VOLUNTARISM

Voluntarism

Voluntarism

Introduction

It is said that we have a 'voluntary' system of industrial relations in Britain, and that the 'voluntary principle' is an integral feature of British industrial relations.' The purpose of this article is to define voluntarism, by drawing upon the usage of such terms as 'voluntary', 'voluntarism' and 'voluntary principle' during that time when voluntarism may be said to have been consolidated run Britain - between that is, the mid-nineteenth century and the inter-war years.

We, therefore, trace the terms and refer to the contexts in which they were used. We also attempt to explain why voluntarism has survived in Bruin. For we are now held to be the only home of voluntarism among advanced industrialized countries.

Finally, given that voluntarism was said to be in decline in Britain by the early 1970s, we consider whether voluntarism is already dead, and under what circumstances it might be abandoned.

Voluntarism

Both individuals and groups of individuals may be said to act voluntarily where such acts are spontaneous, performed through free will and not constrained by another, or by others. Now, associations in industry (employers' or workers') may constrain individuals, but not if associations are deemed to be composed of individuals who freely enter into these associations, and where associations are seen merely as extensions of the individual.

In industrial relations terms, then, employers are free to enter into collective bargaining; but such places a moral obligation on an employer to adhere to negotiated terms and conditions, and to accord a range of rights to employees. In a voluntary environment, employers are also free to recognize (or not to recognize) trade unions as legitimate representatives of employees.

Employees, for their part, are free to form trade unions and are also free to join unions or to remain aloof. Yet, attachment to trade unionism and the justification for belonging come from 'with me': an individual must not be 'constrained' to belong. Employees are also free to enter into collective bargaining arrangements, but once they do so, they are deemed to be morally bound by the conditions laid down.

In its stress on mutual responsibilities, and on such collective agencies as conciliation boards, Trade Boards and Joint Industrial Councils, voluntarism describes the way that industry IS run; voluntarism is a form of 'industrial self-government', which is deemed to be the most effective way of running industry. However, there are different ways of running different industries in industrial relations terms, partly because the attitudes of the parties differ as between industries (and within them, too), partly because different industries are at different stages of economic and organizational development, and partly because no-one can tell with certainty how industrial society should or can develop. These differences and uncertainties give scope for experiment and flexibility in the forms which industrial relations government might take.

A role for the state is not excluded from this scheme of things but the state's role is limited to underpinning the collective agencies and to buttress freedom in ...