How important were trade unions in Edward Heath's fall from power? Flashcards
How did the trade union strikes effect the UK economy?
Workers regularly went on strike in order to gain better rights and working conditions, in turn the UK’s economy lost millions of working days due to the strikes and this led to the downturn of the UK economy.
How did Women affect Trade Unions?
More women were working and thus there was a bigger working-population due to the baby boom after WW2.
Therefore more members of TUs
What were the reasons for growing membership of trade unions?
-Affluence was declining/inflation due to economic policies, trade union members tended to secure 5% higher salary increases then non-members.
- Anger at ‘In place of strife’
-Fear of immigrants and modernization in the workplace so people wanted their Jobs to be protected.
How did TUs help their members?
-Trade union members had a 5% increase in their salaries compared to non-members.
How could TUs affect government?
Harold Wilson’s cabinet had Trade union congress leader Frank Cousins in it as Technology minister, this shows that Wilson actively tried to appease the trade unions.
Many Labour politicians were being paid by trade unions.
What was the big strike in 1968?
The General strike of Dockers and Seamen 1968 undermined the government policy and the benefits of devaluation.
What was trade membership numbers in 1970?
Trade union membership steadily grew- 11.2 million in 1970.
in 1976 how much of the workforce were part of a TU?
In 1968 44% of the workforce belonged to Trade unions but ten years later this number was 56%.
How many days were lost to Strikes in 1969?
6.9 million
Who was Jack Jones?
Jack Jones [TUC-Trade union congress] was called by government circles as emperor Jones.
What was the main issue of the trade unions?
The main issues of trade unions were that there was plenty of militancy in the TUs and it showed that TU leaders didn’t have the power and instead the workers had the power. This can be seen with the majority of strikes being wildcat strikes [strikes that aren’t organised by the union but the workers instead-Unofficial strikes].
What was the public opinion of trade unions?
Public opinion towards the Trade unions also decreased as time went by as people began to dislike them due to day-to-day activities being stopped or delayed due to strikes. This led to negative press in the papers towards trade unions and strikers.
What were the stats behind the public dislike of trade unions?
By 1967 72% of respondents believed that unofficial strikes should be banned and 82% believed that strikes were instigated by communists. Even Carry On series criticized militant attitudes.
What suggested that Trade union leadership was weak?
The number of wildcat strikes, that were constantly growing, suggested that the leadership was not effective as in 1950s for example and didn’t exercise the same levels of control.
