‘They tell us after they've decided things’: A cross‐country analysis of unions and digitalisation in retail

• Published date: 01 January 2023
• Author: Jonathan Payne,Caroline Lloyd,Secki P. Jose
• Date: 01 January 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12390

DOI: 10.1111/irj.12390

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

‘They tell us after they've decided things’:A

cross‐country analysis of unions and

digitalisation in retail

Jonathan Payne Professor

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|Caroline Lloyd Professor

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Secki P. Jose Doctor

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1

Business and Law, De Montfort

University, The Gateway, Leicester, UK

2

School of Social Sciences, Cardiff

University, Cardiff, UK

3

Business and Law, De Montfort

University, Leicester, UK

Correspondence

Jonathan Payne, Business and Law,

De Montfort University, The Gateway,

Leicester LE1 9BH, UK.

Email: jpayne@dmu.ac.uk

Funding information

Leverhulme Trust

Abstract

The role of trade unions in the social shaping of digital

technologies is a vital question for research, public

policy and social justice. This article draws on inter-

views with two unions in the grocery retail sector in

the United Kingdom and Norway, and examines their

involvement in technology decisions, and whether they

can shape better outcomes for workers. By comparing a

‘neo‐liberal’economy and a ‘Nordic welfare state’, the

article considers whether stronger institutional power

and regulatory supports in Norway provide for greater

influence in a sector regarded as challenging for

unions. The findings indicate relatively few country

differences and help shed light on the factors that

enable and constrain unions’role in digitalisation.

1|INTRODUCTION

Recent years have witnessed intense debate on digitalisation and its implications for the future

of work (Howcroft & Taylor, 2022). While attention initially focused on potential job losses

(Frey & Osborne, 2017), there has been a growing shift towards examining the consequences

for job quality. This article draws on an approach that sees outcomes not as technologically

determined but socially shaped (Mackenzie & Wajcman, 1985), depending on multiple

Ind. Relat. 2023;54:3–19. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/irj

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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐NoDerivs License, which permits

use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or

adaptations are made.

© 2022 The Authors. Industrial Relations Journal published by Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

elements, including public policy, institutions, social actors and workers’responses (Howcroft

& Taylor, 2022; Lloyd & Payne, 2019; Thompson, 2020). Trade unions are potentially important

actors in shaping better technology outcomes for workers but current studies examining their

role are limited.

Today's context is challenging for trade unions with neo‐liberalisation, financialisation,

union decline and the growth of precarious work. Nevertheless, some studies are emerging in

well‐organised areas of manufacturing in Germany and Italy that highlight attempts by unions

to shape ‘Industry 4.0’(Cirillo & Rinaldini, 2020; Haipeter, 2020). These single‐country studies

point to the importance of national systems of regulation and collective bargaining in

enhancing the role of unions in the process of digitalisation. There is though a major gap in

international comparative research that addresses the role of unions in different countries and

sectors (Doellgast & Wagner, 2022; Kornelakis et al., 2022; Lloyd & Payne, 2021a).

This article contributes to the emerging analysis of unions and digitalisation by examining

whether national institutional systems and union power resources make a difference in a

relatively weakly organised sector. The focus is on retail in the United Kingdom and Norway, a

sector typically associated with low pay, extensive use of part‐time contracts and students, and

high labour turnover (Bozkurt & Grugulis, 2011; Price, 2016). The countries are selected for

their starkly contrasting institutional environments and union power resources. The United

Kingdom is a neo‐liberal economy with a lightly regulated labour market, extensive low‐wage

work and high‐income inequality, where unions have suffered significant decline and

marginalisation (Lloyd & Payne, 2016). Norway is a Scandinavian welfare state with strong

unions, an enduring tripartite system of macro‐economic governance, multi‐level collective

bargaining, and a high and relatively flat wage distribution (Løken et al., 2013). Workers and

unions have rights in the law and collective agreements to be consulted over changes affecting

work including technology, and for employee representation on company boards. Cooperative

industrial relations, joint decision making and less hierarchical management are said to be

features of the Norwegian model (Dølvik & Steen, 2018).

With no equivalent rights in relation to technological change, unions in the United

Kingdom have to rely on securing their own agreements with individual companies, often from

a position of weakness. We might, therefore, expect unions in Norway to have a stronger role in

shaping technology outcomes, even in retail. Alsos and Trygstad (2018, p. 249), however,

suggest that the putative Norwegian model of joint workplace decision‐making, forged

historically within manufacturing, has few equivalents in retail, where the situation may ‘have

more in common with other European workers in the same industries.’Research has yet to

examine this claim empirically or to consider its analytical implications.

The article draws on qualitative research with the Union of Shop, Distribution and Allied

Workers (USDAW) in the United Kingdom, and Handel og Kontor (HK), the Union of

Employees in Commerce and Offices, in Norway. It concentrates on grocery supermarkets, a

subsector where unions have found it easier to organise and obtain collective agreements.

Using multi‐level interviews with union actors, the article addresses two key questions. First,

what role are unions playing in the use and implementation of digital technology and has this

delivered better outcomes for workers? Second, are there country differences or similarities and

why? The findings contribute to analysing the inter‐relationships between national institutions

and sector dynamics, including the role of union power, and the challenges that unions face in

shaping digitalisation.

The first section opens with the literature on unions and technology and presents the

analytical approach before providing a ‘sector‐in‐country’context. The research methods are

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