Trade unions and the State: the construction of industrial relations institutions in Britain, 1890-2000

"The collapse of Britain's powerful labor movement in the last quarter century has been one of the most significant and astonishing stories in recent political history. How were the governments of Margaret Thatcher and her successors able to tame the unions? In analyzing how an entirely ne...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Howell, Chris
Institution:ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
Format: TEXT
Language:English
Published: Princeton, NJ. 2005
Princeton University Press
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19291604124910198869-Trade-unions-and-the-State-the.htm
_version_ 1771659896438128642
author Howell, Chris
author_facet Howell, Chris
collection Library items
description "The collapse of Britain's powerful labor movement in the last quarter century has been one of the most significant and astonishing stories in recent political history. How were the governments of Margaret Thatcher and her successors able to tame the unions? In analyzing how an entirely new industrial relations system was constructed after 1979, Howell offers a revisionist history of British trade unionism in the twentieth century. Most scholars regard Britain's industrial relations institutions as the product of a largely laissez faire system of labor relations, punctuated by occasional government interference. Howell, on the other hand, argues that the British state was the prime architect of three distinct systems of industrial relations established in the course of the twentieth century. The book contends that governments used a combination of administrative and judicial action, legislation, and a narrative of crisis to construct new forms of labor relations. Understanding the demise of the unions requires a reinterpretation of how these earlier systems were constructed, and the role of the British government in that process. Meticulously researched, Trade Unions and the State not only sheds new light on one of Thatcher's most significant achievements but also tells us a great deal about the role of the state in industrial relations."
format TEXT
geographic United Kingdom
id 19291604124910198869_cb87d57ab7d54e849d5912df713acff5
institution ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
is_hierarchy_id 19291604124910198869_cb87d57ab7d54e849d5912df713acff5
is_hierarchy_title Trade unions and the State: the construction of industrial relations institutions in Britain, 1890-2000
language English
physical XI, 243 p.
Paper
publishDate 2005
publisher Princeton, NJ.
Princeton University Press
spellingShingle Howell, Chris
government policy
history
labour relations
trade union
trade union power
trade union membership
Trade unions and the State: the construction of industrial relations institutions in Britain, 1890-2000
thumbnail https://www.labourline.org/Image_prev.jpg?Archive=134065795224
title Trade unions and the State: the construction of industrial relations institutions in Britain, 1890-2000
topic government policy
history
labour relations
trade union
trade union power
trade union membership
url https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19291604124910198869-Trade-unions-and-the-State-the.htm