The impact of the law on industrial disputes in the 1980s: report of a survey of managers in the National Health Service

This paper reports the results of one part of a research project which investigated the nature and extent of the impact of the labour legislation enacted between 1980 and 1990 on the conduct of industrial relations and the processes by which this came about. Interviews were carried out with the managers at national, district and unit or trust level in the National Health Service. Although there had been major national disputes and industrial action in the 1980s, local issues were the most likely source of disputes and possible industrial action. The experience of the 1980s therefore had a continued relevance after the 1990 reforms encouraged extensive devolution of industrial relations issues to unit level. The only notable legal ingredient in management responses to industrial action was deductions from the pay of staff who were not working normally, but on this as on other issues there were notable variations in practice in different areas. In general the law did not seem to be central component in management thinking on how to respond to disputes.