H8CNTIR: As an Expert, You have always been keen to Develop a New IRs Approach that Balances Equity: Contemporary Issues in IRs Assignment, NCI

Module Objectives

On completion of the module, students should be able to:

1. Offer a critical account of the impact of the contemporary competitive environment on the conduct of industrial
2. Analyze the range of strategic choices available in the management of industrial relations and approaches to collective bargaining
3. Assess the importance of the state at the national and EU level in the regulation of the ER, and analyze models of state intervention and their contemporary impact
4. Compare and contrast approaches to labour management and industrial relations in a variety of public and private settings
5. Critically assess the range of policy choices confronting the main protagonists in the Irish industrial relations system today

Topics

The module is divided into 8 main themes which overlap within various topics:

Theme 1: Introduction – covers the Post Fordism debate and the formation of the new economy, globalization and IRs, pluralist’s defense of workers’ voice, the old and new role of trade unions, and the neo-liberal critique of collective Bargaining.

Theme 2: – The Context of IRs in Ireland – looks at IRs institutions (WRC & LC), trade unions, the role of the government and employers, multinationals, and Irish IRs.

Theme 3: Union Recognition in the New Economy – covers the Irish state approach to union recognition and the pluralist tradition in the context of the new economy.

Theme 4: IRs Management Approaches – reviews how employers, state, and trade unions manage IRs. We will clarify the continuous assignment guidelines during the delivery of this topic.

Theme 5: Compliance and Cooperation in the Workplace – This will include issues of workers’ voice as a purpose of trade unions and a brief review of social partnership and its demise in Ireland.

Theme 6: The Labour Market – Looks are working in the contemporary economy and trade union approaches to managing change.

Theme 7: Jobs and Productivity in the new economy – presents the impact of neoliberalism on the form of job and the search for productivity and its IRs implications.

Theme 8: The New Public Sector & the Future of IRs – covers management approaches in the public sector and strategic options regarding the future of IRs.

Assignment Specifications

Background: As an expert, you have always been keen to develop a new IRs approach that balances equity, voice, and efficiency within an organization in order to enhance fairness and justice.

Your task is to:

• Research and identify three key economic changes and how they might impact the management of labour and industrial relations by employers and trade unions in Ireland.