Spot the Difference Between the Public and Private Sectors: Disputes and Third-Party Intervention in Britain

This article considers whether there is a difference between the public and private sectors in respect of third-party intervention to prevent and resolve collective employment disputes. Based on statistics from Acas for the five years from 1 April 1997 and interviews with key informants, it finds only a few differences. Public sector disputes were more likely than private sector disputes to have a national dimension and they were less likely to be resolved by conciliation. Also, there was seldom third-party intervention in civil service disputes. The main difference, however, was not in third-party intervention but in fourth-party intervention, i.e. intervention by the Government, which dominates both overtly and covertly.