Representing Workers

Employment relations are at a crossroad. Historically, trade union channels in advanced economies have dominated worker representation, but with the decline in union membership other forms of representation are becoming increasingly significant. This timely book is the result of significant research addressing key issues underlying these developments. A group of internationally-renowned employment relations specialists, under the Leverhulme Foundation Future of Trade Unionism Programme, consider issues such as: - trends in trade union membership - factors behind the decline of union membership - young workers and trade unionism - the law and union recognition - European influences on worker representation - non-union representation - trade unionism in the context of new forms of representation - enhancing the appeal of unions. This timely new study of worker representation contains powerful analysis and is one of the most broad-ranging studies of representation available. It is essential reading for anyone studying or working in employment relations.

Howard Gospel is Professor of Management at King's College, London, Research Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE and Fellow at Said Business School, University of Oxford. Stephen Wood is Research Professor and Deputy Director of the Instituteof Work Psychology at the University of Sheffield and Research Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. He is also co-director for the ESRC Centre for Organization and Innovation and Chief Editor of the British Journal of Industrial Relations.

1. Introduction: Representing Workers in Modern Britain  2. Recognition  3. Negotitation, Consultation and Information  4. Union Membership  5. Women and Trade Unions  6. Young Workers and their Propensity to Join Trade Unions 7. New Workplaces, New Workers 8. Buying into Union Membership? A Comparative Analysis  9. Employer Strategies and Union Counter-Strategies  10. The Future of Trade Unions in Britain: A North American Perspective