Download - Lecture 10 Trade Unions(1)
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Lecture ten: Trade unions and
the post-war settlement
Patrick Diamond
4thMarch 2013
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Britain in the 1970s: The sick man of
Europe?
Our place in the world is shrinking: our economic
comparisons grow worse, long-term political
influence depends on economic strength - and
that is running out. If I were a young man, Ishould emigrate. (Jim Callaghan, 1974)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koaLMOREqSghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je65Vw7ndro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koaLMOREqSghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je65Vw7ndrohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je65Vw7ndrohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koaLMOREqSg -
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Key readings and topic guide
Eric Hobsbawm The forward march of Labour
halted? (1978)
http://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collect
ions/mt/index_frame.htm
Colin Hay The winter of discontent thirty
years on, Political Quarterly, 80, 4, 2009, 545-
552 (with roundtable discussion 553-61)
http://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/mt/index_frame.htmhttp://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/mt/index_frame.htmhttp://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/mt/index_frame.htmhttp://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/mt/index_frame.htm -
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This lecture: four parts
The transfer of power from capital to labour in
British society between 1940 and 1955
The re-emergence of the trade union problem in
the 1950s The trade union problem in British politics 1964-
79: was Britain governable with strong unions?
Concluding thoughts
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Rise of labour?
Trade unions date from early 19thcentury preceding
birth of parliamentary democracy and universal
franchise
Labour party created as party of unions enshrined inconference and electoral college
Conservatives ambivalent: one nation tradition sees
positive role for responsible unions and wartime
government advocates industrial conciliation Desire for control and constraint given industrial
relations conflict
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Transfer of power: the war years
Maximisation of wartime production requiresinnovation and greater flexibility (plus inclusion ofwomen in labour-force)
Requires avoidance of strikes and economicdisruption
Unions economic position strengthened by fullemployment during the war
While emergency powers were introduced, theemphasis was on industrial consensus and ethosof peoples war (Bevin)
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Bevins role
Bevin symbolised unionpower: Minster of Labourin wartime coalition andformer General Secretaryof the TGWU
Underlines new standing ofthe unions more powerfuleverywhere from factoriesto the War Cabinet
Membership rises from 6million in 1938 to 8 millionin 1943, 9 million in 1947and 13.4 million by 1975
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The transfer of power to labour: the
war years
Organised labour willhenceforth be satisfied withnothing less than full
partnership in the state. Thewar has brought out moreclearly than ever before thecountrys dependence uponthe mass of working
peopleBy helping to savethe country they will findtheir own salvation too(Labour and the War, 1940)
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The Attlee years
Unions strongly identify with social gains: our
government
Cemented by repeal of 1927 Trades Disputes Act
TUC supports wage restraint policy 1948-50 Days lost in strikes remains very low (less than 2
million per annum) despite maintenance of full
employment
But particular sectors show signs of vulnerability to
industrial relations conflict e.g. dock strikes 1948-9;
government uses emergency powers legislation
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A revisionist view
There has been a decisivemovement of power withinindustryfrom management tolabour. This is mainly a consequenceof the sellers market for labourcreated by full employmentwagedemands, now made annually in the
most important industries, areregularly conceded by employers toan extent which arouses constantalarm amongst economiccommentators (C.A.R. Crosland, TheFuture of Socialism, 1956
Crosland argues capitalism has changedfundamentally - shift of power fromcapital to labour
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Conservative response
Churchill seen as strike-breaker and anti-union aftergeneral strike (1926)
But post-war new Conservatism represents moreaccommodating one nation approach
Industrial Charter in 1947 includes workers charterwith positive recognition of unions role
Shared commitment to full employment (memories of1930s) and industrial conciliation
Sir Walter Monckton as Minister of Labour (1951-55)was an arch-consolidator; no attempt to outlawunofficial strikes or impose new controls on tradeunions
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The re-emergence of the trade union
problem 1955-64
Growing concerns about economic under-
performance
Unions want fair share of affluence
Strike numbers rise
Increasingly negative depiction of the trade unions
in British society Growing concern about trade union militancy
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The re-emergence of the trade union
problem 1955-64
Macmillan government introduces National IncomesCommission in 1961-62
NEDC created in 1962 to build tripartite agreementbetween government, unions, and employers as high-
water mark of post-war corporatism
But no statutory powers: free collective bargainingremains intact
Unions implicated in economic decline
Transfer of power to labour emerges as majorproblem for governments preoccupied with economicmanagement
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The trade union problem in British
politics 1964-79
Unions seen as contributing to downfall of Heath and
Callaghan governments: Heath following Miners
strikes in 1972-74 and Callaghan following Winter ofDiscontent in 1978-79
Poll in 1975 shows majority think Jack Jones (TGWU
General Secretary) is the most powerful man in Britain
Growing concern about extent of trade union powerand role of interest groups in policy-making process
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The trade union problem in British
politics: Heath and the unions
Industrial Relations Act 1971 attempts comprehensivereform
However, unions refuse to recognise legislation orrecognise Industrial Relations Court
Mounting industrial militancy e.g. Clydeside, flyingpickets, miners strikes 1972-74
Faced with second miners strike in February 1974,Heath goes to the country on the question of who
governs Britain; he loses Key political experience for Margaret Thatcher who
confronts the NUM in 1984-85
Wil C ll h d th U i
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Wilson, Callaghan and the Unions
1974-9: towards nemesis?
Wilson elected in 1974 with commitment to the Social Contract
By 1975, a statutory incomes policy in place renewed in each
succeeding year
In 1978, imposition of 5% pay norm leads to extensive unionopposition, the Winter of Discontent, and paves way for Conservative
victory in 1979
From 1981, Thatcher governments introduce employment acts aiming
to weaken union powers avoiding Heaths error in 1971
Union resistance weakened by mass unemployment and recessionwhich Thatcher argues is the price to be paid for countering the trade
unionsdecisive break with post-war consensus
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The winter of discontent
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Assessing the role of the unions in
post-war Britain I
Some interpretations argue unions threatenedorderly, consensual government in Britain:
Unions run from the top-down
Extremists were disproportionately influential
Small groups were able to disrupt key public services(NHS patients during Winter of Discontent)
Full employment and social security strengthened
bargaining power Diagnosis leads to Thatcherism and authoritarian
populism (Hall)
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Assessing the role of the unions in
post-war Britain II
Unions status and role was integral to the PWC and settlement:industrial consensus resting on full employment
The power of the unions was negative: treated as an interestgroup and never given a formal role in developing and initiating
policy Most visible expression of union power such as strikes reflect
weakening of the unions bargaining position and failure toresolve long-running power imbalances between capital andlabour
The construction of trade unionism as a problem for Britishgovernments underlines the breakdown of the PWC andgrowing anxiety about Britains post-war economic performanceand the weakening of social cohesion
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Conclusions
Industrial partnership was a key pillar of post-war consensus
Industrial relations posed major problems forLabour and the Conservatives
Thatcherism promises decisive break withpost-war industrial relations treating theunions as the enemy within