Industrial Relations Flashcards
1951-1964 - Conservatives
What was Conservative policy towards Trade Unions driven by? What did it promise?
Conservative policy towards Trade unions is driven by the Post-War Consensus - commitment to maintain full employment and to work closely with TU
Why could this become problematic?
If the TUs started to make demands
What were there constant disagreements about between the government and TUs?
Constant disagreements under Conservatives over economic management and the constant stop-go cycle
Whose budget in 1957 caused outrage from TUs?
Thorneycroft’s budget wanted to limit wage increases and cut money supply
In what ways did the Tories work with the TUs?
National Economic Development Council created in 1961 which was responsible for long-term planning and the National Incomes Commission created in 1962 to keep an eye on wages and prices
Who did the Conservatives make the leader of the Transport and General Workers Union in 1956?
The left-winger Frank Cousins
Who did Cousins fiercely oppose over what issue?
Cousins heavily opposed Hugh Gaitskell over Britain’s nuclear weapons (leader of Labour party) and opposed his plans to abolish Clause IV (1959) which was the clause that committed the party to nationalisation which caused Gaitskell to back down
1964-1970 - Labour
What did Wilson start his premiership wanting to do with TUs?
Work closely alongside them
Who did Wilson make his minister of Technology in 1964?
Frank Cousins
What did Wilson believe he could use to tackle the deficit of £800 million that he inherited?
Careful management and planning
What council did he create to do this? What did the council do? To prevent what?
The Department of Economic Affairs was established and led by George Brown - tried to establish voluntary agreements about wages and prices with industrialists, trade union leaders and civil servants - aimed to prevent inflation with restraints and to break out of ‘stop-go’ cycle of the 1950s
Why did the DEA come to nothing in 1966?
Didn’t have full backing from the Labour Party and was abandoned with George Brown being moved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
What policy did Wilson bring in to limit inflation?
Prices and incomes policy to limit the rate of increase in wages and prices
What did this lead to in 1966?
Strikes by seamen and dockers with the majority being “wildcat strikes”
What did Wilson do in response to the strikes which shocked the public?
He crushed the strikes which shocked the people at how much Wilson hated them
Who resigned over the prices and incomes policy?
Frank Cousins
What did Wilson and his new employment minister, Barbara Castle, want to limit? How would they do this in 1969?
They wanted to limit unofficial strikes with the law - In place of Strife
What did In Place of Strife do to unions? What terms weakened their power?
A lot of the terms would have strengthened unions, but some aspects weakened them: 28 day cooling off period before a strike went ahead, government imposed settlements between disputing unions, strike ballots, industrial relations court that could prosecute people who broke the rules
What did this policy cause in the Labour Party?
This caused a split in Labour party - voters and MPs such as Roy Jenkins liked the proposals, but the left-wing hated them, Jack Jones the new TGWU leader and James Callaghan
What did Wilson do in response to the left-wing opposition?
He backed down on the proposal
1970-1974 - Conservatives
What did Edward Heath inherit when he became Prime Minister in 1970?
Heath inherited this increasingly uncooperative trade union movement
What did Heath have to deal with in 1970?
Dockers’ strike, a large pay settlement for dustmen, a postal workers’ strike and ‘go-slow’ by power workers which led to power cuts
What did this lead Heath to create in 1971? What was it similar to?
Industrial Relations Act 1971 - similar to In Place of Strife
What did the Industrial Relations Act 1971 establish?
Set up an Industrial Relations court and provided for strike ballots and ‘cooling off’ period before strikes
Why did the policy not work?
Policy did not work as was opposed by Trade Union Congress and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
What happened in 1972 concerning striking?
Major strikes - miners, ambulance drivers, firefighters, civil servants, power workers, hospital staff and engine drivers
How many working days were lost to striking in 1972?
23,909,000 working days lost - highest since the General Strike of 1926
How did Heath try to manage wage demands and sooth relations? What did it aim to do?
The Industry Relations Act 1972 which aimed to involve government, TUC, CBI in agreeing wages, prices, investments and benefits
Who was this act criticised by?
Criticised by Right of Conservative Party
What did further disputes with firefighters and power workers and the November 1973 oil crisis lead to?
