Conflict at work

Definitions
 ‘Conflict at work results from a perceived
opposition of goals between two or more
parties or a sense of grievance or injustice
by one party in its relations with others’
(Blyton and Jenkins, 2007: 33)

 So in relation to previous weeks, people act

as a result of conflict when there is a lack of
fairness or justice at work (c.f. Kelly, 1998 &
2018)
– Remember ‘structured antagonism’?
(Edwards and Hodder, 2022)
 Unitary Pluralist Radical
Assumptions Capitalist society Capitalist society Capitalist society
Integrated group Coalescence of Division between
of people sectional groups capital and labour
Common values, Different values, Imbalance and
interests and interests and inequalities in
objectives objectives society (power,
economic, wealth)
Nature of Single authority Competitive Inherent in
conflict and loyalty authority and economic and
structure loyalty structures social systems
(management’s) (formal and
informal)
Irrational and Inevitable, Disorder precursor
frictional rational and to change
structural
Resolution of Coercion Compromise and Change society
conflict agreement
Role of trade Intrusion from Legitimate Employee response
unions outside to capitalism
What are examples of
conflict at work?
Possible forms of
workplace conflict
– Fiddling of time/money
– Pilfering (stealing goods from work)
– Effort bargaining
– Output restriction
– Sabotage
– Absenteeism
– High voluntary labour turnover
– Poor time-keeping
– Breaches of discipline
– Accidents (?)
Varieties of conflict
‘Its means of expression are… unlimited. The strike is
the most common and visible expression. But conflict
with the employer may also take the form of peaceful
bargaining and grievance handling, of boycotts, of
political action, of restriction of output, of sabotage, of
absenteeism, or of personnel turnover. Several of these
forms, such as sabotage, restriction of output,
absenteeism and turnover, may take place on an
individual as well as an organized basis and constitute
alternatives to collective action.’
(Kerr, 1964 cited in Hyman, 1989:55)
The scope of conflict
Edwards (1986) highlights the distinctions between

– individual behaviour
– work group solidarity
– workplace union organization

– Suggest that particular forms of conflict have

different meanings if and when practised by
individuals, work groups, whole workforces
Understanding industrial action

 “Industrial action refers to action taken by

either trade unions or employers as part of a
legitimate, legal dispute. Such action occurs
when there is a break-down in the
management of the employment relationship.
Unions then coordinate industrial action in
response to the fundamental tensions present
within the employment relationship” (Hodder,
2016: 206).
Forms of industrial action (Hodder,
2016)
 The strike - most visible display of industrial
action and is a temporary stoppage of work
undertaken by union members. Strike action
is the most tightly regulated form of industrial
action, in legal terms.
 Action short of strike - partial withdrawal of
labour (overtime bans, work-to-rule/work-to-
contract, go-slows).
Why do people take collective
action? (Hornsey et al, 2006; Kelly and Kelly,
1994)
 Effectiveness
– Influence government; influence public;
build opposition
 Values
– Identify as a social activist
– Goes against core principles
Recent examples of industrial action
Legal requirements for industrial
action – Trade Union Act (2016)
 ‘Trade Union Act’ 2016

– Minimum turnout restrictions

– Picketing restrictions

– Strike notice
Impact of industrial action

 Reaching agreement?

 Positive impact of strike action on union

membership growth (Hodder et al, 2017)

 Problems of measuring strikes

Defining, measuring and
recording strikes – Lyddon, 2007;
Vandaele, 2016
 Official strike statistics usually record:
– the number of stoppages,
– the number of workers involved and
– the working days lost (duration x number of workers)

 Problems of measurement – exclusion of small

strikes (less than ten workers, less one day);
changes in numbers during a dispute and those
indirectly involved; and dependency on employers to
report disputes in some countries, Covid-19
Examining international
strike trends
 Comparative analysis of strike trends
provides a wider, and thus, stronger test of
theories of strikes.
 However, comparison also increases the
difficulties of measurement since strikes are
recorded differently across countries (see
Hale 2007; Dribbusch and Vandaele, 2016)

 Workplace strikes vs. general strikes

Is the workplace strike withering away?
Ross and Hartman (1960) and Shalev (1992) have argued that
the strike is withering away

