Employment relations in the public sector

Government measures to reduce the deficit and reconfigure the role of the state could have profound implications for public sector employment relations, according to a new research paper commissioned by employment relations adviser Acas.

A new era of public service employment relations? The challenges ahead was written by Professor of Employment Relations Stephen Bach from King’s College, London.

It focuses on the core public services — the Civil Service, the NHS and local government — and examines:

• the impact of deficit reduction;

• attempts to diversify public service provision, including the increasing role of the voluntary sector and other providers; and

• the erosion of national pay bargaining.

Finally, it examines the implications for trade unions and here Bach is of the opinion that unions representing professional or semi-professional occupations with strong occupational identities are likely to fare better than general trade unions with a dispersed membership that is vulnerable to outsourcing and offshoring.

A forthcoming paper in the series will examine the future of trade unions in more detail.

www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3419

www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/m/c/Future-workplace-relations-series-public-service-accessible-version-august-2011.pdf