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Looks at industrial relations developments in the “first wave” of self‐governing trusts in the National Health Service. It finds that many are departing from the NHS′s traditional industrial relations model. There is a move from national to local bargaining and the predominant pattern is single table bargaining, as opposed to separate Whitley Councils for each functional group. In addition, to simplify the complex traditional model, negotiations in many trusts will be carried out effectively by representatives of only some of the staff organizations with members in the trust. Moreover unitarist exceptions to this still essentially pluralist pattern can be found in trusts, with examples of no union recognition, a single union deal and pay deals unilaterally determined by management.

The NHS in 1991 launched an equality programme for women, setting eight goals to be achieved by 1994. Shows that at least some of the goals are not being met and suggests reasons falling into four categories. First is the NHS context, including trusts′ autonomy which is incompatible with a national equality plan. Second, there is a failure of implementation, Third, the programme is inherently flawed: Its business rationale is less than convincing to many health professionals who attach a high value to ethics, Fourth, the reasons for failure relate to all equality programmes for women, including a value system which sees the male career pattern as the norm. Concludes that movement towards equality for women in the NHS is only likely to be made if a different approach to goal setting is adopted.

The NHS in 1991 launched an equality programme for women, setting eight goals to be achieved by 1994. Shows that at least some of the goals are not being met and suggests reasons falling into four categories. First is the NHS context, including trusts’ autonomy which is incompatible with a national equality plan. Second, there is a failure of implementation, Third, the programme is inherently flawed: its business rationale is less than convincing to many health professionals who attach a high value to ethics, Fourth, the reasons for failure relate to all equality programmes for women, including a value system which sees the male career pattern as the norm. Concludes that movement towards equality for women in the NHS is only likely to be made if a different approach to goal setting is adopted.

This paper explores the consequences of the introduction by National Health Service (NHS) trusts (i.e. hospitals) of their own pay systems. It is based on case studies of ten NHS trusts and involved 73 interview sessions with a variety of stakeholders and the examination of employment data and performance indicators. The research revealed the tensions and countervailing forces inherent in NHS pay: the tension between national and local pay; the tension between simplification and the need to address the different requirements of the many occupational groups in the NHS; the tension between performance pay and feelings of equity; and the tension between equal pay and the traditional pay determination arrangements. These findings are discussed in the context of the proposed new NHS pay system.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a research day on the theme of diversity, held at the Centre for Employment Studies Research – formerly the Employment Studies Research Unit at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.

The report is based upon observations, notes and discussions of the papers presented that represented work in progress on a range of diversity issues, specifically ethnicity, gender, age and disability.

The presentations highlighted the mixed outcomes of anti‐discrimination legislation in the context of organisational objectives and practices and individual worker attitudes.

This report brings together a number of important themes, highlighting and synthesising the complex relationship between anti‐discrimination legislation and the role of organisations and employees.

Examines some effects of NHS Trusts moving away at varying speeds from complex national arrangements for determining terms and conditions towards local bargaining. Notes that while there has been some research into the extent and nature of this decentralization, the impact on trade unions has largely been ignored. This research suggests that, far from marginalizing stewards, senior managers have involved them in joint discussions. Although there has not been a renewal of local trade unionism, there has not been a decline, as membership has held up. Moreover, stewards have coped remarkably well with their enhanced roles, even though faced with the increasing and conflicting demands of their work and their union duties, compounded by problems in obtaining time off work because of lack of cover.

Are women held back or holding back? Do women choose their jobs/careers or are they structurally or normatively constrained? The purpose of this paper is to shed fresh light on these questions and contribute to an on‐going debate that has essentially focused on the extent to which part‐time work is women's choice, the role of structural and organisational constraints and the role of men in excluding women.

The paper uses data from interviews with 80 working women – both full‐time and part‐time – performing diverse work roles in a range of organisations in the south east of England.

It was found that many women do not make strategic job choices, rather they often “fall into” jobs that happen to be available to them. Some would not have aspired to their present jobs without male encouragement; many report incidents of male exclusion; and virtually all either know or suspect that they are paid less than comparable men. Those working reduced hours enjoy that facility, yet they are aware that reduced hours and senior roles are seen as incompatible. In short, they recognise both the positive and negative aspects of their jobs, whether they work full or part‐time, whether they work in male‐dominated or female‐dominated occupations, and whatever their position in the organisational hierarchy. Accordingly, the paper argues that the concept of “satisficing”, i.e. a decision which is good enough but not optimal, is a more appropriate way to view women's working lives than are either choice or constraint theories.

There is an ongoing, and often polarised, debate between those who maintain that women choose whether to give preference to work or home/family and others who maintain that women, far from being self‐determining actors, are constrained structurally and normatively. Rather than supporting these choice or constraint theories, this paper argues that “satisficing” is a more appropriate and nuanced concept to explain women's working lives.