC 150th Anniversary Conference: Speakers Announced

TUC 150^th Anniversary Conference: Retrospect and Prospects

Organised in conjunction with the Manchester Industrial Relations Society

Friday 1 June 10am-6.30pm

Mechanics Institute, Princess Street, Manchester

Timetable

9am – 10am: Registration

10am: Opening remarks

10.15 – 11.30: Panel Session1chaired by Lynne Morris, UNISON/TUC North West Chair

The role of the TUC in significant disputes

• Professor Ralph Darlington Professor of Employment Relations, University of Salford,

   and secretary of Manchester Industrial Relations Society

• Professor John Kelly, Professor of Industrial Relations, Birkbeck, University of London

• trade union speaker tbc

11.30 – 12.45: Panel session 2 Chaired by Lynn Collins, TUC North West

TUC Relations with Labour in Government and opposition

• Sarah Veale, former Head of Equality and Employment Rights, TUC

• Keith Ewing – Professor of Public Law, King’s College London

• John McDonnell MP, Labour Party Shadow Chancellor

12.45 – 1.45: Lunch

1.45 – 3.00: Panel Session 3 chaired by Paula Wood, PCS/TUC North West

TUC Framing Laws and Changing Laws

• John Hendy QC Old Square Chambers, London

• Stephen Cavalier, Chief Executive, Thompsons solicitors

• Hannah Reed, Senior Employment Rights Officer TUC

3.00 – 4.15: Panel session 4 chaired by Peter Middleman NEU/TUC North West

The Organising Academy and beyond

• Melanie Simms, Professor of Work and Employment, University of Glasgow

• Sally Hunt – TUC President and UCU General Secretary

• Paul Nowak – TUC Deputy General Secretary

4.15 – 6.30pm:

Closing Remarks followed by a Beer and Sandwiches reception,

hosted by Thompsons Solicitors

Registration for the conference costs £10 which includes copies of presentations, lunch and

closing reception. A number of student places will be made available at a reduced rate of £5.

You can register via the Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tuc150-retrospects-and-prospects-tickets-42781768421

16th April 2018

Event: Human Resource Management and the Shifting Global Landscape

British Academy of Management Human Resource Management Special Interest Group

One-Day Conference: Human Resource Management and the Shifting Global Landscape

Deadline for abstract submissions 20/04/18.

The purpose of this year’s conference is to bring together academics, policymakers and practitioners to examine the changing world of work. Given current developments - such as Brexit, travel bans, and mass human displacement - organisations are increasingly looking for ways not only to navigate through current challenges, but also to be able to compete sustainably and thrive through unforeseen future events. The conference aims to offer an opportunity for dialogue among academics, practitioners and policy makers, and to consider future challenges and potential responses in relation to Human Resource Management (HRM). 

In an era, where the competition for talent is fierce (Schuler, Jackson, & Tarique, 2011) and unforeseen circumstances constantly shift the political and economical landscape (Wood and Budhwar, 2016), studies demonstrate that organisations need more elaborate HRM approaches for sustainable performance (Andreeva, et al., 2017; Glaister, Liu, Sahadev, & Gomes, 2014). Further to this, recent high-profile job harassment cases have questioned the role of HR as an ethical steward (Caldwell et al., 2011) and have reignited debates regarding whether HR practitioners focus on the human or the resource side of the management of human resources (Delbridge & Keenoy, 2010). It is perhaps high time that we move beyond the examination of a decontextualized HRM towards a more holistic appreciation of the world of work. In line with this, there have been important calls for more integration between HRM and other relevant streams of management research such as talent management and international business (e.g. Allen, Lee, Reiche, 2015), as well as the broader social sciences.

This event will take place on the 15th June 2018 in Birmingham.

We invite contributions from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives that address any of the areas or the workshop theme more generally:
 

• Generational differences, inclusion and diversity in a global economy
• Global employment relations and mobility
• Working conditions during crises (economic, political, societal) across the world
• Talent Sourcing and Management in multinationals, SMEs and the public sector
• The gig economy and its implications for HR in a global context
• Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics in HR
• HR and employment practices across different countries and cultures

Keynote Speakers:

·         Professor Catherine Cassell (University of Birmingham, UK) 

·         Professor David Collings (Dublin City University, Ireland)

Please submit an extended abstract of up to 2000 words via email to Dr Margarita Nyfoudi via e-mail m.nyfoudi@bham.ac.uk Deadline for submissions: 20th April 2018 at 12.00 UK time.

In the submission e-mail, please attach the abstract in a word or pdf file and include the following information in the message: Title, Author(s) Name(s), E-mail

University of Birmingham kindly sponsors the facilities for the event

If you have any queries or would like to discuss a potential submission, please contact 

Dr Margarita Nyfoudi: m.nyfoudi@bham.ac.uk

16th April 2018

Framing Work: Competing Analytical Perspectives on Employment Relations

Framing Work: Competing Analytical Perspectives on Employment Relations

Manchester Industrial Relations Society

Shirley Lerner Memorial Lecture

Speaker: Professor Ed Heery 

Professor of Employment Relations

Cardiff Business School, University of Caridff

http://www.mirs.org.uk/index.html

Thursday 3 May 6pm
Lecture Theatre G33, Ground Floor
Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
All Saints, Oxford Road (near Oxford Road railway station), Manchester M15 6BH
Map:  http://www.mmu.ac.uk/travel/allsaints/

Contemporary writing on the employment relationship falls into three broad traditions: a unitary tradition that assumes there is a natural coincidence in the interests of employer and worker; a pluralist tradition that believes regulation is required to enable workers to advance their own, separate and distinct interests against those of the employer; and a critical tradition that perceives a fundamental cleavage in the interests of workers and employers and celebrates worker resistance to employer domination.

This presentation will identify the defining features of these competing traditions, or frames of reference as they are often known, and will show how their separate conceptions of the relative interests of workers and employers leads to distinctive research agenda, modes of explanation, prescriptions for practice, and particular ways of engaging with the public sphere. The presentation will also consider the relationship between the frames and will identify the typical forms of contention and debate in which they engage.

For further details see:

Professor Ralph Darlington: r.r.darlington@salford.ac.uk

0161-295-5456

Twitter: @ManchesterIRS

13th April 2018

ERU Conference at Cardiff: Global Value Chains and their Employment Relations Consequences 10/11 May 2018

Global Value Chains and their Employment Relations Consequences

ERU Conference: 10-11 May 2018,

Location: Cardiff Business School, Cardiff, UK

Organisers:

Jonathan Morris (Cardiff University) Jimmy Donaghey (Warwick University) Jean Jenkins (Cardiff University) Richard Locke (Brown University) Rachel Ashworth (Cardiff University)

Conference Aims and Scope:

This year’s Employment Research Unit Conference will take place on 10-11 May 2018 at Cardiff Business School on the theme of Global Value Chains and their Employment Relations Consequences. Keynote speakers will include Richard Locke, Mark Anner, Jennifer Bair, Andrew Crane and Klara Skrivankova and a special issue of the BJIR will accompany the conference. The conference team welcomes paper submissions that focus on the link between supply chain decisions and employment conditions. The attached call for papers provides further details.

Please note, there are funds to support the attendance of PhD students and early career researchers for this event. If anyone wishes to take advantage of such funding, they should please contact Jean Jenkins at jenkinsj1@cardiff.ac.uk in the first instance.

Conference Schedule:

10^th May 2018, 2-5pm, Symposium on Exploitative Work, Cardiff Business School

10^th May 2018, 7-10pm, Conference dinner, Cardiff Bay

11^th May 2018, 9-5pm, Conference paper sessions, Cardiff Business School.

Call for papers

The conference and proposed special issue of BJIR concerns the issue of the emergence, growth and evolution of global commodity chains and related employment relations issues. The relationship between supply chain relationships and the workplace is topical and referred to explicitly by the ILO agenda on international work and by the OECDs concerns with skills (OECD, 2017). While topical, much of the research in the area focuses on power relations between firms in chains and employment relations concerns being a secondary issue. However, this is changing and for example an emerging number of recent publications in the BJIR examine the employment relations consequences of supply chains. As such, this initiative proposes to bring this emerging research together into a coherent and unified volume.

Globalisation of production has brought significant economic growth and employment opportunities; for example, it has been estimated that 80% of world trade passes through GVCs (UNCTAD, 2013) and some 453 million jobs have been created in OECD and emerging economies (ILO, 2015). Further, it was once assumed that economic upgrading of value chains would lead to social upgrading. However, the potential asymmetric power relationships in supply chains have implications for both the employment relationship and social relations at work. This is particularly so in situations where there has been a ‘race to the bottom’ to secure contracts through low wages where, for example, industry entry and exit costs are low and developing economies are fearful of footloose large firms ‘cutting and running’ or where small firms in the lower tiers of the chain face being left behind. Participation in such chains may therefore result, in the worst case scenario, in country-wide economic benefits in developing countries but a degradation of working conditions and ‘social downgrading’, particularly for those working in low tier suppliers and irregular, informal, female and immigrant workers. Indeed, while there has been an extensive literature on GVC, there is increasing concern with the use of, for example, child labour, vulnerable workers and working conditions.

