Unions In Britain Research Articles

The Labor of Diffusion: The Peace Pledge Union and The Adaptation of The Gandhian Repertoire

The history of the Peace Pledge Union of Britain illuminates the process of social movement repertoire diffusion. In the late 1950s and 1960s British pacifists successfully used nonviolent direct action, but this was based upon a long-term engagement with Gandhism. Systematic coding of movement literature suggests that the translation of Gandhian methods involved more than twenty years of intellectual study and debate. Rival versions of Gandhian repertoire were constructed and defended. These were embedded in practical, sometimes competing projects within the pacifist movement, and were the subject of intense argument and conflict, the relevance of Gandhism was established through complex framing processes, multiple discourses, and increasing practical experimentation. This article offers methodological and conceptual tools for the study of diffusion. A wider argument for the importance of the reception as will as performance of contention is offered.

Female Part‐time Workers’ Attitudes to Trade Unions in Britain

This paper discusses the reasons that can be offered for the lower trade union membership rates of female part‐time workers in the UK and focuses in particular on female part‐timers’ attitudes to trade unions. The findings are based on original research: 50 qualitative interviews with female part‐time workers in the retail industry. The paper argues that female part‐timers are supportive of the aims of the trade union movement and concludes that an integrated approach is necessary in order to understand part‐timers’ unionization rates. This includes structural factors, the approach that trade unions have taken towards part‐time workers and attitudes towards trade unions.

Domestic violence as a women’s health issue— panel discussion

in the evolution of domestic violence. Third, mental health providers and systems have let us know that they could be an important intermediary in this work. Physicians may be more familiar and more comfortable referring to colleagues whom they know and understand, and the new focus on depression screening in primary care certainly has fueled that familiarity with mental health professionals. However, although it may lead to or coexist with a mental health diagnosis, domestic violence is not a mental health diagnosis. We need new ways of identifying and diverting domestic violence and sexual assault survivors who present in the context of community mental health care. Anticipating my next point, I suspect that when we do that very well, we will realize some of the important cost savings that our managed care partners need to care about. Fourth, managed care companies told us that they need to see the evidence. Could we show them that health care intervention for early domestic violence screening and referral would save dollars and result in improved outcomes? To close, I want to leave you with a couple of reminders. We’ve talked about smoking and pregnancy. Domestic violence may be involved. We’ve talked about addiction. We’ve talked about child abuse. Domestic violence may be involved there as well. Sexually transmitted diseases have been an important focus of this conference, as well as contraceptive failures and abortion. Here too, the inability to negotiate the use of condoms in a sexual relationship may be linked to coercive control by an intimate partner. All of these may be linked with domestic violence. We’ve discussed medical noncompliance. At the Partnership, we have seen situations where a woman’s partner tells her “You don’t need to take that. You don’t need to fill that prescription,” and those meds are going down the toilet—not because the woman herself is flushing them, but because her partner is. Finally, there’s the link between depression and domestic violence. With so many of the women’s health concerns that we’ve talked about, domestic violence is something that should always be at the forefront of our thinking.

POPULAR POLITICS IN IRELAND AND THE ACT OF UNION

AbstractTHE most striking features of the popular political response in Ireland to the attempts between mid-1798 and mid-1800 to bring about the legislative union of Britain and Ireland are its comparative uneventfulness and traditional character. On first encounter, this observation may appear provocative since it is still commonly perceived, the work of G.C. Bolton notwithstanding, that the Act of Union was imposed upon a reluctant parliament and an antipathetic people. Moreover, it does not sit easily with what we know of popular anti-unionism in eighteenth-century Ireland, the most celebrated manifestation of which was the anti-union riot of 3 December 1759 when the Dublin mob invaded both houses of parliament and assaulted a number of leading officeholders arising out of a rumour that a legislative union was intended. Arising out of such manifestations of popular attachment to a domestic Irish parliament, and the high level of political, social and criminal violence during the 1790s, it is hardly surprising that leading figures in the Irish administration anticipated that serious public disorder would be a feature of the opposition to a union in 1798–1800. In point of fact, the decisive defeat of the 1798 rebellion and the strenuous efforts of United Irish leaders to minimise the extent of their revolutionary involvement thereafter ensured that there was no overt popular resistance from a quarter which, during the 1790s, treated every reference to a union with disdain.

