Industrial Relations in Transition: An Analysis of Employer-Union Relations in the U.K. Higher Education Sector

• In Event: Teacher Unions and Educational Governance

Abstract

The UK higher education system faces a period of substantial change. Government policy is deliberately seeking to fragment the system and introduce competitive pressures. Privatisation, in multiple forms, is being actively encouraged. These changes pose a considerable threat to the pay and working conditions of employees in the sector. All of these pressures are placing established industrial relations structures under strain. This paper reports the findings from a scoping study investigating current developments in HE sector industrial relations. It reports at a time when the teachers’ union in HE is undertaking unprecedented levels of industrial action. Findings are drawn from interviews with key participants in the sector representing employer and union interests.

Authors

• Howard Stevenson, The University of Nottingham

• Justine Mercer, University of Warwick