The Impact of ‘Quality of Working Life’ Initiatives on Trade Unions

A research project investigating the impact of ‘quality of working life’ initiatives was undertaken at the Trade Union Research Unit, Ruskin College, Oxford during 1977 by Darryl Hull, supervised by Roy Moore and supported by a Social Science Research Council grant. The project was designed to throw light on certain broad questions relating to changes in work organisation of particular concern to trade unions. Has the concept of work organisation been two narrowly defined in relation to the total work situation? Does the involvement of workers in the planning and decision‐making processes of a plant produce a dynamic force capable of changing management and trade union structures at plant level? What are the implications for unions of the increasing application by management of work organisation initiatives? What has been the impact of such initiatives, in parallel with the development of a ‘joint management’ philosophy, on unions and their members?