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Following a speech by Vince Cable at the GMB union’s conference, which suggested the Government might legislate to restrict strike action if industrial unrest continues to escalate, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has urged Government to build public sector leadership and management skills and improve communication and consultation to help stave off the worst effects of strike action to come.
In a paper published in August last year, 'Developing Positive Employee Relations', Mike Emmott, CIPD employee relations adviser, argued that a sustained focus by Government and public service employers on improving the leadership skills of public sector management, providing meaningful consultation opportunities for staff and more effective communication, would help win hearts and minds. The report sets out the need to build a more engaged workforce, despite the turbulence of change.
The report, however, also set out the higher stakes policy options the Government should be considering to protect public services if there is an upsurge in industrial unrest, including requiring a threshold of those eligible to vote supporting strike action before it can go ahead, rather than just a simple majority of those voting.
Other policy options open to the Government set out in the paper include legislation to require parties involved in public service disputes to take part in compulsory arbitration prior to industrial action and changes to balloting requirements to ensure ballots are counted separately for each employer.