Trade Union Organization and Workplace Industrial Relations in the Vehicle Industry 1963 to 1991

Abstract

An underlying theme in the development of industrial relations in the car industry in the last three decades has been the replacement of an old by a new mode of accommodation, a network of management and union strategies which provides the basic infrastructure necessary for profit-making and the stabilization of class relations inside factories. The post-war mode of accommodation in the vehicle industry, which survived until the early 1970s, was destroyed and replaced by a new mode in the 1980s. Struggles within the major industry union, as well as between the workforce and management, played an important part in this process. This article examines the role of full-time officials in the Vehicle Builders Employees Federation and their changing relations with workplace stewards and rank-and-file union members in the key period of transition, from 1963 to 1991. By studying the evolution of the political and economic challenges faced by the leadership of this union in this period, and its responses, we may gain some insights into the behaviour of full-time officials. It will be argued that the changing internal politics of this union validate what Jonathan Zeitlin has called the 'rank and filist perspective' on union government, and cast doubt on the arguments of its recent critics.