Dealing with discontent: benchmarking relations with trade unions in 2010
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Relations with recognised trade unions will be moving up the agenda for many UK employers as autumn 2010 approaches, and potential strike action in response to public spending cuts looms. |
The 2010 XpertHR Benchmarking survey on working with trade unions is based on responses from 114 employers with a combined workforce of more than 500,000 employees. In addition to detailed analysis of UK employers' relations with trade unions, the survey provides extensive benchmarking data on trade union membership levels, recognition agreements and time off arrangements and facilities for trade unions and trade unionists in the workplace.
Subscribers to XpertHR Benchmarking can drill down into the complete benchmarking data from the 2010 survey of working with trade unions.
Click on the links to access full benchmarking data on each of the following key findings, then apply filters where necessary to view data by sector, organisation size and/or region:
- Four-fifths of employers describe the relationship with their recognised trade union(s) as positive. Union relations are particularly good in the public sector.
- A significant proportion of employers remain positive about the relationship with their union(s) even where there has been a collective dispute.
- Around one in seven organisations would be willing to take legal action if faced with a ballot for strike action.
- One in three employers has been involved in a collective dispute with their trade union(s) in the past two years.
- Half of those that have experienced collective disputes say they led to a ballot for strike action.
- The three most commonly recognised trade unions are Unite (recognised by 61.6% of respondents), UNISON (48.5%) and GMB (40.4%).
- The vast majority of employers say their recognition agreement covers time off for trade union duties.
- Besides time off for union activities, the top three procedural issues covered in employers' recognition agreements are: rules governing the operation of management/union negotiating or consultative bodies; collective disputes procedures; and accreditation of union representatives.
- The top three areas for negotiation with recognised unions all relate to core terms and conditions of employment. These are as follows: pay; hours and holidays.
- Public sector organisations are more likely to negotiate or consult on other issues, including: discipline; grievances; job evaluation; and equality.
These represent just some of the key findings of this survey. Access the complete list of survey questions to view all aspects of trade union relations covered by our 2010 benchmarking survey on working with the unions.
The unique interactive features of XpertHR Benchmarking can be applied to each question from this survey, to create bespoke reports that you can download and use.
Michael Carty, Benchmarking Editor
