Subcontract, Flexibility and Changing Employment Relations in the Water Industry

The public utilities have not featured prominently in recent research in industrial sociology on restructuring, changes in employment relations and work flexibility. The fact that the utilities occupy a key position in the Government's privatisation programme makes this omission all the more unfortunate, since it might be expected that the rate and extent of change where organisations have been, or are about to be, privatised will be greater than in other areas, which have to date tended to be in the focus of research into restructuring. This paper draws on an ongoing research project into restructuring and changing employment relations in the Gas and Water utilities. It concentrates specifically on a case study of one Water Authority's use of various types of subcontract.