British Airways Employment Relations Analysis Management Essay

British Airways Employment Relations Analysis Management Essay One of the largest industries in the global market is the airline industry. The airline industry is part of a business environment that constantly changes because of rapid technological development and the high competitiveness between the airline companies. Even though the influence of technology is more powerful than before it sometimes takes over the power of the workforce in companies, by changing the work structures and jobs descriptions, people will always be the principal factor in the development of companies because of the fact that without people, technological advantages would not be fully exploitable. That is why employment relations are so important for the company’s wealth and future development. Advantages of healthy employment relations are improvement in productivity, better company performance and also problems in workplaces are easier to be resolved. Additionally, extra resources and support are provided to management, employers and the unions on situations that occur within the workplace. One of the largest companies in the airline industry that comes to mind while discussing employment relations is British Airways. BA is one of the largest Airline companies in the world and the largest in the United Kingdom, flying to over 550 destinations worldwide. Since the founding of the company, the increasing levels of market share and company development have been common to the eyes of the owners and the CEO’s of the company over the years. BA employs approximately 40.000 people worldwide. Therefore good employment relations are essential if the company wants to avoid industrial action that will interrupt its operations. As we will see in the following chapters, BA has not only got problematic employment relations but the current situation of the company might be proved fatal to the company’s future. 2.0 EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS KEY FACTS It is not a simple procedure when trying to give a definition to what employment relations is. According to Ed Rose, employment relations is the†regulation of the employment relationship between employer and employee, both collectively and individually, and the determination of substantive and procedural issues at industrial, organisational and workplace levels.† (p.6 Ed Rose. 2001). According to Ed Rose and the definition above, we can see that employment relations is essential for companies in order to keep the relationship between the employer and the employee in harmony urging the workers to work on a top level, in order for the company to have a positive outcome and fulfil the goals set by the company. A balance between the needs of an employer and employee will conclude into a good relationship and in its turn maximize productivity, the workplace environment will be more pleasant, the opportunity for employees to develop their skills further will be increased as well as job satisfactions and they will gain more job security if the relationship is good as a r esult of voice initiatives. According to Salamon (2000), â€Å"a trade union is any organization, whose membership consists of employees, who seek to organize and represent their interests both in the workplace and society and, in particular, seeks to regulate the employment relationship through the direct process of collective bargaining with management†. It can be argued that the above definition describes with some accuracy what â€Å"Traditional British Industrial relations† is all about. In other words British Industrial relations have traditionally been constructed as revolving around the institutions (company and unions) and processes (collective bargaining).