Hyman and Edwards (1994) critique of Shalev’s claim of

labour peace in the 1980s and 1990s (see also Godard, 2011;
Gall 2013; Dribbush and Vandaele, 2016)
– No even process of pacification
– Over-emphasize decline in strikes by comparison with
1970s rather than longer historical view
– Assessing 9 countries between 1950-1990 they found:
 No of strikes: rose in Sweden and Denmark, decline in

Netherlands and UK (impact of coal-mining)

 Workers involved indicated no overall trend in Germany,

Sweden or UK, decline in Austria but increases in

France, Denmark and Italy
Table of working days lost
 Major explanations of strike
trends: political

 Strikes must not be seen simply as expressions of economic interest;

– Organization essential for strike activity
– Motion of strike waves as indicator of political protest by working classes
(e.g. Shorter and Tilly in respect of France)
– Gaining of political power can lead to the reduction of strike activity (I.e.
Sweden through political exchange)

Partial explanation
– Strikes can increase under social-democratic governments;
– Political exchange can be used to restrict the legitimacy and rationality of
industrial conflict
 Recap: strikes, perspectives

and conflict at work
Strikes and other forms of organized industrial action
(overtime bans, work-to-rule etc) are the overt
manifestation of conflict at work.
 Despite debates over the interpretation of strike data, many
observers have suggested a decline in strike activity,
especially in Britain, in recent years.
 If conflict is inherent within the capitalist employment
relationship, then how do we explain the decline in
organized industrial action?
 No evidence of strike displacement (Gall and Kirk, 2018)

Can conflict take alternative (unorganized) forms?

Is unorganized conflict a useful term ?
While some alternative forms of conflict are individual,
there is also evidence to suggest that some forms of
unorganized conflict are organized (and vice versa)!
In reality the dividing line between organised and
unorganized conflict is rarely ...clear cut (Blyton &
Turnbull, 2004 p.350)
Of course absence from work may reflect many things
other than conflict, and in general does not represent
deliberate defiance. Again, however, whether such
forms of behaviour can be taken as an expression of
conflict with the employer will depend both on the
meanings attached to such behaviour … and on the
structure of employer-employee relations… (Blyton and
Turnbull, 2004, p.350-1)
Types of ‘unorganised’ conflict…

 Organized absenteeism (‘Blue Flu’)

 Organized (militant) sabotage – Luddites, Genoan
dockers, French railway workers
 Bureaucratic sabotage (grievance procedures, email
bombs)
 ‘unorganized’ spontaneous disputes with demands
formulated after the walk out
Organisational misbehaviour…

 ‘anything you do at work you are not

supposed to do’ (Ackroyd and Thompson,
2022)
 Excludes – major fraud; embezzlement; links
with organized crime; whistle-blowing
 ‘those who direct behavior in organizations
typically define whether misbehavior occurs
or not’ (Ackroyd and Thompson, 2022)
 Dimensions of misbehaviour (adapted from
Ackroyd and Thompson, 2022)
Appropriation Appropriation Appropriation Appropriation
of time of work of product of identity
Commitment Time perks Perks Goal
Engagement identification
Work activity
Cooperation Time wasting Joking rituals
Effort bargain Pilferage
Sub-cultures
Absence
Compliance Soldiering Fiddling
Sexual
misbehaviour
Denial
Hostility
Turnover Destructiveness Theft Class or group
and sabotage solidarity
 Appropriation of work

Group restriction of output under Payment by Results (PBR)

 Management tolerate some fiddles as they bring worker
satisfaction at low cost (Lupton, On the Shop Floor, 1963).
 Burawoy (Manufacturing Consent, 1979) argues that the effort
bargain becomes a game, which workers feel they have won if they
gain some time or raise earnings a little; but the game is played
within acceptable profit margins and general respect for its rules.

Assembly workers under Measured Day Work (MDW)

(Edwards & Scullion 1982)
 Negotiated staffing levels (and breaks) at start of job;
 Stopping the line: for spurious reasons to lengthen leisure periods,
eg before breaks, or due to understaffing.
 Appropriation of work cont. -
sabotage
Edwards (1986, pp.248-9) defines sabotage as the
 'deliberate destruction of product or machinery used'; but he
expands this to include 'production of goods below acceptable
levels of quality’.

