... doubt about the transformation which has taken place in British industrial relations in the past decade.' Michael Howard, Secretary of State for Employment, Hansard 166(39), 29 January 1990, col. 38. Before the conservative government were elected in 1979, Britain was dominated by a system of collective employment. These collective forms of industrial relations were evident amongst the whole of the public sector and covered large parts of the private sector. Now the public sector still operates a model of collective relations, but the size of this sector has been substantially reduced. Within the far larger private sector of the British economy joint regulation is rare. (Millward et al, 2000) Metcalf (1994) identified four ways that the structure and conduct of industrial relations changed between 1980 and 1990. These changes come under the headings unions, management, bargaining and the environment. Unions represent workers by helping to negotiate wages, hours, ...

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