Work and Employment Research Unit (WERU)
Description
The Work and Employment Research Unit (WERU) undertakes critical and multi-disciplinary research in employment and employment relations and from this basis makes a contribution to major contemporary debates as well as to policy development.
It organises a series of seminars and conferences, provides a subscription research service to relevant policy and user groups, undertakes research consultancy projects and constitutes a forum for an interchange of ideas and perspectives on research in employment relations.
Head of the unit
Key Unit Members
Dr Sheila Cohen
Kim Moody
Professor Jack Fiorito
Aims of the unit
The unit aims to:
- Carry out both academic and policy oriented research with regard to the areas of the sociology of work and employment, industrial relations and employment relations of a national and international standing
- Engage with policy makers and opinion formers in the area of employment relations
- Generate income from research grant applications
Research themes
The unit’s research themes include:
- Critical studies of work
- Employment and the employment relations in both Britain and abroad within a framework of radical political economy, with special interest in the issue of labour unions
- Labour/management relationships
- The impact of neo-liberalism on work and employment
Indicative Research and Consultancy Projects
Indicative research and Consultancy Projects, that the unit has been involved in include:
- Working alongside the Fire Brigades’ Union on performance related pay
- Working with the Communication Workers’ Union on workplace learning and advising on union organising
- Being commissioned to write an official history of the Connect telecommunications union and its predecessors
- Working with the Public and Commercial Services’ union of combating marketisation and privatisation