There have been attempts to use a variety of regulatory methods to improve work standards, tied to the ILO’s Decent Work Framework, but such attempts to regulate labour standards in chains (particularly apparel and footwear ones supplying to major western retailers and brands), may force undue pressures on firms in the supply chain trying to reconcile the conflicting demands of cheap labour and suppliers asking for higher standards. To date, much of this research has been framed in terms of the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda, however the industrial relations lens brings a particularly important and underexplored focus. The competition for surplus value between local, national and international capital has led to many examples of extreme demands on workforces already subject to multiple layers of socio-economic disadvantage. In such contexts, both public, statutory and private, voluntary regulation have proved woefully inadequate, particularly over issues of enforcement and non-compliance.

However, there is evidence that supply chains are evolving (to include, for example, high skill level services in locations such as India) and consolidating (for example, in the automotive industry) but also that the continuing geographical spread of activity may be under some threat as a consequence of automation, with consequences for the potential for national upgrading strategies (OECD, 2017).

The special issue seeks to consolidate recent research in the area and advance theoretical and applied knowledge on how decisions in the supply chain impact upon employment relations at work. As such we wish to draw papers from a number of disciplines including human resource management and the sociology of work, as well as industrial relations. In this special issue we wish to elicit submissions that are rich in empirical content and connect to theory in such a way as to build a detailed picture of the ways that broader social phenomena play out at the workplace level, in the specific context of international value chains and production networks. We would, therefore, welcome submissions from a range of areas including the effects of global supply chains on social relations at work. Research has focused on the role of MNCs in implementing employment practices across borders and the development of global supply chains. Much of this has been driven by the emergence of global value chains, which in turn are predicated upon trade liberalisation and intense (often labour) cost competition. We would like to see papers which draw upon:

(1) Control, struggle and the labour process in GVCs, for example, labour control and resistance in production at GVCs which has led to increased work intensity and control through pay systems, employer control over workers and threats to independent unionism.

(2) Class, rights and identity in industrial relations in GVCs, focussing on the ‘intersectionality’ of class, gender, race and ethnicity, and the exploitation of migrant labour.

(3) The presence of forced labour and modern-day slavery in value chains.

The special issue would also welcome papers on the governance of global value chains and the role of private, public and social regulation, including NGOs and international trade unions. We would like to see papers which draw upon:

(1) Institution building in GVCs which highlight both the potential and the complexities of institution building.

(2) Social accountability and sustainable work in GVCs, encompassing not only issues of job quality and the decent work agenda but also issues of private versus public regulation.

(3) Human relations and workplace realities in GVCs, focussing on the debate over human rights versus employment rights.

(4) The extent to which apparatuses such as Codes of Conduct and International Framework Agreements have enabled the democratisation of workplaces.

(5) Emerging connections between civil society and the trade union movement.

References:

ILO (2015) World Employment and Social Outlook 2015. Geneva: ILO.

OECD (2017) OECD Skills Outlook, 2017: Skills and Global Value Chains. Paris: OECD.

UNCTAD (2013) World Investment Report: Global Value Chains. Geneva: United Nations Publications.

Conference submission information:

Authors wishing to present a paper at the ERU Conference should send a 1000 word abstract to the organisers by 13 April, 2018. The abstract should outline the paper’s rationale and, if empirical, its main methods and results. After the conference authors will be invited to revise the papers within three months for submission to the journal. All papers for publication will be subject to the strict BJIR refereeing procedure Guidelines for BJIR authors can be found at

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8543

In the event of queries, please contact: Jean Jenkins at jenkinsj1@cardiff.ac.uk in the first instance.

6th April 2018

PhD Position Available: WBS/ProBE Studentship

Research Studentship on Climate Change, Labour and Work at Westminster Business School, University of Westminster

Three years, full time  

£16,000 annual stipend plus fee waiver

A full-time University of Westminster PhD Studentship is available in the Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment (ProBE) starting in September 2018. This PhD studentship is part of ProBE’s programme of research on Climate Change and Work, conducted in partnership with the York University, Toronto, funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), led by Professor Carla Lipsig Mummé and entitled Adapting Canadian Work and Workplaces, an international perspective (ACW). The programme explores the role of work and global warming and the role of organised workers as a force for adaptation. ProBE is responsible for the international dimension, with projects on green transition strategies and worker agency in Europe and the US, as well as in the built environment. The applicant is expected to have broad knowledge of the field and some experience of quantitative and qualitative research.

The student will be asked to do 6 hours of work per week as a research assistant to support ProBE’s ACW research and enhance REF 2020 submission. There may also be opportunities for exchange visits to Canada.

Eligible candidates will hold at least an upper second class honours degree and a Master’s degree. Candidates whose secondary level education has not been conducted in the medium of English should also demonstrate evidence of appropriate English language proficiency, normally defined as 6.5 in IELTS (with not less than 6.0 in any of the individual elements).

The Studentship consists of a full fee waiver at the Home Fee Rate of £5000 and a stipend of £16,000 per annum over three years of PhD study. The Studentship is open to Home and Overseas applicants, but overseas applicants must be aware that they will need to cover the difference between the Home and Overseas fee (Currently £8000 per year).

The closing date for applications is Monday, 14^th May 2018

For further information on how to apply, please visit: https://www.westminster.ac.uk/courses/research-degrees/research-areas/business/how-to-apply

When applying please ensure that you quote ‘WBS/ProBE Studentship’

Prospective candidates wishing to discuss an application informally should contact Professor Linda Clarke:clarkel@wmin.ac.uk

29th March 2018

PhD studentship: ESRC-Skills Development Scotland - Explaining employer engagement with apprenticeships

Description

The project is funded by the ESRC and Skills Development Scotland (SDS). The aims of the project are to explore the factors that influence employers' decisions about whether or not to develop apprenticeships, engage with apprenticeship policy, and how employers seek to shape the policy context around apprenticeship provision.

To achieve this, the research will use a mixed methods approach (secondary analysis of surveys and case studies of employers) to explore varying levels of employer engagement with apprenticeships in Scotland. In the first year, the doctoral researcher will explore existing quantitative data sets to identify patterns of engagement with apprenticeship provision. This analysis will inform the selection of at least six employer case studies in key sectors. The second year will therefore be spent working to secure access with participating employers, to understand the pressures within their sectors and industries, and interviewing key stakeholders (employers, managers, policy makers etc). The third year will be spent analyzing the data and writing up the doctoral thesis.

The successful applicant will work closely with individual employers as well as SDS and other stakeholders to deliver theoretically-rigorous and policy-relevant research. The project will result in reports to stakeholders as well as a written doctoral thesis.

Given the extensive work with employers, it is important that candidates have an understanding of how employing organisations make decisions. An interest in labour market policy is also an advantage. Candidates should be keen to develop strong qualitative research skills, and be open to opportunities to undertake training to develop quantitative data analysis skills. Candidates are likely to have a social science background, with some evidence of an enthusiasm to understand business decisions.

The PhD Project will be Lead-Supervised by Professor Melanie Simms in the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow.

Further details:

https://www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/socialsciences/studentfundingopportunities/postgraduateresearch/#d.en.570622

Eligibility

Home/EU applicants are eligible to apply.  

ESRC eligibility information
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/postgraduates/prospective-students/eligibility/index.aspx

26th March 2018

London BUIRA seminar Labour Migration 27 April 2018

Central London BUIRA Seminar:

Labour Migration

Professor Bridget Anderson (University of Bristol) on Labour market flexibility and citizenship rights

Dr Rachel Marangozov (Institute of Employment Studies) on Brexit and beyond: A prefect storm for our nursing workforce?’

Friday 27 April 2018, 10.30am – 12.30pm, followed by buffet lunch

University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS

(opposite Madame Tussauds and nearly opposite Baker Street tube)
Room C279 (lunch C287)

For further details and to reserve a place, contact Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk)

This regular monthly seminar is focused onlabour migration, a particularly topical theme given on-going Brexit negotiations and we are fortunate to have two expert speakers:

Bridget Anderson, Professor of Professor of Migration, Mobilities and Citizenship in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol, explores the tension between labour market flexibilities and citizenship rights. She will discuss the functions of immigration in key labour market sectors and the ways in which immigration controls increasingly impact on citizens as well as migrants. From 2013-2017 Bridget was Research Director of COMPAS (Centre of Migration, Policy and Society) at the University of Oxford. She has always worked closely with migrants’ organisations, trades unions and legal practitioners at local, national and international level. Her publications include: Us and Them? The Dangerous Politics of Immigration Controls(Oxford University Press, 2013); Who Needs Migrant Workers? Labour Shortages, Immigration and Public Policy, co-edited with Martin Ruhs (Oxford University Press, 2012);The Social, Political and Historical Contours of Deportation with Matthew Gibney and Emanuela Paoletti (Springer, 2013); andMigration and Care Labour: Theory, Policy and Politics with Isabel Shutes (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Rachel Marangozov, Research Associate at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES)and Director of MigrationWork CIC, willpresent findings from 2 IES studies:1) for the Migration Advisory Committee, on whether nursing should be kept on the Shortage Occupation List; and 2) on the risks of Brexit to the nursing workforce. She will questionthe sustainability of continued reliance on a foreign workforce of nurses. Rachel specializes in the labour market disadvantage of ethnic minority groups and migrant workers. She previously worked at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) on a range of equality and diversity issues and is a Director of MigrationWork CIC, which helps communities, policymakers, and practitioners respond to migration. Her work there has involved projects for the European Commission in both the United Kingdom and in several European Member States on a range of integration issues.

