Public Sector Reform and Industrial Relations: the case of Britain

공공부문 개혁과 노사관계: 영국의 최근 사례

Britain's public services, especially health service and secondary education are in disarray. The current British government adopted the public-private partnership(PPP) as a major device to bring about public sector reform. In principle, PPPs could be used to outsource all sorts of public services, helping to raise standards by extending choice and competition. Up to now, however, they have been focused mainly on a relatively limited range of ancillary services related to new buildings and their subsequent operation. The unions, especially the unions covering the public sector employees are antagonistic to the PPPs. The unions have been opposing privatizing or resecting of any part of the public services, as these apt to lead insecurity of employment and degradation of working conditions of their members. Most of the union leaders consider that PPPs are 'privatization by stealth'. Even in Britain, which has a long history of trade union movements, to persuade the unions to co-operate to the reform policy has been extremely difficult. To succeed in public sector reform, the government, be it Korean or British, needs strong leadership, consistency in policies between various departments, and persuasive ability to overcome the opposition from the vested-interest group.

이 논문에서는 영국 노동당 정부의 공공부문 개혁정책의 내용과 그 추진 실태를 알아보고, 그에 대한 노동조합의 대응과 노사관계에 대한 그 영향을 검토하고, 여기서 추출되는 정책적 시사점을 검토하였다. 공공부문 개혁은 민영화가 진행 혹은 논의 중인 보건, 교육, 교통 및 교동소 등을 주된 대상으로 하여 검토하였다. 그리고 이 공공부문 개혁을 둘러싸고 전개되는 노조와 정부 간의 갈등을 알아보고, 여기서 얻을 수 있는 정책적 함의를 모색하였다.