ABSTRACT
The third group of respondents in WERS 98 were worker representatives. They have been a permanent feature of the survey series. The primary role of a worker representative is to act as an intermediary between employees and management. Where a representative is present as a result of a union being recognised, their duties will also cover matters related to union organisation. Their role will be shaped by the concerns and needs of the employees they represent; but, as secondary agents, their ‘existence and operation are conditioned by the employing organizations of those represented’ (Hyman, 1997:309). The purpose of this chapter is to unpick these two and, in doing so, to describe the activities of worker representatives in Britain.
