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dings presented in Table 3 reveal that direct, downward forms of communication were, in general, found to be the most pervasive. MSF representatives reported that management communicated to their members via the use of factory notice boards in 85 per cent of cases and via newsletters in just over three- quarters of cases. Team-meetings, which typically involve a passive flow of information rather than engagement and discussion, were reported by 84 percent of respondents. The least frequent method of downward communication was the use of video communications, which was present in only a quarter of cases.

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Upward forms of communication and problem solving were less common. Staff attitude surveys were reported by nearly half of all respondents and suggestion schemes by 44 percent of MSF representatives. As Marchington and Wilkinson (2000: 347) note, initiatives such as suggestion schemes 'are a relatively marginal form of employee involvement' and are clearly individually focused. Quality circles may be thought of as a more collective form of involvement - albeit directly related to improving the production facilities of an organisation - but were found to be less pervasive. Just 22 percent of respondents reported the use of quality circles at their place of work. Collective forms of information disclosure and communication were, in general, less common than individual forms. Accordingly, regular factory meetings were used as a mechanism for communicating with employees in just a third of cases. The existence of a works consultation committee was more common, reported by over half of respondents. European works councils were the least common mechanism for communication. Just 19 percent of MSF representatives reported that there was a European works council (EWC) in operation at their company. It should be noted, however, that the existence of a works council was not relevant to those representatives from the education, health and voluntary sectors. Where EWCs were of relevance, 34 percent of respondents reported that they had been introduced. The majority of respondents, however, reported that they had no effect (66 percent) on the levels of information received by the union on production and employment issues.

In summary, the data reveals an extensive presence of involvement and communication mechanisms. In the case of communications, however, direct mechanisms predominate, whilst as far as the issues of engagement are concerned, the bargaining agenda is relatively free of 'new' industrial relations issues. At a basic level, this suggests a series of 'involvement gaps' (Cully et al, 1999; Towers, 1997). The following case study shows how these involvement gaps can stymie the evolution of partnership arrangements at the level of the workplace.

Remaking Involvement and Trust at the Workplace: A case study
'Northern Trust' is one of the leading National Health Service (NHS) trusts in the UK. As a teaching based trust it employs over 15,500 staff and offers a very wide range of general and specialist health services. It has a complex industrial relations structure with a strong trade union tradition of negotiation and recognises 15 trade unions. The MSF represent 600 members across a variety of professional and technical grades. Historically, employment regulation has been far more developed in