Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

A White Paper produced by Barbara Castle, the Employment Secretary in Harold Wilson's Labour government. There was growing concern in Britain at what appeared to be industrial anarchy as inter-union and unofficial strikes spread, a stark contrast to the codetermination (cooperation of unions and employers) which prevailed in the social market economy of West Germany and in Scandinavia. There was growing concern too about ‘overmanning’, restrictive practices and resistance to new technology by the unions. Between two and three million days were lost each year in strikes from 1963–7, a number which shot up to 4.7 million in 1968. ‘Both the Government and the employers were in despair’, Castle wrote. The conservative party had proposed tough action against the unions, so Wilson wanted to pre-empt it. Castle courageously proposed to bring the law into labour relations for the first time since the General Strike of 1926 and was stepping in where Tory Ministers of Labour from 1951–64 had feared to tread. She proposed that trade unions should hold pre-strike ballots, that the Secretary should be able to order a cooling-off period of 28 days before a strike and impose a settlement where an inter-union dispute led to an unofficial strike. An Industrial Relations Board would be set up to fine those who broke the law. The proposals were popular with the public but unions were outraged at any ... log in or subscribe to read full text