Table Of ContentStrategic Choices in
Reforming Public Service
Employment
An International Handbook
Edited by
Carlo Dell’Aringa, Guiseppe Della Rocca
and Berndt Keller
dell'aringa/96590/crc 16/7/01 12:44 pm Page 1
Strategic Choices in Reforming Public Service Employment
dell'aringa/96590/crc 16/7/01 12:44 pm Page 2
dell'aringa/96590/crc 16/7/01 12:44 pm Page 3
Strategic Choices in
Reforming Public Service
Employment
An International Handbook
Edited by
Carlo Dell’Aringa
Giuseppe Della Rocca
and
Berndt Keller
dell'aringa/96590/crc 16/7/01 12:44 pm Page 4
Editorial matter and selection © Carlo Dell’Aringa,Giuseppe Della Rocca
and Berndt Keller 2001
Chapters 1–9 © Palgrave Publishers Ltd 2001
All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of
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No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied or
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Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2001 by
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Strategic choices in reforming public service employment :
an international handbook / edited by Carlo Dell’Aringa,Giuseppe
Della Rocca,Berndt Keller.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–333–92162–3
1.Employee–management relations in government.
I.Dell’Aringa,Carlo.II.Della Rocca,Giuseppe.III.Keller,
Berndt.
HD8005 .S78 2001
331.88’11351—dc21
2001032124
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd,Chippenham,Wiltshire
Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Tables ix
Notes on the Contributors xi
Preface and Acknowledgments xii
List of Abbreviations xiv
1 Reforming Public Sector Labor Relations 1
Carlo Dell’Aringa
Introduction 1
Privatization and labor cost reductions 4
The New Public Management 9
Administrative decentralization and collective bargaining 12
Trade unions’ responses to increasing flexibility 17
Concluding remarks and open questions 21
2 The New Public Management in Europe 24
Stephen Bach and Giuseppe Della Rocca
Challenges and problems 24
Traditional organization and practice in the public services 25
Management practice in Europe: toward a New Public
Management? 28
Comparative evidence 32
Market-type mechanisms 37
Exploring national variations in management practice 39
3 Collective Bargaining in Western Europe 48
Lorenzo Bordogna and David Winchester
Introduction: common pressures, diverging solutions? 48
A framework for comparative analysis 50
Unilateral versus joint regulation: the coverage
of collective bargaining 52
Centralization versus decentralization: the level of bargaining 57
v
vi Contents
The coordination of collective bargaining 62
Concluding remarks 65
4 Employer Associations and Unions in the Public Sector 71
Berndt Keller, Jesper Due, and Søren Kaj Andersen
Introduction 71
Public sector employers and their associations 72
Centralized control versus decentralized flexibility 74
Initiating change and modernization 78
Trade unions 83
Coping with change 87
Outlook 91
5 United States Public Sector Employment 97
Jonathan Brock
Overview of public sector employment 97
Organizational structure 100
Qualitative employment and wages 102
Civil service systems and employer associations 109
Unions 111
Bargaining and negotiations 114
Reform efforts 121
Conclusions 123
6 Canadian Public Sector Employment 127
Mark Thompson
Introduction 127
Organizational structure, employment and wages 129
The actors: employers and employer associations 135
The actors: trade unions 138
Public sector labor relations 140
Labor conflict and regulation of strikes 146
Labor management cooperation 149
Conclusions 150
7 Japanese Public Sector Employment 155
Kazutoshi Koshiro
Introduction 155
Organizational structure, employment and wages 157
Contents vii
Employers and employer associations 169
Trade unions 174
Public sector labor relations 178
Conclusions 181
8 Public Sector Industrial Relations in New Zealand 185
Pat Walsh, Raymond Harbridge, and Aaron Crawford
Introduction 185
Organizational structure, employment and wages 186
The actors: employers and employer associations 193
The trade unions 198
Public sector labor relations 204
Conclusions 210
9 Employment Relations in the Australian Public Sector 216
Russell D. Lansbury and Duncan K. Macdonald
Introduction 216
Organizational structure, employment and wages 217
The role of employers in the public sector 223
Trade unions 229
Public sector industrial relations 232
Conclusions 240
Subject Index 243
List of Figures
7.1 Number of public employees (1995) 158
7.2 An international comparison of the number of
government employees 162
7.3 Changes in the average pay differentials (Laspeyres
Index) between national and local government
employees, 1963–1997 168
7.4 Distribution of pay differentials (Laspeyres Index)
between the national and local public services in
1974 and 1997 168
viii
List of Tables
1.1 Total public employment 8
1.2 Compensation costs in the public sector as a
percentage of GDP 9
6.1 Government final consumption as a percent
of GDP, current prices 128
6.2 Public sector employment, 1980–1995 131
6.3 Public sector employment share of labor force,
1980–1997 132
6.4 Membership, major public sector unions, 1980–1998 139
6.5 Public sector union membership and density,
1980–1992 140
6.6 Cumulative negotiated wage change, private and
public sectors, 1980–1996 146
7.1 Budgetary fixed number of national government
employees 159
7.2 National government employees by
employment status 160
7.3 Local government employees, 1975–1997 161
7.4 Average straight-time monthly earnings of the
national public service, 1988–1997 166
7.5 Number of organized workers classified by the
applicable laws, fiscal year 1953–1997 176
8.1 Public sector employment, 1980–1998 187
8.2 Public service organizations by size, 1984 and 1998 188
8.3 Staffing in selected SOEs, 1987–1991 188
8.4 Employment in public health and education
sectors, 1984–1998 189
8.5 Gender breakdown of employment, 1980–1998 190
8.6 Public sector union membership, 1990 and 1997 203
8.7 Labor cost index by sector, 1992–1998 208
8.8 Work stoppages, involvements and days lost
by sectors, 1990–1996 209
9.1 Changes in numbers of government employees,
1990–1997 219
9.2 Employment in the Australian public service,
1988–1997 219
ix
