ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the responses of managers and trade unionists in the workplaces to the changes brought in by the 1988 reform programme. It reviews the issue of management’s right to manage, and considers the impact of collective bargaining on managerial decision-making. The chapter considers the responses of school managers to the reform programme, and examines the union responses at school level. Management freedom to decide on spending is meaningless if there is nothing to spend, and teacher commitment can ebb away as staff face redundancy, workload increases, and limited resources force a reassessment of provision by down-grading the professional definitions of standards. Much of the human resource management literature places great stress on the importance of communications in maintaining good relationships with employees. The teacher unions do not face hostile managers, but they do face management practices that have major implications for Teachers’ pay and conditions.