This seminar is an opportunity to air and discuss these issues in an open forum and consider their implications for industrial relations. Anyone interested is welcome to attend this event. These meetings can be full though so, if you would like to attend and to help forecast catering provision, please Contact: Professor Linda Clarke, clarkel@wmin.ac.uk or 020350 66528

26th March 2018

ILERA 8th Regional Congress, Mauritius, 7-9 May 2018 - URGENT

Following the huge efforts of South African Labour and Employment Relations Association, we are happy to announce that the 8^th ILERA Regional Congress will be held in

the Intercontinental Resort Mauritius, Balaclava Fort, Balaclava, Mauritius from 7 to 9 May 2018 under the general theme:

CHALLENGES FACING THE FUTURE OF WORK: AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES AND EXPERIENCES

Attached please find the Call for Papers as well as a Congress information brochure.

More information can be found on: www.ilera-africa2018.co.za

23rd March 2018

The Fourth Biennial Fairness at Work Conference 'Justice at Work: Challenges and Possibilities' (Work and Equalities Institute, University of Manchester) - Submission Deadline Extended 

Work and Equalities Institute

The University of Manchester 
The Fourth Biennial Fairness at Work Conference 
'Justice at Work: Challenges and Possibilities’

10 & 11 September 2018 
Call for Papers

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 20 April 2018

Building on the three previous Fairness at Work Conferences at the University of Manchester (in 2012, 2014, and 2016), the 2018 conference aims to bring together academics and practitioners to discuss strategic issues on the subject of justice and fairness at work. The last two years have seen a major shift in the political environment and an emergence of a politics of national insularity. Yet at the same time major strides have been made in raising awareness and support for living wage campaigns and improving workplace justice. The conference aims to discuss developments in our understandings of the impact of technological changes (e.g. the gig economy), the changing experiences of work amongst groups of vulnerable workers (e.g. younger workers), the impact of an increasingly hostile context on notions of justice and fairness at the workplace (e.g. a greater challenge to minority rights) and the responses and roles of trade unions and other civil society organisations in dealing with such challenges.

The conference is being held in Manchester at the same time as the 150^th Annual Conference of the UK’s Trade Unions Congress and will organise sessions linked to the TUC conference themes, with invited speakers and activities focused on the future of trade unions and worker regulation and rights.  The TUC was founded in Manchester in 1868 and the WEI Fairness at Work conference will include social and cultural activities linked to the labour history and struggles for equality of the city.

Papers are invited on these developments in the areas of fair treatment at work, diversity and equality, stress and well-being, dignity at work, employment regulation, worker participation, trade unionism, technology and work, and key elements of employment relations such as pay, pensions and working time.

Venue: The University of Manchester

Cost: £200 Waged (£50 unwaged) - includes all food and drink plus the conference dinner

Submission: Please Send 500 word abstracts or 1000 word for sessions by 20 April 2018 tofairwrcconferences@mbs.ac.uk

About the Work & Equalities Institute

The Work & Equalities Institute brings together the European Work and Employment Research Centre and Fairness at Work Research Centre with expertise across human resource management, industrial relations, labour economics, organisational psychology, and employment law. The team has a track record, built over more than twenty five years, of informing the evidence-base and policy agenda of the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation, as well as national organisations such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and others. WEI’s research is being used in knowledge exchange, dialogue and debate with key stakeholders and policy makers, and makes informed contributions to policy formation and practice. For more information, visit: https://www.mbs.ac.uk/research/centres-and-institutes/work-and-equalities-institute/

23rd March 2018

PhD Positions @ UCD Quinn School of Business

UCD have opened their call for PhD applications - for further information please follow the below link:

https://www.erc-europeanunions.eu/open-positions/

15th March 2018

EFES Newsletter - New facts about employee share ownership in March 2018

Please access the EFES Newsletter via the following link:

http://www.efesonline.org/EFES NEWS/2018/EFES NEWSLETTER - 3-2018 EN.htm

13th March 2018

PhD position in Working Life Science at Karlstad University / Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences / Business School

Description

This is a fixed-term position for four years at full time. Unless there are special circumstances, this is a full-time position, and the lowest rate of study is 50%. The position includes departmental duties up to 20% of full time, spread over the entire period of appointment. The period of appointment is extended in accordance with departmental duties executed.

Eligibility and selection

General as well as specific entry requirements have to be met for admittance to the PhD programme. General entry requirements are fulfilled by a person who has earned a master’s degree and at least 240 ECTS credits of which at least 60 ECTS cr. are studies at master’s level, or who in some other way in Sweden or abroad has acquired largely equivalent knowledge.

Specific entry requirements to the PhD programme in Working Life Science are fulfilled by a person who has earned a master’s degree (60 ECTS cr.) and who wrote a bachelor or master thesis (for a 60 or 120-credit Master’s degree) focusing on working life issues.

Good oral and written skills in Swedish and English are valued.

Independent essays and degree projects will be particularly significant when applications are assessed.

The departmental duties of doctoral students are executed as part of the discipline’s bachelor-level teaching, particularly in the Human Resource Management and Working Life programme. Teaching duties may also include commissioned courses offered by the discipline. The teaching is mainly in Swedish.

Admission 

The successful applicant is admitted to the PhD programme after individual assessment of their ability to complete the programme successfully. The starting date is as soon as possible, as per agreement. The position in based in Karlstad. 2018-03-02

Application

Applications are submitted electronically and should include:

• CV

• Undergraduate and master-level essays and degree projects for consideration

• Other academic texts demonstrating the applicant’s capability to complete the PhD programme successfully, if applicable

• A plan for the doctoral thesis project (max. 6 pages)

• A brief account (1 000 words) of the applicant’s interest in the position and their main areas of interest for the PhD project.

REK2018/53

Contact:

Ann Bergman, professor, ann.bergman@kau.se054-700 15 24

Robert MacKenzie, professor, robert@mackenzie@kau 054-700 1500

Martin Löfgren, head of school 054- 700 1975

Thomas Bragefors, SACO union representative 054-700 1714

Denita Gustavsson, OFR 054-700 1434

Last application date 2018-04-03

12th March 2018

Workers in the Modern Economy- Aspects of Flexibility – Call for Papers

Deadline for abstracts: 28 March 2018. Contributions invited from all disciplines. 

8th March 2018

Research Studentship on Climate Change, Labour and Work at Westminster Business School, University of Westminster

Research Studentship on Climate Change, Labour and Work at Westminster Business School, University of Westminster

Three years, full time  

£16,000 annual stipend plus fee waiver

 A full-time University of Westminster PhD Studentship is available in the Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment (ProBE) starting in September 2018. This PhD studentship is part of ProBE’s programme of research on Climate Change and Work, conducted in partnership with the York University, Toronto, funded by theCanadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), led by Professor Carla Lipsig Mummé and entitled Adapting Canadian Work and Workplaces, an international perspective (ACW). The programme explores the role of work and global warming and the role of organised workers as a force for adaptation. ProBE is responsible for the international dimension, with projects on green transition strategies and worker agency in Europe and the US, as well as in the built environment. The applicant is expected to have broad knowledge of the field and some experience of quantitative and qualitative research.

The student will be asked to do 6 hours of work per week as a research assistant to support ProBE’s ACW research and enhance REF 2020 submission. There may also be opportunities for exchange visits to Canada.

Eligible candidates will hold at least an upper second class honours degree and a Master’s degree. Candidates whose secondary level education has not been conducted in the medium of English should also demonstrate evidence of appropriate English language proficiency, normally defined as 6.5 in IELTS (with not less than 6.0 in any of the individual elements).

The Studentship consists of a full fee waiver at the Home Fee Rate of £5000 and a stipend of £16,000 per annum over three years of PhD study. The Studentship is open to Home and Overseas applicants, but overseas applicants must be aware that they will need to cover the difference between the Home and Overseas fee (Currently £8000 per year).

The closing date for applications is Monday, 14^th May 2018

For further information on how to apply, please visit:https://www.westminster.ac.uk/courses/research-degrees/research-areas/business/how-to-apply

When applying please ensure that you quote ‘WBS/ProBE Studentship’

Prospective candidates wishing to discuss an application informally should contact Professor Linda Clarke: clarkel@wmin.ac.uk

6th March 2018

BUIRA statement of support for the UCU strike

BUIRA statement of support for the UCU strike

As we see this week begin with a continuation of industrial action, we send out a statement of continuing support to all of our members and colleagues involved in this historic  dispute.  We also want to extend thanks to all of our students who have stood with our colleagues in solidarity.  Everyone has demonstrated an unprecedented commitment to the action and the continuing efforts to defend the status quo on our pensions has been incredible.

We are at a very critical moment in this dispute as the UCU and UUK meet with ACAS to hold a facilitated discussion about the situation. We hope this leads to a clear proposal for a durable solution to the pension problem by the USS and the Pensions Regulator. 

