THE TRADE UNION BILL AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Friday 27 November 10.30am-4.30pm
The Mechanics Centre,
103 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6DD
http://www.mechanicsinstitute.co.uk/
The Conservative government’s Trade Union Bill threatens the most sweeping and radical tightening of the rules on industrial action and trade union representation seen since the Thatcher era of the 1980s, with a battery of restrictive measures that could potentially rebalance power in the workplace, reduce the capacity of unions to represent their members at work and undermine the ability of workers to take collective action to protect their interests.
This special one-day BUIRA conference will bring together leading industrial relations academics with national trade union officers and other practitioners to discuss the nature of the proposed changes and their implications for industrial relations, employee voice at the workplace and trade union representation.
Please register in advance if you want to attend: £20 or £5 unwaged/students: (includes lunch and refreshments throughout the day) to be payable at the conference: http://tinyurl.com/n9qbdwn
9.30-10.30am: Registration & Refreshments
10.30am-11.45am:
The Bill, historical overview, and current wider political and austerity context
John Hendy QC (Old Square Chambers, London), Paul Nowak (TUC assistant general secretary) and Professor Tonia Novitz (University of Bristol)
Chair: Professor Jane Holgate (University of Leeds)
11.45am-1pm: pm:
Consequences of the strike, picketing and political fund provisions
Mick Cash (RMT general secretary) and Professor Ralph Darlington (University of Salford)
Chair: Lynn Collins (North West TUC Secretary)
1pm-2pm: Buffet Lunch
2pm-3pm:
Consequences of the removal of check-off and reduction to facility time provisions
Heather Wakefield (Unison national secretary, head of local government service group), Nick McCarthy (PCS director of communication: campaigns and organising), Professor Kim Hoque (University of Warwick) and Professor Nick Bacon (University of Nottingham)
Chair: tbc
3pm-4.30pm:
Wider industrial relations and civil liberties consequences and the campaign of opposition
Sara Ogilvie (Liberty policy officer) and Professor John Kelly (Birkbeck University)
Chair: Professor Mark Stuart (University of Leeds)