A new survey has found that 82% of employers think it is
important to have expert independent negotiators in dispute
resolution talks to help resolve strike action.
The YouGov poll asked respondents whether they thought it was
important to have expert independent negotiators in talks. Just
9% thought it was not important and 9% did not know.
Acas offers a free independent mediation service called
collective conciliation that can help employers and trade unions
resolve their disputes.
Acas Director of Dispute Resolution, Kate Nowicki, said:
“It is clear from our survey that employers overwhelmingly
recognise the benefit of having independent experts involved in
negotiations to help resolve strike action.
“Reaching agreement in disputes takes time and skill, and Acas
has a team of conflict resolution professionals who are
independent, impartial and experienced in this field.
“We are ready to help, and our free and collective conciliation
service can identify common ground between parties in dispute to
find a way forward.
Acas has seen a 20% rise in demand for its collective
conciliation service compared to the same period last year. This
help has included confidential background support to the parties
involved in strike action.
Acas can only hold formal mediation talks when all the parties in
dispute agree that the time is right to use its service. Using an
independent impartial Acas conciliator in a long running dispute
can help bring a calm, fresh pair of eyes to identify common
ground between the sides in dispute and find a way forward, which
can help break a deadlock.
Acas collective conciliators are independent and impartial. This
means they do not take sides or impose solutions. They’re there
to help both parties find a solution that everyone agrees to.
The majority of Acas’s collective conciliation work takes place
before formal talks. It is a period of ‘pre-talk support’. This
can include sharing information informally between parties,
educating them on different options about talks, exploring those
options and discussing the support needed for the negotiators.
Acas handles over 500 collective disputes every year. For more
information, please see: https://www.acas.org.uk/collective-conciliation
Notes to editors
- Acas runs training courses for employers on conflict
management at work. For further details and dates please
see here. Acas also has advice
on strikes: https://www.acas.org.uk/strikes
- Acas commissioned YouGov to poll senior decision
makers in a representative sample of British businesses by
company size. The survey was carried out online and the total
sample size was 1015 senior decision makers excluding sole
traders. Fieldwork was undertaken between 27th March and 4th
April 2023.
Participants were asked: How important, if at all, do you think
it is to have expert independent negotiators involved in talks to
help resolve strike action disputes?
The results were:
Very important 39%
Fairly important 43%
Not very important 7%
Not all important 2%
Don’t know 9%
