1 ©The Work Foundation The Changing Economy and the Future of Organised Labour: What role for workplace reps? David Coats, Associate Director – Policy

2 ©The Work Foundation Summary What’s going on? - Knowledge Economy - Restructuring - Union membership - Job quality What do workers want? How should unions respond? Where do workplace reps fit?

3 ©The Work Foundation The Rise of the Knowledge Economy Knowledge based industries* now account for nearly 50 per cent of employment; Most of the new jobs – both for knowledge and other workers - over the past decade have been generated in the knowledge based industries; Knowledge based industries account for 41 per cent of GDP compared with 36 per cent a decade ago, with knowledge based services expanding from 28 per cent to 34 per cent of GDP; Knowledge based service exports have trebled in ten years, generating a surplus worth between 3 and 3.5 per cent of GDP. Knowledge workers (defined by occupation**) account for over 40 per cent of total employment and have been strongest growing job category over past twenty years. *High to medium tech manufacturing, financial services, high tech services, telecommunications, business services, cultural and creative services, heath and education services **managers, professionals, associate professional and technical occupations

4 ©The Work Foundation Manufacturing to Services

5 ©The Work Foundation The rise of the “knowledge economy” : Job change by sector % (Source: UK LFS)

6 ©The Work Foundation More “high level” jobs Source: SSDA, 2006

7 ©The Work Foundation The workforce (Source: TWF Knowledge Workers Survey 2008)

8 ©The Work Foundation No significant evidence of casualisation in UK…

9 ©The Work Foundation …most employment growth in large firms [change in private sector employee employment , excluding health and social care and labour recruitment services: Source: WF estimate based on Inter-Department Business Register, Enterprise Directorate (provisional findings)]

10 ©The Work Foundation Trade Union Density (% employees) (Source: OECD Employment Outlook 2004)

11 ©The Work Foundation Collective Bargaining Coverage (% employees covered by collective agreements) (Source: OECD Employment Outlook 2004)

12 ©The Work Foundation Why does “good work” matter? Impact on health and life expectancy Important factors: - Employment security - Monotony and repetition - Autonomy, control and task discretion - Effort-reward balance - Skills - Fairness - Relationships – “social capital”

13 ©The Work Foundation How much “good work” is there in the UK High levels of job satisfaction – WERS 2004 And employment security improving But Work intensification (Green, 2003) Falling autonomy - especially in public sector (Gallie et al 2004) Dissatisfaction with pay and voice (WERS 2004) Dissatisfaction with working time – and working life more generally (Taylor 2002) More intrusive performance management (White and Hill 2004) Employee engagement lower than it should be (CIPD 2006)

14 ©The Work Foundation Job Security – international comparison (“My job is secure” 0-3 scale) (Source: Paugam and Zhou 2007)

15 ©The Work Foundation Job Satisfaction in Europe (% of employees) Source: European Working Conditions Survey, 2005

16 ©The Work Foundation British workers are bored… (% of employees who say their work involves monotonous tasks) (Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2005)

17 ©The Work Foundation …and learn new things less often than in countries with higher productivity… (% employees who say that their job involves learning new things) (Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2005)

18 ©The Work Foundation ….which leaves the UK with a “job content” problem… (monotony, low level of learning, problem solving, task complexity) (Source: European Working Conditions Survey 2005)

19 ©The Work Foundation..which helps to explain why… (Source: CIPD Employee Attitudes and Engagement 2006) “People are generally unhappy with how they are managed” A third never get feedback from their managers Only half believe that they will be dealt with fairly if they have a problem Two in five say they are not informed about what is happening in their organisation. Just a third believe that their views will be taken seriously Only a third trust senior managers Just over a third are “engaged”

20 ©The Work Foundation What do workers want from unions? Protection or aspiration? “Getting on” or “getting even”

21 ©The Work Foundation Workers prefer a “problem solving” organisation to a “defensive” organisation (% employees) (Source: BWRPS 2001)

22 ©The Work Foundation But workers want protection and partnership (% union members) (Source: BWRPS 2001)

23 ©The Work Foundation What does it all mean? A new offer to members - skills - progression - standards A new workplace agenda - Job quality - Partnership (going beyond the rhetoric) - Service improvement – a role for unions? - Changing workplace agenda: NHS staff pledges Challenges: - Who would want to be a rep? - Skills - Risk of employer defection: budgets under pressure, shifting political priorities

24 ©The Work Foundation Questions for discussion Do you have a clear understanding of nursing opinion across the NHS? Does this influence your agenda nationally and locally? Can you rely on “professionalism” as a recruitment strategy? How should you prioritise between “old and “new” issues? Is job quality an opportunity for the RCN to rehape the conversation? What further scope is there for developing a “strategic dialogue” with NHS employers? What model of employment relations do you want to see in the NHS?