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Purpose: This paper has two objectives, firstly to reassert the persistent association of the decline in collective bargaining with the increase in income inequality, the fall in the share of wages in national income and deterioration in macroeconomic performance in the UK. Secondly the paper presents case studies affirming concrete outcomes of organisational collective bargaining for workers, in terms of pay, job quality, working hours and work-life balance. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based upon two methodological approaches. Firstly, econometric analyses using industry and firm-level data for advanced and emerging economies testing the relationship between declining union density, collective bargaining coverage and the fall in the share of wages in national income. Secondly it reports on 10 in-depth case studies of collective bargaining each based upon analysis of collective bargaining agreements plus in-depth interviews with the actors party to them: in total 16 trade union officers, 16 members and 11 employer representatives. Findings: There is robust evidence of the effects of different measures of union bargaining power on the labour share of national income. Collective bargaining coverage is a precondition for the effectiveness of unions from the perspective of income distribution. The case studies appear to address a legacy of deregulated industrial relations. A number demonstrate the reinvigoration of collective bargaining at organisational and sectoral level, addressing the two-tier workforce and contractual differentiation, alongside the consequences of government pay policies for equality. Research limitations/implications: The case studies represent a purposive sample and therefore findings are not generalisable; researchers are encouraged to test the suggested propositions further. Practical implications: The paper proposes that tackling income inequality requires a restructuring of the institutional framework in which bargaining takes p

Purpose: This paper has two objectives, firstly to reassert the persistent association of the decline in collective bargaining with the increase in income inequality, the fall in the share of wages in national income and deterioration in macroeconomic performance in the UK. Secondly the paper presents case studies affirming concrete outcomes of organisational collective bargaining for workers, in terms of pay, job quality, working hours and work-life balance. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based upon two methodological approaches. Firstly, econometric analyses using industry and firm-level data for advanced and emerging economies testing the relationship between declining union density, collective bargaining coverage and the fall in the share of wages in national income. Secondly it reports on 10 in-depth case studies of collective bargaining each based upon analysis of collective bargaining agreements plus in-depth interviews with the actors party to them: in total 16 trade union officers, 16 members and 11 employer representatives. Findings: There is robust evidence of the effects of different measures of union bargaining power on the labour share of national income. Collective bargaining coverage is a precondition for the effectiveness of unions from the perspective of income distribution. The case studies appear to address a legacy of deregulated industrial relations. A number demonstrate the reinvigoration of collective bargaining at organisational and sectoral level, addressing the two-tier workforce and contractual differentiation, alongside the consequences of government pay policies for equality. Research limitations/implications: The case studies represent a purposive sample and therefore findings are not generalisable; researchers are encouraged to test the suggested propositions further. Practical implications: The paper proposes that tackling income inequality requires a restructuring of the institutional framework in which bargaining takes p

The editors of this journal have outlined the capacity of digital technology to restructure the temporal dimensions of work and called for further focused empirical study (Howcroft and Taylor, 2014). This article explores the impact of the Electronic Monitoring (EM) of homecare work on working time in the context of severe financial pressures on public sector provision of social care in the UK. Homecare workers are overwhelmingly women and provide personal care to older and disabled people in their own homes (referred to as ‘service-users’ or ‘clients’). The vast majority are employed by private sector organisations delivering care that has been commissioned on a cost competitive basis by local authorities (Bessa, 2013; Rubery et al., 2015). It is proposed that EM in combination with Zero Hours Contracts (ZHCs) contribute to the reconfiguration of paid and unpaid working time because they enable the removal of what might be deemed ‘unproductive’ working time through ‘client contact only payments’ (where providers are paid only for the time that care workers are in the service-user’s home).

Equality bargaining in essence is turning the resource of collective bargaining to the objectives of equality and diversity in work and employment. This article traces the progress of equality bargaining, with a focus on the UK. It explores the decline of the coverage and scope of collective bargaining and increase in pay gaps on the vertical plane alongside extant social divisions and inequalities. It looks at legal solutions including statutory mechanisms to achieve collective bargaining and a National Minimum Wage. It notes that in the UK women are more likely to be covered by collective bargaining and despite a hostile economic climate, characterised by the fragmentation of bargaining through privatisation, that a union pay premium has survived and is larger for women. It discusses the limitations of both a National Minimum Wage and voluntary Living Wage for equality and concludes by supporting calls for the rebuilding of sectoral collective bargaining, but emphasises that this needs to be inclusive and expansive., Negociación en igualdad implica esencialmente dirigir el recurso de la negociación colectiva a los objetivos de igualdad y diversidad en el trabajo y en el empleo. Este artículo explora el progreso de negociación en igualdad, con un particular énfasis en el Reino Unido. Analiza el declive de la naturaleza y alcance de la negociación colectiva y el incremento de las diferencias salariales en un plano vertical, al mismo tiempo que se extienden divisiones sociales y desigualdades. Estudia las soluciones legales, incluyendo los mecanismos reglamentarios para la negociación colectiva y el Salario Mínimo Interprofesional. Señala que las mujeres británicas tienen mayor probabilidad de estar protegidas por la negociación colectiva, ya que ha mantenido una prima sindical que es mayor para mujeres, a pesar del clima económico hostil caracterizado por la fragmentación de la negociación colectiva como resultado de la privatización. El artículo discute los límites tanto del Salario Mínimo Interprofesional como del voluntario salario digno para la igualdad y concluye apoyando las demandas de reconstrucción de la negociación colectiva sectorial, pero insistiendo en que necesita ser inclusiva y expansiva.