Weathering the Storm?: Coal Miners and Their Unions in Britain and Poland

Underlying this research is the authors' belief that labor unions have played. and will continue to play, an important role in defending workers' rights. But the extent to which labor unions will be able to carry on this role in the future depends on whether they survive the attacks of the corporate community and the anti-labor governments. We began this research with the premise that comparative-historical studies have the potential to make an important contribution to the recent debates regarding the future of labor unions by examining how the histories of nationalized industries and their socio-economic contexts shaped, and were shaped, by labormanagement struggles. The following paper reflects both our extant commitments and a new stage in our intellectual journey marked by the emphasis on the importance of institutional traditions and actors' identities in shaping the dynamics and outcomes of industrial conflicts.

The Prospects for Workplace Trade Unionism: Evaluating Fairbrother's Union Renewal Thesis

Peter Fairbrother has extensively developed the thesis of ‘union renewal’, which seeks to show that the challenges posed to contemporary trade unionism can be met by changes in the form of unionism. This critique, while welcoming the general thrust of the thesis, questions its validity and application as a result of its failure to consider a number of areas and issues. TRADE UNIONISM IN BRITAIN is universally recognised as experiencing deep-seated and long-standing difficulties. However considerable disagreement exists amongst trade unionists, the left and academics over what can be done to remedy this malaise. Fairbrother (1989, 1990, 1994a, 1994b, 1996a, 1996b, 1998) has made a significant contribution to the under-considered question of what conditions and processes are necessary for workplace trade unionism to regain its former influence and avoid a number of deficiencies characteristic of its behaviour in more influential periods. In making a critical but constructive and fraternal assessment of Fairbrother's work, it essential to start by stressing the common points of agreement.

John Elliot Cairnes and the ‘Rehabilitation’ of the Classical Wage Fund Doctrine

John Elliot Cairnes is primarily remembered for his defence of the classical wage fund doctrine, and for his attempt to revive the classical system of economic thought in the mid‐1870s. In contrast with this standard textbook appraisal of Cairnes, the Jevons–Marshall–Vint thesis contends that, in attempting to revitalize the doctrine, Cairnes in fact explained away so much of what characterized it that its final form bore little resemblance to the doctrine held by his classical predecessors. In this paper we dispute the Jevons–Marshall–Vint thesis and argue that Cairnes’s recasting of the doctrine did fit entirely within the classical framework. Why Cairnes should have rallied in support of a doctrine by then widely condemned, partly because of Mill’s alleged retraction of it and partly because of newly emerging ideas on wages and unions, is not difficult to explain. The recurring economic stagnation in Ireland, which acted as a bulwark against industrialization there, together with the social, moral and economic dilemma created by the growth of trade unionism in Britain, presented political economists with a particular set of problems. For these, as Cairnes saw it, classical political economy, as a coherent method of analysis, provided the best hope of showing the way towards possible remedies.

Learning about globalization: a comparative study of the role of trade union education in Britain and Brazil

This paper examines and compares the means by which trade unions in Britain and Brazil, through their education programmes, educate their members and activists about the globalization of production and its role in driving organizational change. In particular, it examines the extent to which trade union education in the two countries seeks to develop critical understanding of the forces; behind the pressure for change. The research on which the paper is based is an analysis and comparison of the relevant educational activities provided by the largest Brazilian trade union centre‐the Central Unica dos Trabalhadores (CUT) ‐with that of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) and its five largest constituent trade unions, a significant amount of which is provided through the Commonwealth Trade Union Council (CTUC). It will explore the nature and scope of the educational activities provided, recognizing that in addition to dedicated education courses, these may take a number of other forms such as industry or sector seminars and briefings. A variety of methods has been used to gather and interpret the information, including the analysis of policy documents and educational materials, and interviews with trade union officers, educators and participants in education programmes.

Union Recognition and Paid Holiday Entitlement

This paper investigates the impact of unions in Britain on employees' entitlements to paid holidays. Theory suggests that longer holidays may be negotiated through collective than through individual bargaining. Data from the UK Quarterly Labour Force Survey are used to estimate the ‘gap’ between the paid holiday entitlements of workers with and without recognized unions. The results indicate that unions have a substantial impact on paid holiday entitlement. This paper also shows that the European Union Directive on Working Time may affect the holidays of about one and a quarter million workers.