Jo McBride on behalf of the BUIRA stewardship

5th March 2018

Manchester Industrial Relations Society Meeting - The Impact of Brexit on Equality Law

Manchester Industrial Relations Society Meeting

The Impact of Brexit on Equality Law

Speaker: Professor Sandra Fredman 

Rhodes Professor of the Laws of the British Commonwealth and the United States

Pembroke College, University of Oxford

http://www.mirs.org.uk/index.html

Thursday 12 April 6pm
Lecture Theatre G33, Ground Floor
Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
All Saints, Oxford Road (near Oxford Road railway station), Manchester M15 6BH
Map:  http://www.mmu.ac.uk/travel/allsaints/

Equality rights in the UK have been intimately connected to the EU, not only for their impetus but also for their continued content and strength. Unlike other jurisdictions, the right to equality in the UK is not protected by a constitutional bill of rights that would limit the extent to which equality could be eroded or removed by Parliamentary legislation. Prior to Brexit, EU law has performed a similar function to a constitutional guarantee. However, after Brexit, and the consequent removal of binding force EU law, there will be no obstacle to Parliament repealing or undermining the fundamental right to equality, currently largely contained in the Equality Act 2010 (EA).

Even more concerning are proposed powers to be given to the executive to amend primary legislation without full Parliamentary scrutiny (so-called Henry VIII clauses), which could include the power to amend aspects of equality law without full Parliamentary safeguards. Moreover, the Withdrawal Bill specifically states that the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights will no longer be part of domestic law after exit day. Professor Sandra Fredman will consider both the impact of Brexit on equality law, and the ways in which equality law post Brexit can be protected and promoted.

4th March 2018

University of Manchester's Work & Equalities Institute Research Seminar: "National approaches to innovation: Robotics and the implications for work"

University of Manchester

Work & Equalities Institute (WEI)

Research Seminar

National approaches to innovation: Robotics and the implications for work

Professor Caroline Lloyd(Cardiff University)

Wednesday 21^th March 2018

15:30 - 17:00 Hrs (coffee and tea at 15:15)

Alliance Manchester Business School East, Room B4

Abstract

The view that robots and artificial intelligence (RAI) are transforming work in unprecedented ways is attracting increasing attention, embodied in terms such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Second Machine Age (Brynjolfsson and McAfee, 2014, Ford 2015). This seminar aims to contribute to debates about the extent of national differences in the diffusion of RAI and the way it is implemented and used within the workplace. It adopts an approach that considers the social and institutional complexity of ‘national systems’ of innovation (eg. Freeman 1982, Lundvall 1999) and the role of institutions, the state and the social partners in shaping the diffusion of technologies. Taking Norway and the UK as examples of contrasting models of capitalism, the seminar uses key informant interviews to exam two main questions. First, are there national differences in the way that public policy and institutional arrangements are developing to support and shape innovation in RAI and its diffusion? Second, are there different expectations in relation to the pace of change, and the likely consequences for employment and skills? These questions feed into debates about what can be done to shape the way technology is used and how potential benefits are distributed.

About the speaker

Caroline Lloyd is Professor at the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. Her research focuses on the relationship between product markets, labour markets, work organisation and skills. She has written widely on issues related to the political economy of skill and low wage work. She co-edited Low-Wage Work in the United Kingdom and recently published a comparative study of work organisation in the service sector; Skills in the Age of Overqualification: Comparing Service Sector Work in Europe (with J. Payne). She is currently working on a British Academy-funded project on the impact of robotics on work and skills in the UK and Norway.

3rd March 2018

Vacancies at the University of Sheffield

Sheffield University Management School has seeking to appoint a Lecturer in Employment Relations, a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in HRM/OB, a Chair in Organisational Studies and a Doctoral Associate in Organisational Studies. Further information is available at https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/jobs 

2nd March 2018

PhD position in Working Life Science

PhD position in Working Life Science

Karlstad University / Fakulteten för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap / Handelshögskolan

Karlstad University takes pride in combining active external cooperation with academic excellence.

Karlstad University has around 16 000 students and a staff of over 1 200 members. Democratic principles, equality and diversity are cornerstones of the University. We value the enriching presence of diverse backgrounds and competencies among students and staff.

Description

Working Life Science is a cross-disciplinary subject that includes many different approaches to work and working life. Working Life Science studies, for example, working conditions, work organisations, and leadership, and considers the labor market issues from national and international perspectives. Issues of power and influence, industrial relations, segregation patterns at workplaces and on the Labor market, work environment, work-life balance, work and identity, migration, restructuring, casualization, and work and technology are some of the areas studied. The discipline Working Life Science comprises around fifteen staff members, including three professors, an associate professor, four senior lecturers and around ten doctoral students.

This is a fixed-term position for four years at full time. Unless there are special circumstances, this is a full-time position, and the lowest rate of study is 50%. The position includes departmental duties up to 20% of full time, spread over the entire period of appointment. The period of appointment is extended in accordance with departmental duties executed.

Eligibility and selection

General as well as specific entry requirements have to be met for admittance to the PhD programme.

General entry requirements are fulfilled by a person who has earned a master’s degree and at least 240 ECTS credits of which at least 60 ECTS cr. are studies at master’s level, or who in some other way in Sweden or abroad has acquired largely equivalent knowledge.

Specific entry requirements to the PhD programme in Working Life Science are fulfilled by a person who has earned a master’s degree (60 ECTS cr.) and who wrote a bachelor or master thesis (for a 60 or 120-credit Master’s degree) focusing on working life issues.

Good oral and written skills in Swedish and English are valued.

Independent essays and degree projects will be particularly significant when applications are assessed.

The departmental duties of doctoral students are executed as part of the discipline’s bachelor-level teaching, particularly in the Human Resource Management and Working Life programme. Teaching duties may also include commissioned courses offered by the discipline. The teaching is mainly in

Swedish.

Admission

The successful applicant is admitted to the PhD programme after individual assessment of their ability to complete the programme successfully. The starting date is as soon as possible, as per agreement. The position in based in Karlstad.

Application

Applications are submitted electronically and should include:

• CV
• Undergraduate and master-level essays and degree projects for consideration
• Other academic texts demonstrating the applicant’s capability to complete the PhD programme successfully, if applicable
• A plan for the doctoral thesis project (max. 6 pages)
• A brief account (1 000 words) of the applicant’s interest in the position and their main areas of interest for the PhD project.

REK2018/53

Contact:

Ann Bergman, professor, ann.bergman@kau.se 054-700 15 24
Robert MacKenzie, professor, robert@mackenzie@kau 054-700 1500
Martin Löfgren, prefekt 054- 700 1975

Thomas Bragefors, SACO 054-700 1714

Denita Gustavsson, OFR 054-700 1434

Last application date 2018-04-03

2nd March 2018

Tackling the gender pay gap

The Work & Employment Research Unit and the Diversity Interest Group have organised a joint seminar on tackling the gender pay gap.

Date: Wednesday, 21^st March 2018

Time: 15:00-18:00

Location: Hamilton House, 15 Park Vista, Park Vista, Greenwich, SE10 9LZ.

Registration: Please email Business School Events with your name, job title and organisation to attend.

For more information: our webpage

This seminar will look at how employers are responding to the new governmental reporting requirements and at new research from the IES on success in tackling the issue. We are delighted to have three speakers presenting:

·         Dr Duncan Brown

·         Jisha Hales 

·         Lara Plaxton

Dr Duncan Brown heads the HR work at the Institute for Employment Studies. Duncan’s work covers pay and HR research. He has more than 30 years’ experience in pay and HR management, working for major consultancies such as Towers Perrin and Aon Hewitt, as well as 5 years as director of research and policy at CIPD

Jisha Hales is the policy lead for gender pay gap reporting in the public sector and the public sector equality duty. She is a member of the Equality Framework Team in the Government Equalities Office. The Government Equalities Office leads work on policy relating to women, sexual orientation and transgender equality. 

Lara Plaxton has over 14 years’ experience working within HR and heads up the HR function in the UK at FDM Group, a global IT Services provider. FDM was the 6^th employer to register its gender pay gap data and has been a driving force in encouraging others to adopt the new legislation early.

1st March 2018

Event: TUC 150th Anniversary Conference

TUC 150^th Anniversary Conference: Retrospect and Prospects

in conjunction with the Manchester Industrial Society

Mechanics Institute, Princess Street, Manchester

Friday 1 June 10am-6.30pm

Timetable

9am – 10am: Registration

10am: Opening remarks

10.15 – 11.30: Panel Session1chaired by Lynne Morris, UNISON/TUC North West Chair

The role of the TUC in significant disputes

• Professor Ralph Darlington Professor of Employment Relations, University of Salford,

and secretary of Manchester Industrial Relations Society

• Professor John Kelly, Professor of Industrial Relations, Birkbeck, University of London

• trade union speaker tbc

11.30 – 12.45: Panel session 2 Chaired by Lynn Collins, TUC North West

TUC Relations with Labour in Government and opposition

• Sarah Veale, former Head of Equality and Employment Rights, TUC

• Keith Ewing – Professor of Public Law, King’s College London

• John McDonnell MP

12.45 – 1.45: Lunch

1.45 – 3.00: Panel Session 3 chaired by Paula Wood, PCS/TUC North West

TUC Framing Laws and Changing Laws

• John Hendy QC

• Stephen Cavalier, Chief Executive, Thompsons solicitors

• Hannah Reed, Senior Employment Rights Officer TUC

3.00 – 4.15: Panel session 4 chaired by Peter Middleman NEU/TUC North West

The Organising Academy and beyond

• Melanie Simms, Professor of Work and Employment, University of Glasgow

• Sally Hunt – TUC President and UCU General Secretary

• Paul Nowak – TUC Deputy General Secretary

4.15 – 6.30pm: Closing Remarks followed by a Beer and sandwiches reception,

hosted by Thompsons Solicitors

Registration for the conference costs £10 which includes copies of presentations, lunch and

closing reception. A number of student places will be made available at a reduced rate of £5.

