Susan Sutton discusses the RCN’s position on trade union recognition in relation to the independent sector following the launch of Fairness at Work

THE GOVERNMENT has begun to implement a series of policies on labour relations and trade union issues (Box 1). Among the most contentious of these policies is the Government’s commitment to introduce a statutory right to trade union recognition. Nurse managers have seen many changes over the past decade in the process of negotiating terms and conditions with their staff. In the NHS, the introduction of trusts and local contracts was a major change from the cumbersome but familiar Whitley framework. Some nurse managers found being part of the new ‘macho management', however, a source of anguish during the early 1990s (Faugier 1996, Hancock 1995).