At the Point of Production: Some Aspects of Workplace Industrial Relations

Abstract

Drawing on shop-floor case studies this article examines some of the values and sentiments which together with organisational, technological, market and other changes animate the processes of workplace industrial relations, and to which managers and workers appeal in seeking to mould the terms of employment in their interests. Thus some of the tensions of industrial relations may be visualised as an interplay of differing values held by managers and workers, which in part arise from their differing locations in the economic system. It is not suggested that these values outweigh the influence of power or interests. Rather they are seen, at different levels, as illustrating different perspectives, as potential sources of legitimisation for action, and as a linguistic resource or currency in discussion and argument between participants. The purpose of this article is primarily illustrative. However, it is suggested that the frequency of reference to values rooted in proprietorial and contractual concepts could offer a means of characterising management style in industrial relations.