You can register via the Eventbrite link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tuc150-retrospects-and-prospects-tickets-42781768421

1st March 2018

Alert: Early-bird registration for the ILERA 2018 world congress ends soon

Dear Colleagues,

This is to alert you that the early-bird registration for the International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA) 2018 world congress ends soon – see the notice below.  

The hosts selected the last week of July for this world congress so that the dates should not create a conflict for most academics, and that this is vacation time for many. This ILERA world congress has rec’d a record number of submissions. The president of ILERA, Dong-One Kim and his team have worked to make this a very interesting world congress, both substantively and socially. Also, they have tried to keep costs down, in particular, the costs for students.

 BUIRA is a founder member of ILERA. A range of BUIRA members will be presenting papers there and have already registered. Although the deadline for submissions of full papers has passed, there may still be possibilities to present a paper in one of the many study groups, if you wish. These groups are less formal than the core world congress; they are semi-autonomous and organise their own programs; for more info. see:  http://www.ilera2018.org/program/study_group.html

This is also a great opportunity to visit South Korea and perhaps other parts of Asia and/or Australia or New Zealand too….

26th February 2018

Call for evidence: trade unions in the modern labour market

Commission on Economic Justice report on trade unions and the modern labour market

The IPPR Commission on Economic Justice is seeking evidence for a project on trade unions in the modern labour market. This project will produce a policy report to stimulate wider debate on the topic and will contribute to the Commission’s final report.

The Commission is seeking to understand the causes of the significant decline in union membership and collective bargaining since 1979, and the impact this decline has had on the UK economy and labour market. We will seek out best practice in the movement, and highlight where trade unions have innovated to adapt to a changing labour market. The project will set out what role trade unions could play in the labour market in the future, and outline changes that may be necessary to support this.

The closing date for submissions is 30 March 2018. Please send your comments, by this date (or sooner), to Joe Dromey, Senior Research Fellow at evidence@ippr.org, with the subject line ‘Trade unions’. If you will have material that is only available to send after the closing date we would still be pleased to receive it, though may not be able to use it in our initial research.

23rd February 2018

Critical realism in practice: Applications in management and organisation studies

Critical realism in practice: Applications in management and organisation studies

11^th May 2018, 9.30am-4.30pm, Partners Room

Newcastle University Business School

Keynote speakers

Dr Scott Hurrell (University of Glasgow)

Prof Monder Ram (University of Birmingham)

Prof Steve Vincent (Newcastle University)

Call for papers

Critical realism (CR) is an increasingly prominent meta-theory in management and organisational studies, but practical illustrations of how CR can be applied in research practice are still relatively infrequent. Our one-day symposium seeks to bring together postgraduate and early-career researchers with interests in the sociology of work, employment relations, careers, professions, organisations and cognate research areas, and learn about the variety of ways and contexts in which CR can be applied in empirical research.

This event seeks to provide an open, imaginative and supportive forum to present and discuss ideas, receive advice from the leading CR experts, and meet other scholars with similar research interests. Therefore, we are pleased to invite submissions of abstracts (up to 250 words) from postgraduate and early-career researchers applying (or considering opportunities to apply) CR to study issues relevant to management and organization studies. ‘Work in progress’ submissions are welcome. Potential areas to present on include (but are not limited to):

• skills and skill formation systems;
• labour markets;
• employment relationship;
• identity;
• workforce diversity;
• careers;
• entrepreneurship.

Abstract submission deadline: April 15^th 2018

Please submit your abstracts to: Toma Pustelnikovaite (tp27@st-andrews.ac.uk)

Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Please specify dietary requirements or accessibility needs at the time of booking. Attendance without presenting at the symposium is also welcome.

Delegate rates: BSA Member Registration £5, Non-Member Registration £15.

For conference and academic enquiries please contact Andrew Kozhevnikov (a.kozhevnikov@newcastle.ac.uk)

22nd February 2018

Fourth Bi-Annual Fairness at Work Conference - 10-11 Sept 2018, Work & Equalities Institute, University of Manchester [DEADLINE EXTENDED]

The University of Manchester

Work & Equalities Institute (WEI)

Fourth Bi-Annual Fairness at Work Conference

'Justice at Work: Challenges and Possibilities’

Date: 10th & 11th September 2018

Venue: The University of Manchester

CALL FOR PAPERS

Deadline for abstracts: 31st of March 

Building on the three previous Fairness at Work Conferences at the University of Manchester (in 2012, 2014, and 2016), the 2018 conference aims to bring together academics and practitioners to discuss strategic issues on the subject of justice and fairness at work. The last two years have seen a major shift in the political environment and an emergence of a politics of national insularity. Yet at the same time major strides have been made in raising awareness and support for living wage campaigns and improving workplace justice.   The conference aims to discuss developments in our understandings of the impact of technological changes (e.g. the gig economy), the changing experiences of work amongst groups of vulnerable workers (e.g. younger workers), the impact of an increasingly hostile context on notions of justice and fairness at the workplace (e.g. a greater challenge to minority rights) and the responses and roles of trade unions and other civil society organisations in dealing with such challenges.

The conference is being held in Manchester at the same time as the 150^th Annual Conference of the UK’s Trade Unions Congress and will organise sessions linked to the TUC conference themes, with invited speakers and activities focused on the future of trade unions and worker regulation and rights.  The TUC was founded in Manchester in 1868 and the WEI Fairness at Work conference will include social and cultural activities linked to the labour history and struggles for equality of the city. 

Papers are invited on these developments in the areas of fair treatment at work, diversity and equality, stress and well-being, dignity at work, employment regulation, worker participation, trade unionism, technology and work, and key elements of employment relations such as pay, pensions and working time.

Cost: £200 Waged (£50 unwaged): includes all food and drink plus the conference dinner

Abstract submission: Please email 500-word abstracts or 1000-word for sessionsby 31^st  March 2018 tofairwrcconferences@mbs.ac.uk 

About the Work & Equalities Institute: The Work & Equalities Institute brings together the European Work and Employment Research Centre and Fairness at Work Research Centre with expertise across human resource management, industrial relations, labour economics, organisational psychology, and employment law. The team has a track record, built over more than twenty five years, of informing the evidence-base and policy agenda of the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation, as well as national organisations such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and others. WEI’s research is being used in knowledge exchange, dialogue and debate with key stakeholders and policy makers, and makes informed contributions to policy formation and practice.https://www.mbs.ac.uk/research/centres-and-institutes/work-and-equalities-institute/

20th February 2018

Call for Papers - special issue on ‘ Beyond the Department: HRM as a Shared Function’, Baltic Journal of Management

The call for papers can be accessed here:

 http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/call_for_papers.htm?id=7688 . 

16th February 2018

ILERA Announcement - Online course on Shaping the Future of Work

Shaping the Future of Work

Explore ways to improve job opportunities and develop a personal plan for lifelong career success

This Spring Thomas Kochan, previous ILERA President will offer his free eight-week online course, 15.662x: 
Shaping the Future of Work, for the third time since 2015.

The goal of this course is to explore and develop plans of action for improving the job and career opportunities for today and tomorrow’s workforce. It also help students understand and better address the deep divisions and inequalities in societies that threaten the future of our economies and democracies. The course will allow for individuals from all across the globe to create a better future by building a stronger network of businesses, employees, labor organizations, and their communities.

“We use the metaphor of “Building a New Social Contract” to organize the task we face and the options we might consider, while shaping the future trajectory of employment. Together we will learn how business, education, labor, government, and the workforce can work together to produce more good jobs and careers, thriving businesses and economies and in doing so help to close the deep divisions and address the frustrations that are all too apparent in our society.”

“I would like to invite you, your students, and your colleagues to take part in the class. In order to get a better sense of the course layout, you can watch the introduction piece here. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to us. We would love to have you on board and share the information with your potentially interested students. “

Thomas Kochan and 15.662x Course Team

Starts on 20 March 2018 - Enrol here

16th February 2018

Green Jobs and Sustainability

Seminar jointly organised by the ‘Alternative Organisations and Transformative Practices’ and the ‘Sustainable Development’ clusters

Date and time: 22^nd of March 2018, 13.15-15.00

Location: C205, College Building, Middlesex University, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BT

Tickets: Entry is free and open to all. Please register here to reserve your place: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/green-jobs-and-sustainability-tickets-42751809814

***Refreshments will be served***

Saving and providing low-carbon energy are great challenges of our times, as the by-products of combustion of oil, gas, coal and other materials contribute to climate change, air-pollution, natural disasters, and diseases. Low-carbon housing and energy generation are essential for the survival of life on this planet. Both require NEW technology and NEW ways of working.

