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.

November 30
Putting struggle on the map:
3 years of Strike Map

On 30 November 2023 from 6-7.30pm, Manchester Industrial Relations Society will be hosting an online meeting with the founders of Strike Map.

Strike Map was launched in December 2020 due to the lack of records around the amount of strike action happening across Britain and the Island of Ireland. The map is an attempt to catalogue the action taking place and is a 'worker-powered' attempt to map industrial action based on information supplied via workers and activists. Over the last three years they have mapped over 230,000 workplaces taking industrial action, enabling others to see the levels of action and pass on messages of solidarity, to encourage other workers in their struggles, and to bring those leading struggles together through a wider network.

Join co-founders, Henry Fowler and Rob Poole as we discuss the growing strike wave and the role of Strike Map in documenting and supporting struggle.

Register in advance for this meeting...

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting and the Zoom link.

Henry Fowler, Strike Map founder

Henry Fowler

Rob Poole, Strike Map founder

Rob Poole

Next meetings

We have had some delays in finalising our meeting timetable for the coming year but regular meetings will recommence in February – more details will be uploaded to the website very soon.