ABSTRACT
Employee relations must be understood within the economic, cultural, social and political context of specific countries. Consequently, this chapter focuses on general trends in industrialised countries, where employee relations have traditionally been negotiated through collective agreements with the workforce, often brokered through workforce representatives and trade unions. While unionism has declined since its heyday of the 1970s, largely because of changes to established patterns of work, this has not diminished the significance of employee relations in the construction industry. Instead, the emphasis has changed from confrontational relationships between employers and employees towards attempts to achieve greater cooperation to maintain market share in the face of greater international competition. This chapter examines the theory and practice of employee relations in relation to formal collective agreements, which are traditionally negotiated through unions, and less formal arrangements, which often exist at an organisational or project level. Both types of arrangement are now embodied under the employee relations concept. We
will explore the nature of employee relations within the construction industry, examining the roles of unions, managers and employees in forming and maintaining an effective working relationship.