After some dire post-financial and economic crisis years, policy makers and academics are excited about the opportunities for creating employment and stimulating European economies provided by the rising awareness of the negative impact of environmental pollution and climate change. Climate change and how societies engage in technological and social innovation are questions of social, ecological and economic sustainability. In this seminar, we ask

How can the turn to energy saving and low-carbon energy generation contribute to more and better employment across European economies?

We invite academics and PhD students from various disciplines to join us for a lively exchange of ideas. 

Speakers

Prof Linda Clarke (Professor of European Industrial Relations in the Westminster Business School) and Dr. Melahat Sahin-Dikmen (Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment (ProBE), Westminster Business School) on

'Challenges for vocational education and training for low energy construction in Europe: divergent contexts, approaches and practices'

Dr Robert Gross (Reader in Energy Policy and Technology and Director of the Centre for Energy Policy and Technology (ICEPT) at Imperial College London) on

'Low carbon jobs, what is the evidence? The UKERC systematic review'

Dr Lisa Schulte (Lecturer in HRM and Organisational Behaviour, Middlesex University) (Initiator of this seminar) on

'Job Quality in the Danish, English and German Offshore Wind Turbine Industry'

Chair: Dr Anne Daguerre (Associate Professor in Work Employment and Welfare, Middlesex University)

Sponsor: Research Facilitation Funding Grant – Middlesex University Business School

16th February 2018

Call for Papers: HR Division International Conference (HRIC), Dublin 2019

16th February 2018

University of Manchester's Work & Equalities Institute Research Seminar: "Strategies for flexibility in a disconnected world"

University of Manchester

Work & Equalities Institute (WEI)

Research Seminar

Strategies for flexibility in a disconnected world

Wednesday 21^th February 2018

15:30 - 17:00 Hrs (coffee and tea at 15:15)

Alliance Manchester Business School East, Room B5

Speaker:        Professor Stephen Procter, Newcastle University Business School

Discussants:  Dr Andrew Smith, Bradford University

                      Professor Jill Rubery, Work & Equalities Institute, University of Manchester

Abstract

This paper makes connections between three things: financialisation, flexibility and strategic HRM. It is argued first of all that financialisation should be understood as an intensification of long-standing pressures on organizations. Picking up on themes of flexibility first developed twenty years ago in the model of the ‘new flexible firm’, the impact of financialisation on the structural flexibility of large UK organizations is examined. Consideration of financialisation also provides a link to the disconnected capitalism thesis, with its implications for strategic HRM. While recognising the strength of the thesis, it is argued that there are also other ways of explaining HRM’s failure to deliver on its promises. The third side of our triangle links flexibility with strategic HRM, and draws on research that looks at whether flexibility and fit should be seen as complements or as substitutes for each other. This is looked at in relation to financialisation, in an attempt to provide a framework in which current developments can be located in their wider and more long-term context.

About the Speaker

Professor Stephen Procter is Alcan Chair of Management at Newcastle University Business School. His research has focused on the contemporary restructuring of work, exploring teams and teamworking as central elements of this restructuring. His focus on teamworking developed out of earlier work on workplace flexibility, which dominated debates on restructuring in the early 1990s. In response to these debates, his work put forward the model of the new flexible firm as a means of understanding contemporary developments, which linked workforce flexibility with broader operational and organizational concerns. His more recent research has extended these ideas to provide an understanding of ‘lean’ teamworking, presenting an alternative to the interpretation based simply on work intensification.

About the Discussants

Dr Andrew Smith is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Employment Relations at Bradford University School of Management.  Prior to entering academia as a mature student he worked in the civil service and was a trade union representative for the CPSA and PCS unions.  His research interests are in the experiences of work, employment change and the complexities and challenges of work-life ‘balance’. He has published in the journals ‘Work, Employment and Society’, ‘New Technology, Work and Employment’ and the ‘Industrial Relations Journal’.  Andrew is currently working with Dr Jo McBride (Newcastle University) on a new project critically examining the working lives of low-paid workers in multiple legitimate employment.

Professor Jill Rubery has worked at Manchester since 1989, first at the Manchester School of Management at UMIST and since 2004 in Alliance Manchester Business School. She previously worked at the Department of Applied Economics at Cambridge University. Professor Rubery is the Director of the Work and Equalities Institute at Alliance Manchester Business School. She was previously Deputy Director of Alliance Manchester Business School (2007-2013) and head of the People, Management and Organisation Division (2004-2009). In 2006 she was elected a fellow of the British Academy and an emeritus fellow of Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge.

16th February 2018

Event - Labour Abuse

Labour Abuse

Dr Roberto Pedersini (University of Milan) Coping with fraudulent work in the European Union

Nick Clark (Middlesex University) One law for the rich… Case studies from the Unpaid Britain project

Friday 23 February 2018, 10.30am – 12.30pm, followed by buffet lunch 

University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS

(opposite Madame Tussauds and nearly opposite Baker Street tube)
Room CG44

For further details and to reserve a place, contact Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk)

This regular monthly seminar is focused on the 

Roberto Pedersini presents the main findings of a study carried out on behalf of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) on the different types and diffusion of fraudulent work in the European Union and the responses that public authorities and social partners have developed to address the challenges posed. Three forms of contracting work are most affected by fraudulent uses - self-employment, fixed-term work and the posting of workers, whilst the social partners mainly operate to increase commitment to compliance. Nick Clark will report on the Unpaid Britain project, examining the phenomenon of unpaid wages, in particular in the London labour market. While secondary data analysis and primary research on Employment Tribunal judgements have revealed much, a series of case studies have provided fascinating insights into this most fundamental breach of the work contract.

Roberto Pedersini is Associate Professor of Economic sociology at the Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. His current research interests concern labour market regulation and policies and industrial and employment relations at both national and international level. He has collaborated in research projects with the International Labour Office, the European Commission and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and was the Chief Editor of the 2014 edition of the biennial European Commission’s Industrial Relations in Europe report. His recent publications include: Exploring the fraudulent contracting of work in the European Union (2016, with Massimo Pallini); What Kind of Europeanization? How EMU is Changing National Industrial Relations in Europe (2015, with Lorenzo Bordogna); Coping with the crisis in Italy: Employment relations and social dialogue amid recession (2014, with Marino Regini).

Nick Clark, Research Fellow at Middlesex University Business School has a background in practice, having worked in trade union research and policy environments for 26 years before joining the Working Lives Research Institute in 2009, moving on to Middlesex University in 2015. His academic research has built on practical knowledge of wage bargaining, labour markets, migrant workers and employment rights, using mixed methods of documentary and legal case research, primary and secondary data analysis, and interview. 

This seminar is an opportunity to air and discuss these issues in an open forum and consider their implications for industrial relations. Anyone interested is welcome to attend this event. These meetings can be full though so, if you would like to attend and to help forecast catering provision, please Contact: Professor Linda Clarke,  clarkel@wmin.ac.uk or 020350 66528

9th February 2018

Role(s) available - BUIRA PhD Network Facilitators

9th February 2018

Fully Funded Research Studentships Available

Middlesex University Business School is offering 4 fully funded research studentships for 2018. Among areas of study that are offered, the following may be of interest for BUIRA members

• Behavioural economics
• Gender and diversity in business and the workplace
• Global employment relations
• International business and organisations
• Social enterprise, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development

Application deadline: Friday 16 March 2018, 12.00pm

Interviews: Friday 20 April 2018

Studentship start date: Monday 24 September 2018

More details and application:

http://www.mdx.ac.uk/courses/research/research-studentships

9th February 2018

9th February 2018

Brexit and the Future of Employment Rights’ – Joint MIRS/ILS meeting

Brexit and the Future of Employment Rights

Joint meeting of the Manchester Industrial Relations Society (MIRS)

and Industrial Law Society (ILS)

Speakers: Professor Catherin Barnard (Professor of EU Law and Employment Law, Trinity College, University of Cambridge)

Professor Keith Ewing (Professor of Law, King’s College, London)

http://www.mirs.org.uk/index.html

Thursday 1 March 6pm
Lecture Theatre G33, Ground Floor
Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
All Saints, Oxford Road (near Oxford Road railway station), Manchester M15 6BH
Map:  http://www.mmu.ac.uk/travel/allsaints/

The Brexit vote and its aftermath – Cameron’s fall, May’s catastrophic snap election, the internal divisions between ‘remainers’, ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ Brexiters, and the prospect of crashing out of the European Union without a deal on 29 March 2019 – have thrust Britain into a period of serious political instability. In the process, the shadow of the vote to leave the EU has thrown the future of employment law into uncertainty, with the potential for the erosion of workers’ rights, the overturning of cases won on EU-derived principles, and the pressure to join a race to the bottom on labour law when negotiating new international trade deals. And what about remedies and the enforcement of those rights with access to the European Court of Justice denied? Professors Catherine Barnard and Keith Ewing will provide a lively discussion of these and other Brexit related challenges, and will advance proposals for better employment law.

