Social partnership is very fashionable right now. It has become the new "buzzword" in Industrial Relations. The 'new' government, the TUC and the CBI are all promoting partnership at work, every week there is another conference held somewhere in the country on the topic of partnership. There is also a huge amount being written about the issue, some Industrial Relations commentators have even hailed this as the most exciting thing to happen to UK industry in years. However, not every group completely agrees with this.

For example, some groups believe that Social Partnership has had a very negative effect on British Trade Unions. At www.labournet.org.uk a group have named a bulletin board 'Solidarity'. It is a page dedicated to 'challenging social partnership' and it's apparent corrosive effects on union power. It is very typical of the types of arguments put forward by groups that are oh so against social partnerships.

Stakeholders like the authors of solidarity believe that social partnerships tie unions to the coat tails of employers. What they want is a 'new unionism' which opposes subordination to the 'global market' and builds on the experience

If they agree on the above terms then hopefully it will mean:

But how will social partnership actually change things in real terms for employees and the unions? By answering this question I will hopefully be able to assess if social partnership is a viable way forward in the new millennium.

Finally, if social partnership is the way forward in the new millennium then what makes it so different and 'better' than any other model of Industrial relations?

„h Social partnerships have the potential to produce a more committed workforce.

„h It means that employees, through their trade union, will be given a much greater say in how their company is run.

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Approximate Word count = 3139
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)