The influence of 'soft' fair work regulation on union recovery: a case of re-recognition in the Scottish voluntary social care sector

Article

Cunningham, I., James, P. and Baluch, A. 2022. The influence of 'soft' fair work regulation on union recovery: a case of re-recognition in the Scottish voluntary social care sector. Industrial Relations Journal. 53 (3), pp. 261-277. https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12362
TypeArticle
TitleThe influence of 'soft' fair work regulation on union recovery: a case of re-recognition in the Scottish voluntary social care sector
AuthorsCunningham, I., James, P. and Baluch, A.
Abstract

This longitudinal case study contributes to debates concerning how ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ forms of regulation can interact to contribute to the advancement of worker rights. More specifically, the article explores the contribution of Scotland’s ‘soft’ fair work (FW) programme and the UK’s ‘hard’ statutory recognition procedure to union re-recognition in a voluntary sector social care provider. In combination, ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ regulation are found to have added breadth to the pressures for re-recognition exerted by the union, bringing reputational and financial costs associated with derecognition to the employer. Concerns nevertheless arose regarding the depth of impact from this interaction due to union compromises on key issues in the final recognition agreement. Due to the specific public service context of the study, doubts are also expressed regarding the potential for unions in other hard to organise sectors to achieve similar outcomes.

PublisherWiley
JournalIndustrial Relations Journal
ISSN0019-8692
Electronic1468-2338
Publication dates
Online23 Apr 2022
Print13 May 2022
Publication process dates
Deposited25 Apr 2022
Accepted05 Apr 2022
Submitted05 Sep 2021
Output statusPublished
Publisher's version
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Open
Accepted author manuscript
File Access Level
Restricted
Copyright Statement

© 2022 The Authors. Industrial Relations Journal published by Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12362
LanguageEnglish
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