The Provision of Industrial Relations Training for Shop Stewards

Abstract

The issue of training for a job of work is important in most areas of industry, and not least in the area of industrial relations. To be effective, practitioners need not only ability in a range of skills—communications, negotiating, grievance, handling, etc.—but also knowledge of such areas as relevant legislation, agreements in force, disputes, procedures, etc. and continuous up‐dating of these knowledge areas as changes occur, especially changes in legislation related to industrial relations. As a result there would appear, then, to be a need for effective training courses. The available evidence, however, would suggest that unfortunately there is insufficient provision of industrial relations training at the present time, especially for shop stewards. Moreover the deficiency would appear to exist both in terms of the quantity of training opportunities available, and in terms of the quality of training currently provided in that much of the present provision is criticised as being patchy and not related to the needs of the shop steward in particular. This paper aims to examine the reasons for the deficiency in shop steward training and to argue that whilst it is usually explained in terms of what are here called “traditional” reasons—such as lack of finance, lack of agreement between management and trade unions over how training should be organised, etc.—the more fundamental cause is related to differences of opinion between managements and trade unions about the objectives of shop steward training. Moreover, these differences in objectives, it is suggested, are based on issues of “power and control” rather than on traditional reasons, since it is argued industrial relations training can be seen as a factor influencing the way the shop steward operates in his job, which makes it important for either management or trade unions to try to control the way training is undertaken. To the extent that the analysis is correct, then there are important implications for the provision of industrial relations training.

Citation

Keithley, G.R. and Sawbridge, D. (1979), "The Provision of Industrial Relations Training for Shop Stewards", Management Research News, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 2-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb027728