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This paper focusses on the role of trade unions in policy and practice designed to address the workplace impact of domestic abuse. The paper aims to examine this union remit through the lens of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

In-depth interviews were conducted with 39 union representatives in a region of England to capture their views on and experiences of supporting members experiencing domestic abuse.

There is a clear ethical model by which the unions might articulate the key moral, legal and business drivers in determining effective domestic abuse policy and practice. Furthermore, the degree of “proximity”, in terms of union deliberation with employers and particularly joint action following disclosure, suggests that unions could play a key part in achieving “substantive” domestic abuse policy and practice within organisations.

Despite unions' capacity to offer significant support to employers and employees, the role of unions in addressing the workplace impact of domestic abuse is under-researched. With reference to the concept of CSR, the article adds to the knowledge of how to address the workplace impact of domestic abuse.

The purpose of this paper is to critically assess the degree to which current union learning strategy and practice in the UK can become a catalyst for greater activism and participation by their members in the workplace and beyond. To this end, the paper seeks to draw on the rich heritage of pedagogic theory and practice in adult education writing to bring a fresh perspective to a key aspect of industrial relations.

Through a meta-analysis of the current literature on the role of union learning representatives, learning centres and the context of that learning, the paper seeks to enhance understanding of how such initiatives in addition to upskilling workers lead to members' greater enlightenment with respect to the asymmetric power relations within the workplace and society. Using a conceptual model devised by the author from Freirean theory, this potentially increased awareness of their position in the organisation and society leading to greater levels of subsequent activism and participation by these learners is then critically assessed.

Utilising the radical perspective of Paulo Freire, the article critically analyses the key elements of current union learning strategies in the UK. The paper concludes that union pedagogy strategy not just often raises members' awareness, as Freire would advocate, of their “subordinate” position in society, but potentially also genuinely equips them with the skills, knowledge and understanding to challenge that position through subsequent union activism and, therefore, greater participation in decision-making in the workplace. Union-facilitated learning, it is argued, can also develop the skills and knowledge necessary to increase members' job security.

To the author's knowledge, this is the first time that a Freirean analysis has been applied to this key element of contemporary trade union strategy and practice. In particular, the study seeks to also go beyond most studies of union pedagogic approaches and focus on the learner's journey and how this may imbue a propensity to become more active in the union and, therefore, the workplace.

Trying to persuade the world's airlines to buy Concorde is a task for which BAC sought the guidance of Weybridge‐based consultants, Marketing and Manpower International. MMI believes that sales approach, whether the product is an aircraft or a can of beans, is basically the same‐telling the customer what he can get out of it rather than what the maker put into it. Chris Phillips reports.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a qualitative study of the views of a cross-section of managers and union officials engaged in joint learning projects on the impact more generally on the employee relations climate in those organisations.

Findings are based on an analysis of interview data incorporating the views and experiences of 32 union representatives and managers engaged in promoting learning in a number of case study projects in North West England.

Findings suggest that union-led learning and development has a clear impact on pre-empting potential performance issues for individuals in terms of better equipping them with the skills to achieve expected performance levels, assisting individuals with managing work-related stress and also to prevent discrimination against workers. Collectively, the managing of downsizing in particular through union-led learning support to retrain in order to redeploy effected staff or better prepare them for new employment opportunities was also a significant finding.

The research suggests that successful union-management learning partnerships can also have a positive impact on managing conflict in those organisations. However, further research is needed to test these assertions in other union organised sectors.

There are implications for management in recognising the “added value” that partnership working with their unions on learning can bring in terms of also both pre-empting and resolving individual and collective disputes in the workplace.

The research is one of few studies that focuses on the link between promoting learning through union-management partnerships and managing conflict in organisations and offers a clear insight into how this can be achieved in practice.

Interest in mediation as an alternative strategy for managing conflict in the workplace has grown recently both in terms of theory, practice and government policy. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficacy of the process as practised in higher education, where its use is quite well developed. Its key aim is to increase the understanding of the process through a more qualitative sectorial analysis.

The research took place over a six-month period in 2011. It is based on the views and experiences of 36 representatives from 16 universities across the North of England and four senior managers from mediation providers serving those organisations. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews with an average duration of one hour were undertaken with the majority of respondents with a small number of slightly shorter telephone interviews. All interviews were fully transcribed.

The key findings of the research suggest that universities, whilst having similarities to other organisations in terms of the rationale, implementation and management of workplace mediation, have a practice also informed by some aspects specific to the sector. These include: the ethos of the sector, the nature of the academic labour process, its potential client base and also in its desire to network with others within the sector.

The study offers a more in-depth understanding of mediation as practised in a cross-section of organisations in one sector and is in contrast to the predominantly more quantitative approach adopted so far in the mediation literature in the UK.

Sociology of sport in the United Kingdom is as old as the subdiscipline itself but was uniquely shaped by the prominence of football hooliganism as a major social issue in the 1970s and 1980s. While it remains a somewhat niche activity, the field has been stimulated by the growing cultural centrality of sport in UK society. This quantitative and qualitative development has been recognized in recent governmental evaluations of research expertise. Current research reflects this expanded range of social stratification and social issues in sport both domestically and on a global level, while the legacy of hooligan research is evident in the continuing concentration on studies of association football. Historically, this empirical research has largely been underpinned by figurational, Marxist/neo-Marxist, or feminist sociological theories, but there is now a greater emphasis on theoretical synthesis and exploration. As a consequence of the expansion of the field, allied to its empirical and theoretical diversity, there is a burgeoning literature produced by UK sociologists of sport that spans entry-level textbooks, research monographs, and the editorship of a significant number of specialist journals. The chapter concludes by noting the future prospects of the sociology of sport in the United Kingdom in relation to teaching, research, and relations with other sport-related subdisciplines and the sociological mainstream.

The paper seeks to report on the results of a regional survey of public sector HR and union representatives' views and experiences of employee voice techniques in the workplace.

The research was based on a descriptive survey and subsequent statistical analysis of significant difference between HR and union representatives in terms of their views on the aims and efficacy of various forms of employee voice initiatives.

A broad range of employee voice mechanisms, both direct and indirect, was identified, many running concurrently, across the sample organisations. The European Union was identified as a significant influence in encouraging voice initiatives in the workplace.

The research, whilst engaging with the views and experiences of representatives from a larger group of organisations, will require subsequent case study research to investigate some of the findings in greater depth.

There are clear implications for management in terms of the potential effect of EU regulations around involvement and participation. There is also evidence that the unions are not being marginalized by more individually‐focused voice initiatives but, conversely, some union representatives' lack of knowledge of the regulations could hamper union long‐term voice strategies.

The paper applies existing employee voice case study theory to a broader range of organisations through a survey approach, whilst demonstrating the practical application of those concepts and models to increase one's knowledge of employee voice techniques currently in use in the public sector.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the discussions that took place and the key themes raised at a conference focusing on the role of the union equality representative, held at the British Trades Union Congress (TUC), London, in February 2009.

The conference was structured around the contribution of a number of keynote speakers, reports back from project workers and question and answer sessions with delegates. The paper is based on observation, summary notes and conference documents.

The conference demonstrated the potential for a new type of union representative to help address inequality and discrimination in the workplace, with clear examples of early successes reported by unions participating in the project. However, it also highlighted barriers that may still remain until the equality rep has the same legal rights and status accorded to other union representatives in the UK.

This report highlights a key new initiative from the British trade union movement in addressing equality and diversity issues at work through the recruitment, training, organising and ongoing support of a network of specialised union equality representatives.