Taylor and Walton (1971):

 Utilitarian sabotage - to facilitate work process: (individual/group
sanction)
– bend rules to earn more money or create more breaks
 Withdrawal of cooperation by individual or group: strict adherence
to instructions can lead to destructive sabotage
 Withdrawal of cooperation as collective union sanction: strict
adherence to rules, eg on safety, can sabotage (in a less emotive
sense) the running of the business.
Appropriation of product

 Perks of the job,

 Pilfering and fiddling ‘the social process by
which a group of men could break the law
and still believe themselves to be good
citizens’ (Ditton, 1977: 11)
 Theft
Appropriation of time

Mars (1982, p.78)

– ‘In occupations where the individual perceives his task to be
cyclical, he will fiddle time (and thereby money) by slowing the
rate of the task down.’
– ‘In occupations where the individual perceives his task to be
linear, he will fiddle time by speeding the rate of the task up’.

Ditton (1979) examines bakery:

– Making time
– Taking time twice
– Arresting time
– Negotiating time
– Avoiding time
 Absenteeism as an expression of
conflict?
Absenteeism an alternative form of conflict?
Knowles (1952)
 During the WW2, clear inverse relation between strikes and
absenteeism both over time and in each district of the coal industry.
 Knowles cites (p.226) findings that indicate a reduction in
absenteeism immediately following strikes.

Turner, Clack and Roberts (1967, pp.184-191)

 ‘There does seem evidence that if the collective expressions of
specific discontent are suppressed or inhibited in some forceful
way, they may find an outlet in a more dispersed and individual
fashion’ (p.190)
When is absence ‘absenteeism’?
 Absenteeism can be defined as: ‘the practice of
workers failing to report for work on some slight
excuse or other, or none at all’ (Behrend, 1959)

 Edwards and Whitston (1989) argue the need to

avoid using the term absenteeism since it has ‘heavy
connotations including the deliberate defiance of
normal standards of conduct and the existence of a
sub-culture which sustains the “absentee”’

 Not a ‘self-evident phenomenon’ but that relates to

the shared or conflicting interpretations of
management and workers
Absence as conflict?

 Edwards and Scullion (1984): should not assume that

absenteeism is part of an incipient resistance to
management; it needs to be studied in its workplace
context
 Edwards and Whitston (1993): If absence is to be
seen as ‘conflictual’ we would expect
– Shared norms among workers
– Shared actions among workers
– Salience of attendance
– Resistance to control
– High salience for managers
Formalising conflict – grievance
procedures
 By law employers must set out a grievance
procedure and share it in writing with all
employees, eg in their statement of
employment or staff handbook. It must
include:
– who the employee should contact about a
grievance
– how to contact this person
Grievance procedures must…
 say that if the problem can’t be resolved informally,
there will be a meeting with the employee, called a
grievance hearing
 set out time limits for each stage of the process
 identify who to contact if the normal contact person is
involved in the grievance
 explain how to appeal a grievance decision
 state that employees can be accompanied in any
meetings by a colleague or union representative
 outline what happens if a grievance is raised during
disciplinary action
3 stages of negotiation
 1) Prepare
– Research
– Agreement of opening position (and set
end position
– Decide composition of negotiating team
– Anticipate arguments of other side
 2) Negotiation process
– Put forward proposals
– Exchange ideas,
agreements/disagreements
3 stages of negotiation

 3) Concluding negotiations:
– Agree on outcome
– Write formal agreement
– Check compliance (both sides)
Responding to conflict – discipline
at work
 You might face disciplinary action if your
employer has decided they have a serious
issue with you or your work.
 Your employer should put their disciplinary
procedure in writing and it should contain:
 your employer’s disciplinary procedure rules
 what performance and behaviour might lead
to disciplinary action
 what action your employer might take and
your right to appeal
Formal resolutions – the role of
ACAS
 Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration
Service) provides free and impartial
information and advice to employers and
employees on all aspects of workplace
relations and employment law.
Points to take away

 Varieties of conflict
– Decline in strike action
– Types of organizational misbehaviour
– Conflict resolution