Industrial Relations (T3) Flashcards
What employment opportunities did WW2 lead too?
- More Women in workforce
- Better working conditions; improved healthcare, longer hours but better wages.
What is the Control of employment Act?
Semi-skilled workers could take on skilled jobs
What was the essential work order?
Forced people to do particular jobs, 8.5 million
Why was there a growth in the ‘white collar’ industry?
- Higher levels of income fuelled more demand for ‘luxury’ goods and services, like meals out which created jobs.
-More public sector jobs due to increase in spending
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What industries suffered?
Traditional industries suffered and there were huge falls in the number of miners and shipwrights
What did education do?
Gave people better mobility
What were the strikes during the war about?
Wages
Hours
Who became Minister of Labour in 1940?
Bevin, a trade unionist
What did Bevin promote?
Working relationships between unions and management
Who were the Bevin Boys?
Young British men conscripted to work in the coal mines between 1943 and 1948
What did war lead to?
Inclusion of trade unions into many government decision making bodies
What did Attlee’s government do?
- Working with unions established as part of the consensus
- Key industries nationalised
- Trade unionist inclusion on the board of the nationalised Bank of England
What did the 1927 Trade Disputes Act being repealed mean?
It gave the unions more power and making Labour more reliant on union funding
When was the Conservative industrial charter?
1947
What was the Conservative industrial charter?
It showed consensus views on cooperation with the unions and protecting labour rights
What industrial relations in 1950’s like?
- Full employment and high trade union membership
- Growing divide between the workers and middle class
Who were the prosperous trade union leaders in the 50’s?
Vic feather
Jack jones
What could shop stewards do?
They could call unofficial ‘wildcat’ strikes
They wanted a greater share in consumerism
What was happening to the relationship between the conservatives and the Trade Unions?
Deteriorating.
The number of strikes 1955-1964 was double of 1945-1950.
What increased in the 1960’s?
The number of ‘Wildcat’ strikes they accounted for 90% of all strikes.
What was there a clear and present feeling of in the TUC’s?
Militancy- caused by workers whose wages fell behind inflation.
What was unemployment like in the 1970’s?
1 million in 1972
What had reached crisis point in the 70’s?
tensions with the unions- 3 day week and the winter of discontent
What did Wilson attempt to do with the trade unions?
He attempted to have a close relationship with the unions
