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Employee relationsEconomics, government & businessLabour marketLettersTrade unions

Urgent need for debate on labour relations needed

by Personnel Today 9 Jun 2008
by Personnel Today 9 Jun 2008

I read with interest your editorial and front page story (‘Agency worker rights could yet kick in before 12 weeks’, Personnel Today, 27 May).

If this does happen it will not only bad for business, but could also represent a fundamental shift in labour relations.

The decision to broker a deal between the TUC and the CBI is a step towards social dialogue and national-level collective bargaining. And the significance of last month’s announcement was not lost on the European Commission, which heralded the decision as “a milestone for social dialogue in the UK”.

This is a change that has seemingly taken place without consultation and it is a model for negotiation that ignores the realities of the UK economy, because it does not incorporate the views of smaller employers on whom the decisions are binding.

If the government has decided to revert to tripartite labour relations, then a debate needs to be had as to whether this is a model that is appropriate for the UK.

Kieran O’Keeffe

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Senior policy adviser

British Chambers of Commerce

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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