Strike propensities at the British workplace

The article presents a study using data from the Department of Employment/Policy Studies Institute/ESRC Workplace Industrial Relations Survey of 1980 in Great Britain in order to investigate the relative importance of various aspects of the workplace environment on increasing the probability of strikes and industrial action in general. The data set used allows for differentiation between various forms of industrial action in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors. The findings presented suggest that additional formal procedures may not necessarily reduce accidents, but may actually represent an institutionalization of conflict. The authors note that such formal procedures may be useful and necessary in resolving already extant disputes, but do not prevent the disputes from arising in the first place