reading materials-21-industrial relations in uk fire fighter

8/13/2019 Reading Materials-21-Industrial Relations in UK Fire Fighter

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Industrial Relations

The 2003 UK Fire-fighters Strike


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Overview

i. The Fire-fighters Disputei. Background

ii. How things stand

ii. The Psychological Contracti. Its use

ii. Impact of violations

iii. Interventions

i. What should have been doneii. What can be done now


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What the employers want - TheBain Report

11% pay-rise


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What the employees want - thefire-fighters perspective

39% pay-rise


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11% pay-rise

Changes to shiftpatterns


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39% pay-rise

Overtime ban


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11% pay-rise


Regional ControlRooms


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39% pay-rise

Overtime ban

Parity for part-timefire-fighters and firecontrol staff


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11% pay-rise



Insurance firmscharged for road

accidents


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39% pay-rise

Overtime ban


Consultation aboutchanges


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11% pay-rise



Insurance firmscharged for road

accidents Extra medical

training for fire-fighters


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39% pay-rise

Overtime ban


Consultation aboutchanges

Modernisation = jobcuts


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Employers

Minimal pay rise

Dependent onexpanded role

Reduced publicsafety

Reduced rights,representation andsecurity

Job Cuts

Unrealistic pay rise

Archaic service

Social club

Employees


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How things stand

Back at work

125m cost to Government

16% conditional rise Limited changes

FBUs Labour support ended


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The Psychological Contract

Why use the framework? Describes and explains

Predict outcomes

Fits scenario

Rousseau (1995) - subjective beliefs regarding an

exchange agreement between the individual and the

organisation


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How would you feel?

Reports leaked to media dismissOccupational Psychology as pseudo-science nonsense


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Employer Violations

Increased wants,static offer

Reneging on promise

Imposing change

Out-group degradation

Independent report They already had a real

independent reportwhich has remained

buried because they didnot like what they hadread. What a waste ofmoney


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Employee Violations

Anti-role behaviour Striking

Reduced citizenship


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Consequences of Violations

Transactional vs. Relational I didn't start this job because it was well paid, but

because it was a good thing to do

When I first joined I lived and breathed being afire-fighter

Its just a job now

If they pay us, we'll ride the new anti-terrorist

appliances we've trained for


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Equity The government are throwing money at the

police because they needed to swell the numberof recruitsthey get a much better deal

If we were in the armyour salary might be thesame but we would also be getting livingaccommodation, cheap food, help with schooling

Everyone in the fire service is affected by this(pay) agreement and nobody has had the

increase they were promised, except the chieffire officers


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Power imbalance McLean, Parks and Kidder (1994)

As long as fire-fighters and their representativesare treated with contempt and we dont get theright to negotiate, there will be strikes

We're up against a very ruthless machine ofspin, and few of us now see success on thathorizon

The only reason most members have voted toaccept the offer is because it's the lastopportunity where we can have some input onthe outcome of the deal


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Procedural Justice Lind & Tyler (1988)

Get Safe, Get Out, Get Even (Herriot &Pemberton, 1995)

Increased Turnover?


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Morale I can honestly say that in my 17 years of

experience, even after all the misery of

the picket lines, the morale of the"modernised" fire-fighter is at an all-timelow


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Intervention - What shouldhave been done

Truly Independent report

Consultation

Negotiation Contracting Transitions


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Business

Environment

Organizations

wants and

offers

Organizations

offers

Organizations

wants

changed?

Contract fair?

Contract kept?

Social

Environment

Individuals

wants and

offers

Individuals

offers

Individualswants

changed?

Contract fair?

Contract kept?

Stage 1

Inform

Stage 2

Negotiate

Stage 3

Monitor

Stage 4

Renegotiate

or exit

Contracting Transitions (Herriot, Hirsh &Reilly, 1998)


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Intervention - Repairing thedamage

Trust competency

transparency/honesty

concern for my welfare

reliability

Mutual trust is a fundamental component of

social capital, without which voluntarycollaboration in organizations isimpossible Herriot, Hirsh & Reilly (1998)


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Intervention - Repairing thedamage

Rebuilding Trust (Herriot et al., 1998)Admission by top management

Career contracting

Knowledge-based trust

Trust based on identification


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Summary

Top-down failures

Change as negotiation process

Psychological Contract as a framework Not limited to fire-fighters

Communication, Communication,

Communication


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Update: What the employerswant now


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Update: What the employeeswant now

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