You are the people resourcing manager in a medium-sized engineering fi rm that carries out sub-contract work for the aerospace industry in the UK and abroad. Manufacturing operations are fully computerized and sophisticated capacity planning systems are in use. A trade union representing manufacturing staff (terms and conditions have been harmonized) is recognized. It is quite militant and hotly opposes any attempt to vary custom and practice. The fi rms order book is reasonably full and the long-term forecast is good, but demand is subject to marked fl uctuations. The manufacturing director e-mails you to say that it will be essential to prepare plans for making short-term adjustments to available capacity. From his previous experience he believes that the ways of doing this include: altering the total hours worked by changing the number of shifts or overtime; employing part-time staff to cover peak demand; scheduling work patterns so that the total workforce available at any time varies in line with varying demand; using outside contractors; adjusting the process, perhaps making larger batches to reduce set-up times; and adjusting equipment and processes to work faster or slower. He asks you to advise him on what the IR implications would be of any of these actions. He also wants your views on how to avoid any negative reactions from the union.