I

“Industrial relations” is considered to have negative ramifications because of sensationalist media reporting of employer/employee conflict and the role of unions that is seen to be at the heart of it. There are different approaches to industrial relations — unitarist, pluralist, radical or Marxist — although arts manager don’t hear much of the latter these days. In the unitarist world, workplace conflict is a temporary aberration. A radical perspective is that industrial conflict is class conflict and while unions try to rectify the imbalance implicit in the employment relationships, the state actively seeks to support the interests of capital. Clearly, different countries will have different industrial laws but the point is that most countries will have some rules that cover the employment relationship. Managerial prerogative, which is the watch cry of employer associations, means the right of managers or business owners “to make unilateral decisions about all aspects of their business without interference from government, workers or unions”.