Trade unions and the digitalisation of admin work in public services: an international comparative analysis of the hospital sector

Lloyd, Caroline ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2624-8031 and Payne, Jonathan 2025. Trade unions and the digitalisation of admin work in public services: an international comparative analysis of the hospital sector. Economic and Industrial Democracy 10.1177/0143831X251355449

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Abstract

Research on digitalisation in the public sector has largely overlooked trade unions or found mainly top-down change and limited involvement. This article focuses on unions representing admin workers in hospitals in Norway and devolved nations of the UK. Drawing upon interviews in two unions, it offers a novel analysis of their involvement and influence in digitalisation, and the inter-relationships between union power and forms of political governance at multiple levels. The findings underline the enduring role of national systems but with regions and devolved nations offering distinctive patterns of union influence, and uncover some promising cases in Norway and Scotland.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	0143-831X
Funders:	Leverhulme Trust
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 June 2025
Date of Acceptance:	12 June 2025
Last Modified:	30 Jul 2025 12:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/179074

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