‘New’ Production Concepts: Implications for Union Strategy

Abstract

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, dramatic changes have occurred in the management of production within manufacturing enterprises. Driven by the pressures of increased competitiveness, concepts such as just-in-time, Value Added Management, Total Quality Management (TQM), team-based working arrangements and continuous improvement have become taken-for-granted features of almost all manufacturing plants.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, these concepts have been applied increasingly in service sector environments. This trend can be observed not only in relation to the routinised processing tasks in, for example, the finance industry and public administration, but also in direct service areas such as telephone centres, and in hospitals and higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to explore these trends and their implications for workers, the working environment and labour markets in the service industries, and hence, for trade union organising. Some attention will be given to identifying opportunities for unions in these situations, both in recruitment and in supporting members in advancing their interests.