The Manchester Industrial Relations Society (MIRS) is a well-established and important forum for the discussion of industrial relations and employment issues within Britain.

Founded in 1964, the Society has mounted a continuous annual programme of meetings addressed by distinguished speakers from the industrial relations, human resource management and trade union world. We now have over 160 members from across the north-west of England, drawn from the trade unions, management, Acas, Industrial Law Society, and Universities.

Recent Speakers

Speakers over recent years have included: David Fairhurst, Chief People Officer, McDonald’s North Europe; Catherine Glickman, Human Resources Director, Tesco; Shaun Grady, Global Projects Leader, AstraZeneca; Tony Stark, Head of Employee Relations, Vertex; Neil Carberry, Director of Employment Affairs, CBI; Mike Emmott, CIPD; Professor Keith Ewing, University of London; John Hendy QC; Brian Doyle, Regional Employment Judge; Billy Hayes, General Secretary, Communication Workers Union; Mark Serwotka, General Secretary, Public and Commercial Services Union; Matt Wrack, General Secretary, Fire Brigades Union; Alex Bryson, National Institute of Economic and Social Research; Professor Linda Dickens, Industrial Relations Research Unit, University Warwick; Professor Keith Sisson, Industrial Relations Research Unit, University of Warwick; Professor Willie Brown, University of Cambridge; Professor Geraldine Healy, Queen Mary University of London; Will Hutton, The Observer; Paul Routledge, The Mirror; Paul Mason, BBC2 Newnight; Martin Kettle, The Guardian; Alastair Hatchet, Director, Incomes Data Services.

Next meeting

  • image of Virginia Doellgast (Cornell University, USA)

    December 11, 3-4.30pm at The Penthouse, Alliance Manchester Business School

    BWEI (Work & Equalities Institute) and MiRS Lecture 2025 with Professor Virginia Doellgast

    Building worker voice and power in AI decisions: Three cases in the German ICT industry

    Virginia Doellgast (Cornell University, USA), Tobias Kämpf (University of Labour, Germany), Barbara Langes (Institute for Social Science Research, Germany)

    This paper compares works council initiatives to influence the adoption and deployment of AI-based tools in three German Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies, with the aim of investigating the conditions for workers to establish collective voice in these decisions.

    In all three case studies, works councils strengthened worker voice in decisions concerning the use of management-automating AI technologies in areas such as performance monitoring and workforce analytics. However, they faced more challenges in encouraging alternative approaches to skill development and employment restructuring associated with work-automating AI. Institutional and discursive power resources help to explain both their overall success in strengthening voice and different outcomes across AI applications.

    The lecture will be held on Thursday 11th December from 3pm in the Penthouse, Alliance Manchester Business School. This will be followed by a small drinks and canapes reception in the room.

    Please register attendance via Eventbrite.