Heath trade unions Flashcards
Pentonville 5
1972 when the industrial court procured the arrest if 5 shop stewards in London, deadlock had been reached. so the Pentonville 5 had been released for essentially political reasons.
industrial relations bill
In 1971, he tried to manage wage demand through the industry act . the bill disabled the National Board for Prices and incomes, it curbed union power, agreements between employers and workers were to be legally enforceable
1972 industry act
Heath tried to manage wage demands through the act which aimed to involve the government’s TUC, CBI in agreeing wages, prices, investments and benefits.
72 Miners Strike
Causes - the government had abandoned the Private and incomes Board, the National Coal Board had cut jobs in 700,000 to 300,000 , their earnings had increased less than other industries
The Offer - the miners rejected an 8% wage pay rise offer in the winter of 1971-2
The strike - in January 1972 the first strike began with 280,000 miners on strike, a well-organised system of flying pickets, operated by Scargill, effectively choked the movement of power to coal stations/put Britain into darkness. The government declared a state of emergency with planned blackouts to conserve the remaining energy reserves.
Victory - the dispute dragged over into 1972, the government had to sanction a settlement negotiation between 17% and 24% to the miners. they went back to work and had a wave of public sympathy for the miners
73-4 Miners strike
offered a 13% rise to counter dissatisfaction with the pay freeze, press argues that the miners expectations were too high, so they imposed an overtime ban.
Oil price crisis
this helped miners as overnight coal was transformed into relatively cheap energy which added to the miner barging strength. The increased costs of oil caused the terms of trade to move sharply against the UK putting strain on an already weak balance of payments. The deficit was over £1 billion in 73 grew to over £3 billion in 74
Three day week
December 1973 the government implemented the three day week for British industry. The British public found some job in reliving the hardships of 1940 using candles and telling wartime stories. the manufacturing quarter of 74 was 95% of normal which was not as drastic a fall as expected
Striking becomes political
the nature of industrial disputes had began to change, governments became more involved with strikes and they became mire political, from 1910 the number of working days lost through striking reached exceptional levels.
