By Glynis M Truter

Published in May 2003

In 1997 British workers were promised fairness at work and a new approach to labour relations based on social partnership – a vision welcomed by the TUC. The most commonly discussed model of social partnership was that operating in Germany, with particular reference to German-style ‘consultation’ rights. Also welcomed was the EC Information and Consultation Directive – due to be implemented by March 2005.

As the Government now consults about how best to transpose the Directive into UK law, this paper examines the German model of collective bargaining and worker participation and asks to what extent UK workers can expect the Directive to deliver anything approaching the German model?

According to the author, the Directive is deficient in a number of respects, not least because of the British government’s campaign to dilute its contents. It is argued that the current framework of UK employment law will prevent the Directive being introduced into the UK in a way that will realise the TUC’s vision of partnership in the workplace. The author identifies two main stumbling blocks: first, the lack of collective bargaining at sectoral level. Second, the lack of coherent participation rights at enterprise level.

The conclusion of the author is that the minimalist approach adopted by the government suggests that the promise of fairness and partnership at work has been abandoned. However, she goes on to suggest a number of positive measures for trade unions to consider which, if implemented, could improve the likely impact of the Directive.

A5; 52pp; ISBN 0 9543781 0 5;

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