Working Lives Research Institute
Position: PhD Research Student
B.Sc. Criminology (Teesside)
MA Industrial Relations & Employment Law (Keele)
After working as a Probation Field Officer (West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester), and latterly in various engineering planning roles at Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd. (London), Jane completed a Diploma in Employment Law at the College of North East London (CONEL) before studying for an MA in Industrial Relations and Employment Law.
Jane was awarded an ESRC Doctorate Research Studentship at WLRI to research the growth of white-collar unionism and the nature of collective organisation among professional and managerial workers. This research involves a collaboration between London Metropolitan University and three trade unions - the Transport and Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), Nautilus International, and Prospect. The TSSA represents white-collar managerial and professional workers in the UK rail and travel industry. Nautilus recently merged with its Dutch partner, Nautilus NL, to become the first international union for maritime professionals, representing workers in the merchant navy and seafaring industry. Prospect represents professional workers in a range of industries including engineering, science, defence, energy, environment and health and safety and has recently united with Connect (the union representing telecommunications and information technology professionals) to create the UK's largest public and private sector managerial union.
A TSSA activist throughout her employment at Network Rail, Jane occupied the positions of national and area council representative and industrial relations representative and maintains an interest in trade unions, especially in the white-collar sector generally, and has a particular interest in unionisation developments in the post-privatisation UK rail industry.
Jane Copley
Working Lives Research Institute
31 Jewry St
London
EC3N 2EY
Tel: (w) 0207 320 3566
Tel: (m) 07738 514424
Email.: j.copley@londonmet.ac.uk