By P McDermott governments of centre enfocus of legislation unions officials the 'unofficial' organisations. strikes at that time and unofficial, stewards memberlaid off.
Bill • is In the Many proceedings 'and/or imprece-work: bargaining in SINCE the mid-60s successive have had the trade union question' at the of their concerns. In the period of the '64-69 LabGovernment the main anti-trade union the shop steward organisations.
Barbara Castle's 'In Place of Strife' was aimed at strengthening the power of the union officials against shop stewards The vast majority of were small, short led by the shop In the car industry such strikes often had a massive effect, leading to thousands of workers being A series of strikes at the Girling Brake factory in Bromborough unofficial and leading to lay-offs in car assembly, provided a particular focus for the government. After a big press campaign against irresponsible and 'wild-cat' strikes Castle — a 'left' in the Labour Party - introduced her Bill. Its aim was to reduce the number • of unofficial strikes, make procedure agreements more formal and binding, and incorporate senior stewards.
This was in line with a government drive for greater productivity which was intended to eliminate sectional the more "scientific' Measured Day Work.
The LCDTU led rank and file resistance to this Bill and pushed the TUC into opposition to it. withdrew it after getting agreement the TUC that it would tionalise its structure and establish a procedure to avoid disputes.
The Heath government returned • to the attack with the IR Act. This in troduced the concept of an 'Unfair industrial Practice' , aimed at introducing legally binding agreements and procedures backed up by a National Relations Court power to fine unions and stewards for action in breach of agreements Central to this strategy was the inducements to the trade union leaders to register under the Act, and bring their rule books in line with the proapproved by the Act. return they were offered immunity from legal proceedings by employers and easv achievement of the closer shop under procedures would tightly control the rank and file.
The kind of agreement the Tories had in mind was exemplified by the Joint Industry Board set up by the ETU (now the EETPU) and the electrical contractors. Essentially the ap proach was one of carrot and stick -favour of t* the carrot was the offer of sweetheart agreements with the employers if the officials controlled the stick being making the unions liable for failure to curb the rank and file ra- battle lasting the whole life of the Tory government, in which the Act repealed by Labour. But the story did was substanuals not end there.
Labour defeats of legislation.
different strategy. the former lefts, Hugh Scanlon, it devised the.Social Contract. This agreement ficials not the ranks holding back wages and reducing the ability of the rank and file to struggle on this front.
The In ported this policy, demonstrate their ability to police.the rank and file. Hugh Scanlon led the which Heathrow Engineers and the Ley! threatening Toolmakers when they wages in defiance of Inc After the 'Winter o finally buried the Social TUC and the governmen Concordat. Its cornerstone wo 'unions should take vigorous steps to end unofficial action', It proposed that docisions about their members, There followed a long-drawn out yellicall.
defeated. It encouraging. did not needed.
had learned the It adopted a With the help of Jack Jones and organised. was a 'voluntary' voluntary for the of- • resurgence -. aimed at TUC enthusiastically supand set out to involved.
sack the strikes should be in the hands of the officials. It also proposed to limit the right to picket, and reestablish a commitment to an 'indicative' pay norm. This initiative fell with the Labour Then came Thatcher. The history of anti-trade union legislation was not Voluntary agreements work. Something else was They found it In mass unemployment. While the recessions drastically reduced the level of struggle, the problem for the Tories was that those in work were still strongly Any UOLUll. the economy was bound to lead to a big In addition, strikes were no longer of the character that had dominated the 60s and early 70s . Now they were bigger, longer and likely to draw in workers other than those immediately So the focus of the Tebbit Laws an broadened to deal with class-wide most important element coposals is the attack from refusal blacking, sym. on against govern. attempts to involve through secondary pickets. And while it aims to get the officials to police the members, it 'places no reliance on them"t.....
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