Challenges to Unions in Britain and Europe

On the face of it these two books deal with very different aspects of the same subject matter. Wrigley's volume concentrates exclusively on the evolution of trade unionism and industrial relations in a single country up to 1979 while the collection by Leisink and colleagues focuses almost entirely on the problems of trade unionism after 1979 and in a range of countries. As it turns out the two books are highly complementary since the detailed historical analyses in Wrigley provide some very important insights into the contemporary problems of European trade unionism. Taken together they can be seen to revolve around three central questions. First, to what extent can unions exercise strategic choice in determining their future and how far is such choice constrained by economic and political factors. Second, to what extent are the contemporary problems of unions the product of increasing individualisation and differentiation among the work forces they seek to represent. And, third, what strategic initiatives have unions actually taken in response to these problems. One useful way into the first question is to examine the factors responsible for the transformation of British trade unionism between the late 1930s and the post war period. In the traditional account union power was the product of full employment, itself part of the postwar settlement between labour and capital which also embraced the welfare state, trade union political influence and free collective bargaining. The stability of the settlement was underpinned by the steady economic growth of the 'Golden age of Capitalism' (to use the increasingly fashionable description of the postwar boom). But these material roots were reinforced by cross-party support from both Labour and Conservative (hence the term 'Butskellism' after the Tory Rab Butler and Labour Chancellor and Leader Hugh Gaitskell). Only in the late 1960s did the settlement start to unravel, as first Labour and then the Conservatives attempted to curb trade union power by legislation. For most of the contributors to Wrigley it is certainly true that full employment was the sine qua non of union power, a theme which echoes contemporary writings of the 1940s and, most of all, the prophetic essay by Michael Kalecki (1943). In 'Political aspects of full employment' he raised a question that was to dominate postwar British debate on the 'union problem'. In the absence of chronic labour shortages and the correspondingly powerful threat of dismissal, how was labour discipline to be maintained? More specifically, how was it possible to reconcile sectional wage bargaining by powerful trade unions with economic 'planning', steady economic growth and low inflation? Patrick Maguire's thoroughly

Challenges to Unions in Britain and Europe

Challenges to Unions in Britain and Europe

Theoretical and Empirical Issues in the Comparative Measurement of Union Power and Corporatism

What aspects of national trade-union movements systematically affect national policy making and economic performance? While there is general agreement that union density, the proportion of the workforce organized in unions, is an important element of union strength, social scientists are only beginning to identify the other critical elements. That union density is not the whole story can quickly be appreciated by comparing the influence of unions in Britain and Germany. For much of the post-war period, union density has been higher in Britain than Germany, although German unions have sustained at least as important a political and economic role as British unions. An influential theory of group-government relations directed our attention to the degree of hierarchy and monopoly present in an interest structure and to the degree of institutionalized access to policy-making circles, wrapping these characteristics together in the concept of corporatism. Yet there is a developing interest, particularly in the analysis of labour movements, in disaggregating corporatism as part of an effort to understand the specific characteristics that produce political and economic influence.

Book reviews

Book review in this article: International Human Resource Management Derek Torrington Policy and Practice in European Human Resource Management C. Brewster and A. Hegewisch (eds) The Volvo Experience–alternatives to lean production in the Swedish auto industry Christian Berggren Enriching Production–perspectives on Volvo's Uddevalla Plant as an alternative to lean production Ake Sandberg (Ed.) The Economics of the Trade Union Alison L. Booth The Economics of the Trade Union Alison L. BoothThe Dynamics of Workplace Trade Unionism–Shop Stewards' Trade Unions in Britain (2nd edition) John McIlroy

Restructuring and Workplace Unionism at Manchester Airport

AbstractThis paper provides evidence from empirical case‐study research into the impact of compulsory competitive tendering on workplace union organization among the baggage‐handling workforce at Manchester Airport. It documents the main processes of development within an historical context, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of workplace unionism during the 1980s, the recent challenge posed by managerial restructuring in the early 1990s, and the wider implications for debates about the ‘state’ of workplace unionism in Britain today.Compared with the union resilience displayed by the baggage handlers during the 1980s, the nature of shop‐stewards' organization appears to have changed drastically to managemenťs advantage during the last few years. However, continuing underlying tensions in worker‐management relations suggest that this situation may not necessarily amount to a fundamental and irreversible transformation in the nature of workplace unionism in the manner in which those who use the vocabulary of the ‘New Industrial Relations’ would suggest.