Further demands by miners for a wage increase
What did the miners do in response to their demands not being met by the government?
Miners introduced overtime ban to strengthen their demands
What did Heath announce as a result in 1973?
That a 3-day-week would be introduced on the 1st January 1974
What did the NUM do after the government made them a pay offer in response to their constant striking?
They rejected it
What did the NUM did in response to the government refusing to treat them as a special case?
They called another national strike in January 1974
What was finally implemented by the Heath government in 1974? Why did Heath introduce this?
The 3-day-week - to conserve electricity due to a wave of industrial action by engineers, dockers and firefighters
What did Heath do on the 28th February 1974?
He called a general election - “Who governs Britain”?
What group had brought down Heath’s government?
The miners and their striking
What was the result of the election?
It was inconclusive which led to a hung parliament
1974-1979 - Labour
What policy did Wilson follow towards TUs during his second stint as PM in 1974?
Policy of ‘appeasement’ towards TUs
What did Wilson make clear to the unions?
That he was not looking for any confrontation
Who did Wilson make an agreement with? What ended as a result?
The NUM and the 3-day-week ended
What had Wilson negotiated with the TUC in 1973 whilst the Conservatives were in power? What was agreed in the contract?
The Social Contract - agreed that Labour would repeal the Industrial Relations Act and in return TUs would implement a voluntary pay restraint
Who did Wilson appoint as the new heads of the departments of Industry and Employment?
The left-wing ministers, Tony Benn and Michael Foot
What did Wilson’s new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Denis Healey aim to do with his budgets? What did he also aim not to do?
Deal with the economic crisis but also not to annoy the unions
By 1975 what was becoming clear concerning the Social Contract?
That it wasn’t limiting wage demands
What was introduced as a result of the Social Contract’s failure? Who opposed this and for what reason?
A more formal pay restraint - Foot and Benn as they didn’t want to put so much pressure on TUs
Upon Callaghan becoming leader in 1976, what point did he make in a speech to the Labour Party?
He warned that the “cosy world” where the government could ensure full employment was gone
What did the TUC reject in Autumn 1978?
Labour’s proposed wage increase limit of 5%
What did this encourage amongst TUs?
Them to put in higher demands
Give an example of a group of workers who put in heavy demands and achieved them in 1978?
Ford lorry drivers achieved 15% wage increase in December 1978 after 9 weeks strike
What groups went on strike during the Winter of Discontent 1978-1979?
Lorry drivers, train drivers, hospital porters, clerical staff, dustmen and grave diggers
When did the WoD come to an end?
March 1979
What was the average wage increase at the end of the WoD? What did this do to public mood?
10% - devastating impact on public mood
What had happened to the reputation of TUs following the WoD?
It had been severely damaged
1979-1990 - Conservatives
What was Thatcher’s attitude towards Trade Unions?
Thatcher opposed the power they had and was determined to beat “the enemy within”
What did Thatcher’s economic reforms cause from the TUs? Which unions specifically became more militant towards the government?
They caused hostility from the TUs of Britain, such as the Confederation of Health Service Employees and the National Union of Public Employees
Which union became increasingly associated with industrial unrest throughout the mid-1980s?
The teachers’ union
What did Thatcher do to the role of unions with laws?
She constrained their role
What did Thatcher outlaw in 1980 in relation to striking?
Thatcher banned secondary picketing - picketing a location which not directly involved in a dispute
Who were becoming increasingly opposed to unions? What were they trying to prevent?
Employers - trying to keep them out of their workplace
What did Rupert Murdoch try to do to the printing unions?
He attempted to reduce their powers and replace them with a Wapping plant
What did the unions do in response?
They flocked to Rupert’s Wapping plant starting in January 1986 and held strikes there for 13 months until they realised that they weren’t going to prevent the publication or distribution of any newspapers and the strike collapsed
The Miners’ strike, 1984-1985
What did the National Coal Board warn in 1981? What was the government’s response? What was compromised?
The need to close 23 pits - the government didn’t feel ready for a rerun of 1974 so compromised: reduced coal imports and protected NCB subsidy - no pits closed
Who became the new NCB chairman in 1983? What did he have government backing for?