The UK planned to make COVID vaccination compulsory for frontline NHS and social care staff, but ultimately did not. Sian Moore (University of Greenwich), Christina Clamp (Southern New Hampshire University), and Eklou R Amendah (University of Southern Maine) and colleagues look at vaccine hesitancy among this group in the UK and US, many of whom are BME, and how employers and trade unions tackled it.

In 2000 the UK government introduced, under the Employment Relations Act of 1999, a new statutory union recognition procedure, while in 2003 it published a consultation document on its Review of the Act. The document concluded that th eunion procedure was broadly working and confirmed that the government would not be changing the procedure's basic features, but outlined some changes that it was proposing and issues on which it sought opinions. This paper assesses, on the basis of the authors' research, whether the procedure is indeed achieving the government's consultative document. The latter was submitted as the authors' response to the review. The authors concur with the document¿s overall judgement that in the first three years of its operation, the procedure is working effectively. It is providing a right to union recognition where the majority of workers want it, encouraging the voluntary resolution of recognition disputes and being used as a last resort, whilst no judicial reviews have, as yet, undermined its operation as happened with the last statutory procedure in the 1990s. Nonetheless there are problems particularly relating to the ability of employers to influence both how the CAC uses its discretion and workers exercise their rights with respect to union recognition, whilst the applications are in the procedure and during recognition ballots. On the basis of this, the author¿s response to the consultative document gauges that many of its arguments for making only limited changes in the procedure¿s fundamentals are sound, as are those where change is envisaged. However, in certain areas more consideration should be given to change, and particularly of ways of limiting the actions of employers that the document concedes might be deemed ¿unfair labour practices¿.

Plants may be genetically modified to express an entomopathogenic protein from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) (Bt plants). Bt plants are known to affect some above-ground invertebrates, with significant effects on species closely related to target invertebrates and on their natural enemies. Bt proteins may enter the soil through root exudates and decomposition of plant material. This study aimed to analyse the effects of Bt broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica Plenk) on six soil-dwelling invertebrates. No significant differences were detected in nematode (Panagrellus redivivus L.) populations living in compost in which Bt and non-5/ broccoli had grown. The other species were introduced to combinations of Bt and non-5/ leaves, and compost in which Bt and non-5/ plants had grown. No differences were detected in Collembola (Folsomia candida Willem) populations, but significantly more young woodlice (Porcellio scaber Latrielle) survived, and weighed more, in the Bt than the non-5/ treatments. Slugs (Deroceras reticulatum Muller) weighed more in the presence of Bt proteins. A higher percentage of earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris L.) cocoons hatched in Bt than non-5/ treatments. In contrast, at a third trophic level, fewer predatory beetles (Nebria brevicollis Fabricius) survived when feeding on slugs that had fed on Bt leaves than on those fed on non-5/ leaves. Leaves from Bt plants affected more parameters than compost in which Bt plants had grown. Attempts were made to use molecular techniques to analyse the effects of Bt broccoli on soil micro-organisms. Individual Bt broccoli plants expressed different concentrations of Bt protein. The Bt plant's control of three Lepidoptera species was tested and only one species was susceptible. These results show that non-target invertebrates, including pest species, can be

Plants may be genetically modified to express an entomopathogenic protein from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) (Bt plants). Bt plants are known to affect some above-ground invertebrates, with significant effects on species closely related to target invertebrates and on their natural enemies. Bt proteins may enter the soil through root exudates and decomposition of plant material. This study aimed to analyse the effects of Bt broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica Plenk) on six soil-dwelling invertebrates. No significant differences were detected in nematode (Panagrellus redivivus L.) populations living in compost in which Bt and non-5/ broccoli had grown. The other species were introduced to combinations of Bt and non-5/ leaves, and compost in which Bt and non-5/ plants had grown. No differences were detected in Collembola (Folsomia candida Willem) populations, but significantly more young woodlice (Porcellio scaber Latrielle) survived, and weighed more, in the Bt than the non-5/ treatments. Slugs (Deroceras reticulatum Muller) weighed more in the presence of Bt proteins. A higher percentage of earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris L.) cocoons hatched in Bt than non-5/ treatments. In contrast, at a third trophic level, fewer predatory beetles (Nebria brevicollis Fabricius) survived when feeding on slugs that had fed on Bt leaves than on those fed on non-5/ leaves. Leaves from Bt plants affected more parameters than compost in which Bt plants had grown. Attempts were made to use molecular techniques to analyse the effects of Bt broccoli on soil micro-organisms. Individual Bt broccoli plants expressed different concentrations of Bt protein. The Bt plant's control of three Lepidoptera species was tested and only one species was susceptible. These results show that non-target invertebrates, including pest species, can be