Increase in strike activity highlights public sector paradox

Todayís figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing a sharp rise in the proportion of total working days lost to labour disputes in the public sector during this decade indicates that there is more to good employment relations than improvements in job prospects and pay conditions alone, comments Dr John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

ìThe paradox to emerge from these new ONS figures is that relatively fast growth in employment and pay in the public sector in recent years seems to have fuelled rather than quelled worker discontent. A further irony is that CIPD research reveals a relative improvement in employee attitudes to work and management in the public sector during this period.

ìWhat explains the paradox is that public sector organisations are typically larger than those in the private sector, have a much stronger trade union presence and still tend to operate centralised employee relations systems. At a time of increased investment but also pressure to deliver the Gershon efficiency savings, these three factors have combined to create a potent brew; with a number of high profile disputes always capable of causing significant loss of working days as well as giving rise to major inconvenience to the public.

ìWhile it is important to get these figures into perspective ñ the level of industrial unrest in all sectors of the economy being nowhere near the bad old days of the 1970s and early 1980s ñ they are a warning sign that public sector reform will continue to prove difficult without further improvements in management practice and trade union behaviour. But with the next comprehensive spending review set to tighten the public purse strings as well as demanding greater value for the taxpayer, tensions between government and public sector unions may come under further strain.î