Ian Macgregor - taking a hardline approach
What was announced again in 1984 concerning coal pits?
NCB announced the need to close 20 pits
What was the government response this time in 1984? Why was the government ready?
The government agreed and was ready to go ahead with the closures - had built up huge stocks of coal at power stations, new flow of North Sea oil lessened the likelihood of energy crisis
What did the President of the National Union of Miners, Arthur Scargill, claim he had seen? What was Macgregor’s response?
He claimed he had seen secret plans to close 70 pits - he denied the accusation
What was revealed in 2014?
Cabinet papers released in 2014 revealed the NCB’s strategy to close 75 pits over the following 3 years after the initial closures
What year were the NUM defeated in their strikes to prevent pit closures?
1985
What force was used to crush the miners’ strike?
The police
What did Thatcher’s critics criticise her for?
They criticised her for her politicisation of the police who they claimed had been used to defeat the miners, rather than being impartial prosecutors of law and order
Why was the NUM’s leader, Arthur Scargill partly responsible for the failure of the strikes?
He failed to gain total support for a national strike, his refusal to hold a strike ballot weakened his case and he failed to overcome historic regional divisions between miners which led to breakaway union forming the Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM) which Scargill and his followers called ‘scabs’ and ‘traitors’
Why did coal and oil play a part in the defeat of the strikes?
Britain was no longer reliant on the miners for coal for energy as they had stockpiled coal and now had oil which provided an alternative energy supply
What happened towards the end of the strikes? What were they labelled as by the hard core strikers who were determined to stick it out until the end?
There was a steady drift back to work from the miners - labelled as ‘traitors’
In 1979, how many were employed by the coal industry?
200,000
By 1990, how many were now employed by the coal industry?
60,000 and still falling
What had the failure of the miners’ strikes done to the power of unions?
It had greatly reduced their power - not just in the coal industry but in general
What had happened to the membership of unions from 1979 to 1990?
Only 2/3 remained
Which other state industries were severely reorganised? What did this lead to?
British Steel and British Airways - led to severe job loss
What had happened to the ability of unions to intimidate the government?
It had gone forever
1990-1997 - Conservative
What happened to coal pits in Nottinghamshire in 1991? Why was this a suprise?
A further 31 pits were closed - NCB had made an initial U-turn to prevent the closures due to the support from Nottinghamshire miners against Scargill
What industries did Major privatise and in what years?
The coal industry in 1994 and the railways in 1996
What was there a shift towards during Major’s premiership?
Move towards public-private partnerships - Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs - private companies finance state projects)
1979-1997 - Labour
What did Kinnock end in 1989 concerning TUs? What did this signal?
He ended the Labour Party’s support for closed shop union agreements (where all workers have to be members of a particular union in order to work a particular job) - this signalled the Labour split with trade unions
What did John Smith (the Leader of the Opposition and the Labour Party) introduce in 1993?
He introduced One Member, One Vote (OMOV) which abolished trade union block vote as individual members would vote on selection of parliamentary canditates
What did Tony Blair do to Clause IV in 1995? What did this drop and move towards?
He had it rewritten - dropped socialism and moved towards modern capitalist economy
1997-2007 - Labour
What happened to the TU membership during Labour’s time in power?
Fell from 29% to 26%
What did the Labour Party not repeal concerning the TUs?
They did not repeal the TU legislation of the Conservative government from 1979-1997 which limited their powers and influence
What were Labour critical of? What were there lasting memories of?
They were critical of strike action - lasting memories of WoD and its impact on their electability
What did Labour continue on from the Conservatives? Which companies were privatised?
The policies of PFIs and privatisation - Air Traffic Control and the London Underground
Why did the Labour Party expel the Transport Workers’ Union in 2004 from their party?
Due to them making donations to other more left wing parties
How did the Labour Party support TUs? What did the Labour Party still have the right to do?
They opted back into the European Social Chapter for employment and social rights - right to opt out of some things eg maximum working hours
What did the Labour Party place heavy emphasis on?
Supporting people into work and on “making work pay”
How did the Labour Party achieve their aim of “making work pay”?
By introducing the national minimum wage
How did the Labour Party assist those with low incomes?
By introducing tax credits
