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