Key Idea: Employers and employees want different things, so disagreements are normal. This topic is where conflict comes from, what each side can do, and how a dispute is brought to an end.
Where conflict comes from
- Pay and conditions, hours and shifts, job security.
- Change imposed without asking: a new start time on a notice.
- Poor communication and different objectives.
What each side can do
- Both: collective bargaining, a union negotiating for all the staff.
- Employees: work-to-rule, strike action.
- Employers: threats of redundancy, changes of contract, closure, lockouts.
Ending the dispute
- Conciliation: a neutral third party helps the sides agree.
- Arbitration: a neutral third party decides.
- Employee participation, no-strike and single-union agreements prevent the next one.
The words to know
| Word | Means | Do not confuse with |
|---|---|---|
| Collective bargaining | a union negotiating pay and conditions on behalf of all its members | each employee negotiating alone |
| Work-to-rule | doing exactly what the contract says and nothing more | a strike: staff still come to work |
| Strike action | employees refusing to work | a lockout, where the employer keeps them out |
| Lockout | the employer stops employees from working until they accept terms | closure, which ends the operation |
| Conciliation | a neutral third party helps the two sides reach their own agreement | arbitration, where the third party decides |
| Arbitration | a neutral third party hears both sides and decides the outcome | conciliation |
| No-strike agreement | the union agrees not to strike, usually in return for another route to settle disputes | a ban on joining a union |
| Single-union agreement | the employer negotiates with one union for all its staff | a closed shop |
Name the approach, say what it does, then show its effect on both sides in the case: what the business loses and what the employees gain or risk. For resolution, match the approach to the dispute: talks stuck means conciliation; talks failed means arbitration.
Exam-style question
Goldcrust plc's bakers, members of the Bakers' Union, have started working to rule after the company offered a 2% pay rise against the 8% they asked for. It is December, the busiest month. Explain two drawbacks for Goldcrust plc of its employees working to rule.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Important: In conciliation the third party helps and the two sides decide. In arbitration the third party decides. And work-to-rule is not a strike: staff are still at work, doing only what the contract says.
Tap each card to check yourself.
State two sources of conflict at work. Any two: pay, hours or shifts, job security, working conditions, change imposed without consultation.
Employee or employer approach: a lockout? Employer. The business keeps the staff out until they accept its terms.
Talks have failed and both sides agree to accept a ruling. Which approach? Arbitration. The third party's decision settles the dispute.
One disadvantage of a strike for the employees? They lose pay for the days they strike, and their jobs may be at risk if the business loses customers.
Why might an employer want a single-union agreement? It negotiates once, with one union, instead of with several that may compete.
What is industrial democracy? Employees taking part in decisions, for example through elected representatives on a works council or the board.
Exam tips
- Say whose approach it is: employees, employers, or both.
- Conciliation helps the sides agree; arbitration decides for them.
- Answer for the side the question names: 'for the firm' or 'for the employees'.
- Work-to-rule keeps staff at work; a strike stops work; a lockout is the employer's move.
- For a Discuss on resolution, weigh two approaches against the case, then decide.