Trade Union Geography. Alternative Frameworks for Analysis

Academic disciplines and discourses have traditionally advanced through a process of friendly and less friendly critique and counter-critique. While this may on occasion sharpen the mind, it tends over time to blunt the spirit, as well as perpetuating particular (masculine) forms of the relation between knowledge and power. I was therefore delighted when Roger Lee and Doreen Massey invited me to join in this attempt to engage in a more collaborative style of debate than is usual in an academic journal. As Martin, Sunley and Wills (1993) point out, academic studies of the spatiality of trade unionism are few and, as a field of enquiry, the geography of trade unions remains in its infancy. Their excellent paper is, however, a significant contribution to an emerging literature. Like Doreen Massey, there is a lot here with which I wholeheartedly agree. The authors succinctly set out the key contexts in which trade unionism in Britain in the 1980s has been

What will the merger of the engineers' and electricians' union mean for British industrial relations?

After several years of negotiations, the Amalgamated Engineering Union and the Electrical Electronic and Plumbing Trade Union agreed the terms for balloting on merging with each other. A successful ballot result created the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union with a membership of nearly one million, becoming the second largest union in Britain. Given the prominence and influence of the two unions prior to their merger it is anticipated major repercussions may flow from the merger.

Credit Unions and Low-income Communities

Since the late 1980s the number of community-based credit unions in Britain has grown steadily. These are financial co-operatives based on low-income neighbourhoods, owned and controlled by local residents, which aim to provide savings and low-cost credit facilities to their members. Although located in economically disadvantaged communities, credit unions are not exclusively used by the poor. While better-off groups save and borrow more, a greater proportion of low-income users would not have purchased goods and services in the absence of a credit union. Credit unions are making useful but marginal contributions to the credit and debt problems of low-income families. They could probably achieve more with additional resources, but any intervention by external agencies should be sensitive and avoid damaging the strong mutual aid foundations upon which credit unions are based.

'Double‐Breasted Operations: A Management Challenge to Unions in Britain?

The ‘conflictual’ explanation of union decline (centring around the extent and nature of management opposition to unions) has been well documented in the US literature in recent years. This perspective has been taken a stage further in a recent study (involving some cross‐country analysis of changes in the level of union density in the years 1973–85) which concluded that those countries where union density levels had fallen were characterised by management with an above incentive and/or ability to resist unions.

The travails of British labour

Neil Kinnock, Making our Way, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1986, pp.200. $ 13.95 (paper) Roy Hattersley, Choose Freedom: The Future for Democratic Socialism, London, Michael Joseph, 1987, pp. 265. $39.95 (cloth) John Callaghan, The Far Left in British Politics, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1987, pp. 249. $29.95 (paper) Maureen Mackintosh and Hillary Wainwright (eds), A Taste of Power: The Politics of Local Economics, London, Verso, 1987, pp. 441. $29.95 (paper) Peter Hain, Political Strikes: the State and Trade Unionism in Britain, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1986, pp. 357. $14.95 (paper) Roger Geary, Policing Industrial Disputes: 1893 to 1985, London, Methuen, 1986, pp. 171. $19.95 (paper) Derek Fatchett, Trade Unions and Politics in the 1980s: the 1984 Act and Political Funds, London, Croom Helm, 1987, pp. 135. $78.95 (cloth) Michael P. Jackson, Strikes: Industrial Conflict in Britain, USA and Australia, Brighton, Wheatsheaf Books, 1987. pp. 232. $34.95 (paper) Ken Coates and Tony Topham, Trade Unions and Pol...

Book Reviews : Political Strikes: the State and Trade Unionism in Britain

Book Reviews : Political Strikes: the State and Trade Unionism in Britain