WHERE NOW FOR EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS?

A video from the WBS Forum series

As part of the WBS Forum Series, Ed Sweeney, Chair, Acas gave a presentation on "Where now for employment relations? - Some personal reflections on the challenges for employment relations and Acas now and in the future". The video of the talk is now available for you to watch below.

Acas is an independent consilliatory service, funded by the tax payer but independent from the government. They aim to 'improve organisations and working life through better employment relations'. A former Warwick student, Ed Sweeney is now the chair.

Having joined the organisation late in 2007, Ed saw the early warning signs of the 2008 recession as calls coming in regarding redundancy started to sore. Interestingly, this recession has seen new types of employment management with an increase in altered contracts (such as a reduction in hours, for example) as opposed to mass redundancy, in the private sector. Acas don't just work with the private sector however and the organisation has been part of the negotiations that have agreed public sector pay freezes, as spending cuts have started to impact.

Acas as an organisation fiercely protects its independence and impartiality, not least because this is key to being an effective conciliatory party. With the well-covered disputes within the London Underground, British Airways and Royal Mail to deal with, Ed Sweeney sites pensions as another big cause of concern. To find out more about the range of challenges that need to be tackled to secure good employment relations into the future listen to Ed's talk.

Ed Sweeney was appointed Chair of Acas Council on 1 November 2007.

Ed graduated from the University of Warwick in 1976 with an honours degree in Politics & Law, and took an MSc (Econ) in Industrial Relations and Labour Law from LSE in 1977. Later that year he joined the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) as Research Officer, followed by a wide range of financial posts.

He was elected Deputy General Secretary of the Banking Insurance and Finance Union (BIFU) in 1991 and General Secretary of BIFU in 1996. Following the formation of UNIFI in May 1999, Ed was elected General Secretary of UNIFI in 2000. After UNIFI was transferred into Amicus, he was appointed as Deputy General Secretary of Amicus (now known as the Amicus Section of Unite).

In addition to being Chair of the Acas Council, Ed is currently a member of the Board for Ruskin College, Oxford, an independent reviewer on Occupational Pensions De-regulation Review and visiting professor at Leeds University Business School.