The paper reviews industrial relations developments in Britain during 1999 by assessing how New Labour's policy commitment to encouraging "partnership" is developing in practice. After a discussion of the Employment Relations Act, it considers the wider influence of European legislation. It then...

We report how trade unions and employers initially reacted to the introduction of the statutory recognition procedure in the Employment Relations Act 1999 (ERA). Interview data indicate that the ERA and the drift of EU influence have acted to shift employer attitudes towards greater approval of...