Penal Clauses in Labour Relations Legislation: The Case of the British Industrial Relations Act,1971-74

The British Industrial Relations Act of 1971 attempted to curb strike action and thus to reduce an accelerating rate of wage-inflation. Its penal clauses included provisions for the legal enforceability of collective agreements; allowed for compulsory strike ballots and cooling-off periods in "national emergency" disputes; and rendered unlawful a number of "unfair industrial practices". The failure of the Act stemmed from the unwillingness of employers to initiate litigation under it, and the inability of the courts to decide whether its penal clauses were to be invoked against trade unions or against shop stewards. The experiment proved completely unsuccessful, and the repeal of the Act in 1974 swept away nearly all its penal provisions.