For further details of the Manchester Industrial Relations Society see:

MIRS Secretary: Professor Ralph Darlington r.r.darlington@salford.ac.uk

MIRS website: www.mirs.org.uk and Twitter: @ManchesterIRS

9th February 2018

Event - Machines & Measure

Hosted by University of Leicester School of Business, Centre for Philosophy and Political Economy (CPPE) & Conference of Socialist Economists (CSE) South Group

Friday 16^th February

11.30 Registration

12.00– 17.30 Talks, discussions

Location: Leicester Creative Business Depot A five minute walk from the train station, this is a great location in Leicester’s cultural quarter.

Eventbrite: REGISTER

Please only register if you intend to come.

Please email me for any other information at pvm.doc@gmail.com and/or from 02/01/18 pm358@le.ac.uk

How are machines being used in contemporary capitalism to perpetuate control and to intensify power relations at work? Theorizing how this occurs through discussions about the physical machine, the calculation machine and the social machine, this workshop re-visits questions of the incorporation and absorption of workers as appendages within the machine as Marx identified as well as new methods to numerate without, necessarily, remuneration. Speakers ask to what extent control is underway via intensified methods to capture labour power, including affective and emotional labour; and will identify how calculation and numeration serve to abstract labour through prediction, prescription, monitoring and tracking; on the streets, in homes, offices and factories. The ‘black box’ argument currently fashionable in debates, where digitalized management methods are a(e)ffectively obscured, is challenged, by identifying precisely how algorithmic decisionmaking, automation and machine learning processes operate to control workers and by theorizing the implications of measure inside human/machine experiences of relations of production.

Kendra Briken (University of Strathclyde) ‘Welcome within the machine. Human-machine relations on the shop floor’

Frank Engster (Helle Panke, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung) ‘Measure Machine Money’

Alessandro Gandini (King’s College, London) ‘Labour Process Theory and the Gig Economy’

Simon Joyce (Leeds University) ‘Digitalized Management Methods. Black Box or Hidden Abode?’

Adrian Mengay (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) ‘Digitalization of work and heteronomy’

Phoebe Moore (University of Leicester) ‘Quantification of A(e)ffective Labour for Change Management’

PAPER ABSTRACTS 

Welcome within the machine. Human-machine relations on the shop floor.

Kendra Briken (University of Strathclyde)

This paper will discuss new technologies that lead to qualitatively new human-machine relations (data gloves, co-bots, data glasses, handheld scanner) used on the shop floor in manufacturing (in a broad sense, encompassing also work in fulfilment centres). Based on the (few) existing empirical studies as well as on company and consultancy reports, the aim is to re-visit the incorporation and absorption of the human worker as a mere appendage within the machine as described by Marx. With machines the more and more said to be involved in problem solving by communicating with each other, the question is: What role for the human? Opposed to the debates about the robots taking over jobs, the paper argues that we will instead see a (longer) transition phase where workers might end up in becoming a new appendage in the workplace. Not being off work but also no longer controlling the machines. The paper wants to overcome the well-known debates about de- and upskilling by using the works of i.e. Donna Haraway to focus on the connexion between the body and the machines.

Measure Machine Money.

Frank Engster (Helle Panke, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung)

In capitalisms, machines become specific capitalist machines simply because, as e.g. Heidegger, Simondon or Deleuze and Guattari have shown, we must understand the machine from their context: from their non-technical essence, from their connection with other machines, and from the essence of the machinic. This context, first of all and in the last instance, is the relation with the capitalist economy. This determination by capitalist economy can be shown for three different machines: the physical machine, the calculation machine and the social machine: money. What all three have in common and almost defines them as machines is that all three quantify. The classical physical machine quantifies the relation of nature, the calculation machine quantifies information and meaning, and the money machine quantifies social relations.

Labour Process Theory and the Gig Economy.

Alessandro Gandini (King’s College, London)

This article aims to develop a labour process theory approach to address the forms of labour increasingly often referred to as a ‘gig economy’. Supported by empirical illustrations from existing research, the article discusses the notions of ‘point of production’, emotional labour and control in the ‘gig economy’, to argue that labour process theory offers a unique set of tools to observe the way in which labour-power comes to be transformed in a commodity in a context where the encounter between supply and demand of work is mediated by a digital platform. This is characterised by a subjection of social relations to processes of valorisation centred on data and metrics – particularly feedback, ranking and rating systems – that serve purposes of managerialisation and organisation of work in a context where managers and workers are not physically co-present.

Black Box or Hidden Abode: Control and Resistance in Digitalized Management.

Phoebe Moore, University of Leicester and Simon Joyce, Leeds University

Digitalized management methods (DMM) are becoming widespread with the use of big data and algorithmic distribution of work, the use of people analytics, bogus self-employment and an ‘always on’ culture of work and boundary permeability, in the streets and in homes as well as factories and offices. Resistance to these methods has been relatively fast to emerge, however, both at the individual informal level, or with ‘everyday forms of resistance’ a la de Certeau, and in the formal collective responses which are now being seen in trade union responses internationally. In that light, the paper first outlines the control and resistance model seen in labour process research. Secondly, we outline the environments where digitalization is occurring and the DMM seen therein. Peppered with empirical evidence obtained by the current authors, we note the significance of the methods being applied and how, precisely, they work to abstract labour via quantification. We claim that the ‘blackbox’ response is a mythology that obscures power relations underpinning the control aspects of DMM, where many techniques seen in DMM reflect age-old approaches. Thirdly, we outline where resistance is emerging. We conclude that while there has been significant uptake in DMM in several sectors in ways that make it look like we are dealing a nearly universal ‘uberized’ work paradigm that has begun to infiltrate labour markets across the world, resistance emerging and their integral negotiations indicate that this trend is not a fait accompli. Rather, it is to be seen to what extent digitalized methods will become hegemonic.

Digitalization of work and heteronomy

Adrian Mengay (Friedrich Schiller University Jena)

This paper involves, firstly, theoretical remarks, and then a discussion of the German Reference Architectural Model Industrie 4.0 (RAMI 4.0). The digitalization of work is changing the workplace, the medium, relations and content of work. This it is affecting the autonomy of employees. The objective is first to discuss how, why und under which conditions digitalization of work affects autonomy and secondly to understand how it can be used  as a management tool for the extension of heteronomy and the restructuring of work. The digitization of information and processes creates digital data which enables the application of algorithm based forms of processing, measurement, evaluation and benchmarking. I will examine how the digitalization of work favours a structuring and standardization of work and will discuss some practical experiences.

Quantification of A(e)ffective Labour for Change Management.

Phoebe Moore (University of Leicester)

Sensory and tracking technologies are being introduced into workplaces in ways Taylor and the Gilbreths could only have imagined. As corporate wellness initiatives proliferate, work design experiments seek to merge wellness with productivity measure and modulate and quantify the affective and emotional labour of resilience that are necessary for surviving the turbulent early days of Industry 4.0, where workers are expected to take symbolic direction from machines. The Quantified Workplace project (QW) where algorithmic devices were used to quantify labour during a period of corporate merger in Rotterdam over the course of one year, demonstrate how affect is measured during a move toward agile systems and thus the seemingly inevitable conditions of transformation and disruption-because machines accelerate and transform, workers must do so likewise. Projects like QW are evidence of capital’s accelerated attempts to capture more areas of work and to facilitate the conversion of labour power into a source of value, using new technologies. Participants’ responses to participation in the project reveal tensions in the labour process when affect is measured in processes of corporate change.

9th February 2018

Special Issue: Human resources and workplace innovations: practices, perspectives and paradigms

This Special Issue is a tribute and dedication to the late Professor Tom Redman

Personnel Review: Volume 46 Issue 7.Special Issue: Human resources and workplace innovations: practices, perspectives and paradigms -- Guest editorial, Greg J. Bamber, Timothy Bartram and Pauline Stanton:http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/pr/46/7

HRM and workplace innovations: formulating research questions, Greg J. Bamber, Timothy Bartram, Pauline Stanton (pp. 1216 - 1227)

HRM and innovative work behaviour: a systematic literature review, Anna Bos-Nehles, Maarten Renkema, Maike Janssen (pp. 1228 - 1253)

Disentangling workplace innovation: a systematic literature review, Iryna Prus,Raoul C.D. Nacamulli, Alessandra Lazazzara (pp. 1254 - 1279)

Employee share ownership and organisational performance: a tentative opening of the black box, Keith Whitfield, Andrew Pendleton, Sukanya Sengupta, Katy Huxley (pp. 1280 - 1296)

Why sharing is synergy: The role of decentralized control mechanisms and centralized HR capabilities in creating HR shared service value, Marco Maatman, Jeroen Meijerink (pp. 1297 - 1317)

High-performance work system and employee creativity: The roles of perceived organisational support and devolved management, Guiyao Tang,Bingjie Yu, Fang Lee Cooke, Yang Chen(pp. 1318 - 1334)

Strategic flexibility, innovative HR practices, and firm performance: A moderated mediation model, Lin Xiu,Xin Liang, Zhao Chen, Wei Xu (pp. 1335 - 1357)

Contextual ambidexterity and innovation in healthcare in India: the role of HRM, Ashish Malik, Brendan Boyle,Rebecca Mitchell (pp. 1358 - 1380)

Innovation programs at the workplace for workers with an intellectual disability: Two case studies in large Australian organisations, Hannah Meacham, Jillian Cavanagh, Amie Shaw,Timothy Bartram (pp. 1381 - 1396)

Are new organisations at the cutting edge of employment relations innovation?David Peetz, Olav Muurlink, Keith Townsend, Adrian Wilkinson, Madeleine Brabant (pp. 1397 - 1413)

Independent professionals and the potential for HRM innovation, Tui McKeown, Robyn Cochrane (pp. 1414 - 1433)

Opening the black box: The mediating roles of organisational systems and ambidexterity in the HRM-performance link in public sector organisations, Geoff Plimmer, Jane Bryson, Stephen T.T. Teo(pp. 1434 - 1451)

9th February 2018

Launch of the Work and Equalities Institute

The University of Manchester has created a new Work and Equalities Institute following the merger of the European Work and Employment Research centre and the Fairness at Work Research Centre.

