Introduction

Trade unions have been in decline in most countries across the world leaving many organisations bereft of Human Resource (HR) teams, managers and leaders with experience of working with unions. Collective employment relations has become increasingly marginalised within HR functions and organisational practice as opposed to being a key element of either organisational or people strategy. However, the Covid-19 pandemic had a profound effect on the workplace with workers expressing dissatisfaction with pay gaps, inequality and the precariousness of their jobs. Consequently, collective employment relations and collective voice have become increasingly relevant, requiring organisations to relearn skills and build capacity to be able to meet this challenge. We argue that developing a strategic approach to collective employee voice has huge benefits, which enables change to be managed effectively, problems to be solved with worker input, inclusive cultures to be developed and agreements to be made based on trust. This chapter sets the scene for the rest of the book. It explains the rationale and the aims and objectives of the book. It outlines the structure and gives readers a clear route map to follow as they think about employment relations in their organisations or during their studies.