A new service for industrial relations
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by J. E. Mortimer Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration
Service
Advisory, Conciliation Arbitration Service was Lbfished at the beginning of tember 1974. Its task is to ) in resolving disputes, to rove industrial relations to strengthen collective 3aining. Though set up by Government it is formally !pendent of any department ;tate. Its governing council sists of persons appointed the Secretary of State for )loyment, but, in fact, they ude representatives suggesby the TUC, by the princi employers' organisation, CBI, and three independent nbers.
he Service exists to help Yloyers and unions in the tact of industrial relations. it is not a substitute for e.ctive bargaining; still less t a substitute for trade Inism. Whenever possible Service encourages em,ers and unions to settle r own problems by agreed edures. It is often able to st when the agreed proce:s do not lead to a settleLt but it does this by contion and not by " leaning " either employers or unions adopt a particular settlert.
CAS has five main func s Co conciliate in industrial utes between employers unions.
lo conciliate between an layer and an individual loyee in cases of alleged Lir dismissal. In the future n the Employment ProtecBill becomes law it will be job of ACAS to conciliate L wider range of individual ts for employees.
provide arbitration at the ual request of an employer union.
7o offer advice, when reged, on industrial relations personnel management dem& o inquire into and make remendations on longer-term strial relations issues with new to improving and lgthening collective baring.
ost of the staff of ACAS are based in the regions. They are therefore readily available in the main industrial centres. They can be approached without bureaucratic formality. If an employer or a union has a problem on which ACAS may be able to help an immediate request can be made by telephone. ACAS is always ready to listen.
The process of conciliation is not new in British industrial relations. It has been developing for at least 80 years. What is new is that the new Service is not part of a government department. Mr Michael Foot, as Secretary of State for Employment, has been scrupulous in observing the undertaking he gave when the Service was established that there would be no interference with its dayto-day functioning.
The Service operates primarily by voluntary means. It listens, it brings people together for discussion and it underlines the need to reach negotiated settlements. It acts, on occasions, as an intermediary conveying suggestions and counter-suggestions from one side to another without the formal commitment that direct negotiations sometimes require. In this way a solution to a particular problem may begin to emerge.
Since the Service was established there has been a big increase in the number of cases_ brought for conciliation. The assistance of the Service is being sought by employers and unions in about 200 cases each month. The number of individual conciliation cases concerned with alleged unfair dismissal averages nearly 2,000 a month.
About half of the collectirve condiliation cases are initiated by trade unions and about half either by the employers and unions jointly or on the initiative of the employer. Usually the intervention of the Service is welcomed by both sides. On the rare occasions when either the employer or the union would prefer ACAS to keep out, the Service does not im pose its intervention. It always lets it be known, nevertheless, that it is ready to give a helping hand should there be any change of view leading to a request for assistance. Very occasionally the Service intervenes on its own initiative, but it always seeks the goodwill of the parties.
Arbitration is a useful device for securing a settlement in circumstances in which agreement cannot be reached and there is a possibility of a stoppage of work damaging to all concerned. It is not, however, the answer to every kind of industrial dispute. Its disadvantage is that if used too frequently it tends to undermine the responsibility of employers and unions to reach negotiated settlements. There is no real substitute in collective bargaining for voluntary settlements, negotiated and accepted by employers and unions.
ACAS can provide arbitration. Its conciliation officers do not arbitrate, but the Service can appoint arbitrators from among persons with experience of industrial relations. At present ACAS is being asked to provide arbitration in about 30 cases a month.
Under the Employment Protection Bill provision is made for the setting-up of a Central Arbitration Committee, with its own independent chairman, to provide facilities for arbitration. Except in special circum stances outlined in the Bill — relating, for example to trade union recognition and disclo sure — it will operate primarily by voluntary means. Issues may be referred to arbiration with the consent of all parties to a dispute.
Even on trade union recognition and the disclosure of information the emphasis of the Bill is on conciliation. Every effort will have to be made to resolve disputed issues by voluntary means.
The advisory facilities of ACAS are widely used. Inquiries are received, for example, about negotiating procedures, payment systems, job evaluation and employees' rights under various Acts of Parliament. Sometimes those inquiries lead to surveys by the Service in which a particular problem in a firm or undertaking is examined. Possible remedial measures may then be suggested. This service is available to unions as well as to employers. It is free of charge.
The inquiry function of the Service is likely to grow in importance. It is concerned more with longer-term problems and with the improvement of industrial relations and the strengthening of collective bargaining.
The Service will also have the task of producing Codes of Practice for promoting the improvement of industrial relations. The Bill specifies that, in particular, Codes shall provide practical guidance on the disclosure of information by employers to trade union representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining, and time off for trade union representatives to enable them to carry out representative duties and to train for those duties.
The aim of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service is set out clearly and succinctly in the Employment Protection Bill. It is charged "with the general duty of promoting the improvement of industrial relations, and in particular of encouraging the extension of collective bargaining and the development and, where necessary, reform of collective bargaining machinery."