See more about The Work and Equalities Institute here.

You are invited to the launch of The Work and Equalities Institute
on Wednesday 14 March 2018 at The University of Manchester.

The theme of the launch is
Debating the future of work and equalities in the fourth industrial revolution
in the birthplace of the first industrial revolution

You will find further details of the event here.

2nd February 2018

Work and Equalities Seminar series

Work and Equalities Institute, The University of Manchester

Research Seminars 2017-2018, Semester 2

Strategies for Flexibility in a Disconnected World

Professor Stephen Procter, Newcastle University Business School

Discussants:             Dr Andrew Smith, University of Bradford

                                 Professor Jill Rubery, University of Manchester

Wednesday 21^st February 2018

15:30 – 17:00 Hrs (coffee/tea at 15:15)

Alliance Manchester Business School East, Room B5

National approaches to innovation: Robotics and the implications for work

Professor Caroline Lloyd, Cardiff University

Wednesday 21^st March 2018

15:30 – 17:00 Hrs (coffee/tea at 15:15)

Alliance Manchester Business School East, Room B4

Revisiting the ‘Japanization of British Industry’: The Contemporary State of Shop-Steward Organisation in the UK Car Industry

Dr Niall Cullinane, Queen’s University Belfast

Wednesday 18^th April 2018

15:30 – 17:00 Hrs (coffee/tea at 15:15)

Alliance Manchester Business School East, Room B4

2nd February 2018

BUIRA Accounts

2nd February 2018

Call For Papers - BUIRA Conference 2018: The return of politics to employment relations (27 to 29 June 2018)

The call for papers is now open until 16^th February 2018.

Please use template provided below and submit your abstract through the BUIRA website: http://www.buira.org/submit

BUIRA conference abstract template

Title:

Brief outline (100 words):

Methodology (150 words):

Key findings (250 words):

References:

Please upload a Word file using Arial font, 12pt and double-lined spaced - do not include your name or anything that identifies you. 

 BUIRA Conference 2018

The return of politics to employment relations

Middlesex University, London Wednesday 27 to Friday 29 June 2018

Howell (2005) observes that the emergence of the “third system of industrial relations” in the UK – from 1979 - is one that, among the institutional issues, removed employment relations as a high profile political issue in public life.  While the Winter of Discontent made industrial relations the primary political national issue in the 1979 general election, by the time the Employment Relations Bill was being debated in 1998-9 it attracted low key media or even parliamentary attention.  If the neoliberal age has been one which has institutionally sidelined the notion of collective worker representation, it has also been one that has attempted to ideologically individualise the employment relationship into a market transactional one.

In 2017, the situation seems to have changed.  The underlying ideological predisposition that the employment relationship is a consensual voluntary market transaction is a lot less certain among a significant proportion of working people who instead see unfairness and futility.  In the UK, while unemployment is relatively low, ‘underemployment’ and the perceptions of insecurity, precarity, ‘bad jobs’ and inequality are high.  Similar tensions are reported across the developed world.  These changes could be partly the longer-term consequence of the global financial crisis of 2007/8, of global and national austerity or of the way in which globalisation has affected jobs in adjusting the global north to the global south. The politics surrounding the (un)fairness of the system governing work and employment are now acute and are beginning to challenge the assumptions underpinning key institutions governing the system as a whole. 

It is difficult to pin an exact location for this ‘disruption’ but its manifestations are evident.  While workplace collective bargaining remains dormant outside the shrunken domains of public sector and established large employers, the levels of discontent among the ‘unorganised’ are growing. This includes legal and small scale collective challenges to practices associated with the ‘gig economy’ (a prominent theme discussed at BUIRA 2017); and the return of industrial relations policy as a contested ideological agenda at national level politics (with Labour now championing trade union rights and the Conservative government seeming to need to address perceptions of unfairness with a more paternalist reform agenda on issues such as corporate governance and pay inequality.  The Conservatives’ apparent change of direction is of particular interest as it seems to mark an important symbolic break with the cornerstone principle of laissez-faire market individualism that has underpinned government policy since Thatcher in 1979.

Such re-politicisation of work and employment has not just been a UK phenomenon.  The Trump phenomenon in the US, with its rhetoric of protectionism and anti-immigration, has also arguably been based on a populist challenge to the prevailing neoliberal orthodoxy of open markets. .  In France the direction seems to be equal and opposite: the reforming Macron government seems intent on market-based reforms to labour laws more in line with the neoliberal agenda falling out of favour elsewhere.

Although we welcome papers that concern any area of industrial relations, theoretical contributions in relation to the changes we’re observing in the relationship between politics and employment are particularly welcome, as well as papers concerning topics under the following headings:

• State regulation and unions
• Individual employment rights and juridification
• Migration and freedom of movement
• Work and inequality
• Corporate governance and worker voice
• Regulating the gig economy

29th January 2018

Call for the next BUIRA stewardship 2019-2022

Since it was first established, BUIRA has been overseen by a team of stewards and an Executive Board. Currently the stewardship structure includes officers with responsibility for communications, membership, conference/events and financing. The tenure of each stewardship team is 3 years and the team is expected to host the BUIRA annual conference in the last year of tenure.

We are now open to proposals for a takeover of the stewardship after the 2019 annual conference held at Newcastle.  The tenure will be from 2019 – 2022 during which time will include the celebration the 70^th anniversary of the establishment of BUIRA.  

Ideally, the stewardship team will be co-located within the same institution, but as discussed at the AGM, proposals for teams made of individuals at different institutions will also be considered.

Proposals should include names of stewards for the following roles:

• President
• Treasurer
• Membership officer
• Communications officer
• Conference and Events officer

Informal enquiries may be made to jo.mcbride@newcastle.ac.uk and ana.lopes@ncl.ac.uk

25th January 2018

Events: Central London BUIRA in Conjunction with the University of Westminster

BRITISH UNIVERSITIES INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ASSOCIATION

Central London BUIRA in conjunction with

THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER

The Central London branch of BUIRA meets in the Westminster Business School of the University of Westminster at 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS (nearest tube Baker Street). There are many with an interest in industrial relations in the London area, including from universities, trade unions and employer associations. The meetings take the form of seminars, with key speakers, and attract a lively mix of people, both BUIRA and non-BUIRA members, from a range of different disciplines and organisations, some very expert in the particular topic discussed. We usually meet on the last Friday of the month at 10.30, with coffee available from 10.15 and a sandwich lunch provided from 12.30. This gives ample opportunity to discuss the presentation from an invited speaker and matters of common interest, as well as just to catch up with friends. The programme aims to give us fresh insights into key current issues, to present new approaches to the subject of industrial relations, and to discuss important research in the area - whether in Britain or farther afield, particularly on mainland Europe. The programme for 2017-18 is about the changing nature of social partnership and the labour contract at national, transnational and global level.

24^th November 2017, European Social Dialogue, with Philippe Pochet (General Director, European Trade Union Institute) on What is the Role of Employers and what are the Hopes for the Future? and tbcDiscussant: Richard Hyman (LSE)

Room C385 (lunch C287)

26^th January 2018, The changing labour contract, with Dr Simon Joyce (University of Leeds) on the Future of Work and the Gig Economy and Dr Alexandra Oeser (Université Paris Nanterre) From local to international: wiping out the employer?

Discussant: Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick (Birkbeck College)

Room CG44

23^rd February 2018, Labour Abuse, with Professor Roberto Pedersini (University of Milan) on Coping with fraudulent Work in the European Union, and Nick Clark (Middlesex University) on One law for the rich… Case studies from the Unpaid Britain project

Room: CG44

27^th April 2018 Labour Migration with Professor Bridget Anderson (University of Bristol) on and Dr Rachel Marangozov (Institute of Employment Studies) on Migration of Nurses, Room C279 (lunch C287)

25^th May 2018, tbc

Room: C279 (lunch C287)

So do put these dates in your diary now. These meetings can be full. To ensure a place and to help forecast catering provision, please Contact: Prof. Linda Clarke, Westminster Business School, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS. Tel. 020350 66528; email: clarkel@wmin.ac.uk(please also let me know if you subsequently need to cancel)

17th October 2017

BUIRA is on Twitter and on Facebook!

For the all  latest news, follow BUIRA on Twitter @BUIRAonline and on facebook https://www.facebook.com/BUIRAonline/

19th September 2016