The Changing Landscape of Trade Unions

Join us for an open and practical roundtable exploring the changing trade union landscape, what upcoming legislative developments could mean for employers, and how HR and operational leaders can confidently navigate their relationships and interactions with trade unions.

About the session

The session will be led by Nick Pascazio, Director of Industrial Relations and Employee Relations at the Atomic Weapons Establishment. Having previously worked with the BBC, Tata Steel and Network Rail, Nick brings extensive hands-on experience of working with trade unions and navigating complex industrial relations.

This roundtable intentionally brings HR and Operations into the conversation together. While HR may understand the legislative framework and wider employee relations implications, it is often an operational leader who finds themselves managing a situation on the ground.

The session will help both parties understand what to expect, the different roles they may play and how they can work together effectively before a situation arises.

What can you expect?

This will be a candid and open conversation led by Nick, exploring how the relationship between employers and trade unions is changing and what this could mean in practice.

With legislative changes set to strengthen trade union access and rights, including greater access to workplaces, organisations need to understand what this could look like and how best to prepare.

The roundtable will give you the opportunity to:

• Understand the changing trade union and industrial relations landscape.
• Explore what upcoming legislative developments could mean in practice.
• Discuss how to prepare for and navigate greater trade union access to the workplace.
• Consider the different roles HR and operational management may play when dealing with trade union activity.
• Develop a shared approach between HR and Operations before a situation arises.
• Explore where tensions can develop between employers and trade unions and how these can be managed.
• Learn from the real-life experiences of Nick and other organisations.
• Consider how to build constructive trade union relationships rather than simply reacting when an issue occurs.
• Build greater confidence in approaching potentially challenging situations.

This will not be a presentation or a session focused purely on legislation. It will be a small, confidential peer discussion where attendees can ask candid questions, share experiences and explore the realities of working with trade unions.

You should leave feeling better connected to others operating in similar environments, with a deeper understanding of the changing landscape and greater confidence in how HR and Operations can work together constructively.

Who is the session for?

This roundtable is designed for a senior HR professional attending alongside an operational leader from their organisation who would be likely to experience or become involved in trade union activity.

The HR attendee may be:

• A stand-alone HR Manager
• Head of HR or Head of People
• HR Director or People Director
• A senior HR professional responsible for employee or industrial relations

We would encourage the HR attendee to bring an operational colleague who could find themselves involved in trade union activity in practice. This could be a:

• Site Manager
• Operations Manager
• General Manager
• Senior operational leader with responsibility for managing people on the ground

The session will be relevant both to organisations already working with recognised trade unions and to larger employers for whom union recognition or increased trade union activity could become relevant in the future.

Bringing HR and Operations together creates an opportunity to establish a shared understanding of what to expect, how their responsibilities may differ and how they can respond confidently and constructively when situations arise.