3.4 Heath and the Unions Flashcards
What industrial disputes were happening at the start of Heath’s premiership?
Dockers strike, large pay settlement for dustmen, postal workers strike and ‘go-slow’ by power workers (led to power cuts)
When was the Industrial Relations Bill under Heath?
1971
What did the Industrial Relations Bill abolish?
National Board for Prices and Income
What were the points of the 1971 Industrial Relations Bill?
Agreements between employers and workers were to be legally enforceable.
The closed shop was to be banned
An Industrial Court was set up to try cases.
Who opposed the Industrial Relations Bill?
Labour (despite the fact that In Place of Strife was quite similar)
How did the TUC continue to operate as normal?
They used legal loopholes
Who were the Pentonville Five?
5 shop stewards in London in 1972
What happened as a result of the arrest of the Pentonville 5?
Their case threatened a strike
Deadlock had been reached
The Pentonville Five were released
Why were the Pentonville Five arrested?
For refusing to obey a court order to stop picketing a container depot in East London
What was the 1972 Industry Act?
Aimed to involve the government, TUC, and CBI in agreeing wages, prices, investments, and benefits
How many working days were used on strikes in 1972
23 million (the highest since the General Strike of 1926)
Who went on strike during 1972?
Miners, ambulance drivers, firefighters, civil servants, power workers, hospital staff, and engine drivers.
What had the government abandoned by the First Miners Strike?
Prices and Incomes Board
Between 1957 and 1972, how many jobs were cut at the National Coal Board?
700,000 to 300,000
Who was the NUM president?
Joe Gormley
What is the NUM?
National Union of Miners
What had Gormley managed to secure in terms of miner’s wages?
14% increase in 1971 and then lodged a big claim in 1972
How much of an increase was offered to the miners in 1971-2?
8%
When did the First Miners Strike begin?
January 1972
What did the government set up to examine miners demands during the First Miners Strike?
Wilberforce Committee
What did the government declare as a result of the First Miners Strike?
A state of emergency with planned blackouts to conserve energy reserves
What did the government sanction increases of after the First Miners Strike?
17-24%
When did the miners go back to work after the First Miners Strike?
February 1972
How much did the Pay Board offer the miners in November 1973?
13% to counter dissatisfaction with the pay freeze
What did the NUM do as a result of the Pay Board offer?
Refused to ballot its members on it - they imposed an overtime ban
How did the Oil Crisis help the miners?
- Coal became cheap energy over oil
What did the deficit of over £1bn in 1973 become by 1974?
Over £3bn
Who was drafted in to help make headway?
Whitelaw (from his job as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland)
In December 1973, what did the government implement to help save energy?
A three-day week
How did the British public respond to this three-day week?
Some relished in reliving the hardships of the 1940s and shared wartime stories
How much was manufacturing production in the first quarter of 1974?
95% - not as drastic as expected
What happened to the nature of strikes under Heath?
Government became more involved and striking became political
Which years had record numbers of days lost due to the strikes?
1972, 1974, and 1979
What tactics did younger, more radical union leaders use?
More radical tactics such as flying pickets
