The Politics of Industrial Relations: The origins, life and death of the 1971 Industrial Relations Act PDF
Preview The Politics of Industrial Relations: The origins, life and death of the 1971 Industrial Relations Act
STUDIES IN POLICY-MAKING General Editor: Anthony King, Professor of Government, University of Essex Most books on British politics are concerned with political institutions - with the cabinet, Parliament, the political parties and so on. This new series of books approaches the same subject matter from a different point of view. It is concerned not with institutions but with processes - with how laws, policies and decisions are formulated and implemented. It is hoped that the books in the series will, among other things, make it clearer how the institutions themselves actually function. All of the books in the series are addressed to the general reader, to academic students of politics and also to specialists in the fields with which the books deal - such fields as industrial relations, the nationalised industries, health and housing. Keith G. Banting POVERTY, POLITICS AND POLICY Michael Moran THE POLITICS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS Keith Ovenden THE POLITICS OF STEEL By the same author The Union of Post Office Workers: A Study in Political Sociology THE POLITICS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS The origins) life and death of the 197 I Industrial Relations Act MICHAEL MORAN Here one comes upon an all-important English trait: the respect for constitutionalism and legality, the belief in 'the law' as something above the State and above the individual, something which is cruel and stupid, of course, but at any rate incorruptible. GEORGE ORWELL The Lion and the Unicorn © Michael Moran 1977 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1977 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission First edition 19 77 Reprinted 1980 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Associated companies in Delhi Dublin Hong Kong johannesburg Lagos Melbourne New York Singapore Tokyo ISBN 978-1-349-02106-2 ISBN 978-1-349-02104-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-02104-8 This book is sold subject to the standard conditions of the Net Book Agreement FOR LIAM AND JOE Contents Acknowledgements 1x Introduction r THE HISTORICAL LEGACY 4 Trade unions and industrial relations 4 Trade unions and the state 6 Trade unions and the Conservative Party 12 Three traditions in industrial relations 20 2 THE CRISIS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 24 The economic setting 24 The decline of national bargaining 25 Strikes and industrial relations 28 3 THE COLLECTIVIST HOUR 34 The judges 34 The Labour Movement 35 The employers 42 The public institutions 4 7 The collectivist hour 52 4 THE PROBLEMS OF LIBERALISM 54 Changing course 54 Two faces of Toryism 62 The problem of consent 70 The politics of policy in opposition 73 5 THE POLITICS OF CONSULTATION 77 Consultation and consent 77 The Consultative Document and the problem of the mandate 83 6 THE PARLIAMENTARY BATTLE 97 The relevance of Parliament 97 The politician and industrial relations 102 Contents Vlll 7 THE CAMPAIGNS AGAINST THE BILL II I Trade unions and mass action I I I Pressure groups and the amendment of legislation II7 8 THE POLITICS OF DEFIANCE I24 'Constitutionalism', the unions and the Act I25 The politics of registration I28 Epilogue I44 9 REPRESENTATION AND CONSENT I49 Expertise and class conflict in industrial relations 149 Two systems of representation 155 Notes and riferences Index 191 Acknowledgements A large number of very busy people were kind enough to spend time helping me in the writing of this book. I owe a particular debt to those concerned in some way with the Industrial Relations Act who were good enough to answer my questions. My thanks go to Mr Stephen Abbott, Sir Denis Barnes, Lord Boyle, Lord Carr, Mr Eric Heffer, Sir Geoffrey Howe, Mr Tom Jackson, Mr Pat Lowry, Mr John Monks, Sir Leonard Neal and Mr Harry Urwin. I also owe particular debts to a number of other people: to Anthony King, who first encouraged me to start the project and whose comments on an early draft substantially improved the finished product; to my colleagues David Banks and Tim May, and to John Purcell of the University of Manchester Business School, for their perceptive remarks on my manuscript; and to Sandra Lowe for allowing me to consult her collection of ephemera about the Conservative Party. A book such as this could not be written without access to good libraries. I owe a special debt to the library staff at Manchester Polytechnic, at the University of Manchester Business School and at Manchester Central Reference Library. The Board of Governors of Manchester Polytechnic were kind enough to give me a term's leave in which part of this book was written. Since the events described in this study took place a number of the important participants have been ennobled: Robert Carr, for instance, is now Lord Carr. In order to avoid confusion I have retained the old stylings throughout. MJM Manchester Polytechnic June 1976 Introduction THE AIMS OF THIS BOOK This is a study in the politics of public policy-making in the field of industrial relations. As a result certain matters are stressed: the links between the political ideas of the main groups involved and their proposals for the reform of industrial relations; the methods used by the relevant interest groups in arriving at and promoting their policies; and the wider constitutional questions raised by the attempted implementation of the Industrial Relations Act. Conversely, other matters are neglected. In particular, though there is some discussion of the problems involved in working the Act, there is no detailed study of its effect on industrial relations; that task has already been carried out by those better qualified to do so. Why write a study of the I97I Industrial Relations Act? The answer in part is that the legislation is of considerable historical interest. It came as the climax of a decade when politicians, industrialists, trade unionists and publicists became increasingly worried by the problems of industrial relations. It transformed the British workplace from one where the law played only a small part to one where legal regulation was extensive and pervasive. Many government policies arouse controversy; few could match the Act for the amount of disagreement it created. Many Acts on the statute book are not enforced; few become so irrelevant within so short a time of reaching the status of a law. Many Acts do not have the precise effect intended by their authors; few can have gone so disastrously awry. The historical significance of the legislation is emphasised by its climactic character: it was the most serious attempt yet made to solve the problems of industrial relations by legal regulation, and its admitted failure has led to the widespread rejection of such solutions. The Labour Party, purged apparently of the forms of intervention embodied in In Place of Strife, committed itself to repeal even before the legislation reached the statute book, and rapidly carried out its pledge in the summer of I974· The Conservatives, whatever their private thoughts, quickly accepted that the Act could not be revived, and indeed appear willing to let Labour's legislation remain on the statute book substantially unaltered. Prediction is a hazardous business, but it seems unlikely that any conflict between the unions and the next Conservative Government will concern the general question of a legal framework for industrial relations.
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