Keele Management School

In 1989, after 22 years with the Department of Adult Education, I was appointed Keele’s first Professor of Industrial Relations and established a Department of HRM and Industrial Relations and ultimately a full-time undergraduate programme, full-time Masters’ degrees and a Doctorate programme.  The staff numbers extended to ten full-time and numerous part time lecturers with a complement of Graduate Teaching Assistants. The Department became well known for its public sector research.

During this period I did a considerable amount of work with the NHS including training and development of professional union representatives; management awareness training for clinical managers (overseen by Professor Steve Field who gave a glowing review of this provision); member of Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Body (see below); conflict resolution and training in disciplinary and grievance procedures. For over 20 years my wife has acted at executive level in hospitals and is currently CEO of Tasmania’s Department of Health and Human Services. I have considerable insight into Health Care management practices.

In 1999 I stepped down from the Headship of the Department because I had been appointed by the Secretary of State at the Home Department – then Jack Straw – to conduct an Inquiry into industrial relations procedures in the then UK Fire and Emergency Service. This required persuading politicians, senior civil servants, the Fire Service Employers, the Local Government Association and the Fire Brigades Unions to agree my recommendations.  All my recommendations were agreed and published as a Command Paper. From 2000 to 2008 I was Chairman of the National Joint Council for the UK Fire and Rescue Service and was regarded as having made a key contribution to the settlement of the 2002 Fire Dispute. Jack Straw gave a glowing statement to the House of Commons about the conduct and results of this Inquiry. I was then Professor emeritus in Industrial Relations at Keele University.  From 2003 to 2009 I was Visiting Professor of Industrial Relations at Strathclyde University. Currently I am Professor of Labour Relations at the University of Tasmania working on Dispute Resolution Theory and Practice. A position which I will continue to hold whilst in the UK.

Just before coming to Tasmania I worked with British Airways on developing partnership with their Unions and played a key part in resolving their problems with the British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association. I also mediated a partnership agreement between firefighters on Guernsey Airport and their employer.

Recent Publications

Burchill F (1995) Professional Unions in the NHS Review of Employment Topics Vol 3 N0.1 pp35-51

Burchill F and Casey A (1996) Human Resource Management: The NHS: A Case Study Macmillan Business 208p

Burchill F (1997) Labour Relations (2^nd Edition) Macmillan Business 221pp

Burchill F (1999) Walton and McKersie, A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations (1965) Historical Studies in Industrial Relations No. 8 pp137-168

Burchill F (2000) The Pay Review Body System: A Comment and a Consequence Historical Studies in Industrial Relations Volume 10 pp141-157

Burchill F (2000) Inquiry into the Machinery for Determining Firefighters’ Conditions of Service: A Report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department. Cm 4699 Stationery Office 31pp

Burchill F 2001 The Road to Partnership: Forcing change in the UK further education sector; from ‘college incorporation’ and ‘competition’ to ‘accommodation and compliance’?  Employee Relations Volume 23 No. 2 pp 146 – 163

Burchill F (2001) in European Working Lives edited by Jefferys, Beyer and Thornquist: The Incorporation of the Further Education Sector in the UK: Five Years After- A survey of Aspects of Pay and Terms and Conditions Of Lecturing Staff   Edward Elgar pp201-215

Burchill F (2004) The UK Fire Dispute 2002-2003 Employee Relations Vol 26 No.4 pp404 – 421  This article received a highly commended award.

Burchill F (2008) Labour Relations (3^rd Edition) Palgrave; Macmillan (214 pages)

July 2010 Kluwer Law International. Regulating Employment Relations, Work and Labour Relations. International Comparisons between Key Countries. Editor: Roger Blainpain. Contributions on UK by F. Burchill

I am currently working on an article on the partnership agreements I have chaired and mediated. They are the first industry wide employee relations partnership agreements negotiated anywhere. Also I was invited by British Airways and the then TGWU in 2007 to examine the possibility of partnership negotiations at BA including discussions with the British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association. My article examines these attempts at partnership with some comparison with Qantas following the 2012 grounding of that airline. My work involves several case studies which can be registered under the ‘impact’ provisions of the current research evaluation process. These are cases of considerable significance.

I am involved in joint research with Professor Mark Dibben. Head of the UTas School of Management.