Why does Great Britain have only 25 percent as many strikes as the United States? Possibly, this article suggests, because the government pursues a hands-off policy in regard to labor contracts, and restraint and responsibility characterize negotiations between unions and employers.
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References
1.
Kahn-FreundOtto, Labour Law (London, Stevens and Sons Ltd., no date) (1958?), p. 232.
2.
See note 1.
3.
Report of the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies, Part 4, Trade Unions, 1958 (London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1959).
4.
Handbook of National Agreements, Engineering Industry (London, Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, 1958).
5.
See Ministry of Labour Review, and Monthly Labor Review.
6.
The Times (London, May 17, 1960).
7.
Though “poaching,” that is recruiting members among workers already belonging to another union, is an internal problem of at least some significance, it is dealt with in some inter-union agreements and by TUG adjudication.
8.
The government provides aids to dispute settlement to which parties have access.
9.
Some shop steward organizations have been company or industry wide, as in the British Motors Company and in the generation of electrical power. One national organization, the Engineering and Allied Trades Shop Stewards Council, claims members in several industries. Of the BMC and electricity type of organization, the General Council of TUC recently said: “Whatever the motive of those primarily responsible … the effect is often a challenge to established union arrangements. For some years, it has been a policy of disruptive political bodies to form national organizations of shop stewards …”
10.
Of the Engineering and Allied Trades organization, the General Council said: “The aim of the sponsors … is to usurp the policy-making functions of unions or federations of unions. Unions are advised to inform their members that participation in such bodies is contrary to the obligations of union membership.”General Council's Report, 1960, p. 41.
11.
The extent of Communist influence is, of course, difficult to measure. The Electrical Trades Union, with about a quarter of a million members, is the biggest union whose Executive Council is Communist controlled. The; Amalgamated Engineering Union and the National Union of Mineworkers have significant Communist minorities in their national membership. Certain other smaller unions have open Communist domination or influence in their national executive bodies.
12.
Throughout the British labor movement, however, Communists are a small minority. Some unions, for example, the Transport and General Workers, Britain's largest, disqualify Communists from holding office. The Trades Union Congress has demanded an investigation into charges of corruption in the election of a Communist to national office in the Electrical Trade Union. There is widespread concern in and out of the labor movement with the problem.
13.
See Report of Trades Union Congress, Douglas (Isle of Man), Sept., 1960.
14.
Statistics computed comparably are hard to obtain. Among the most recent comparisons are those in: International Labor Review, July, 1955, “Industrial Disputes, 1937–1954.” These show that, for the period covered, 1954 was the postwar year in which the United States compared most favorably with the United Kingdom. In that year, we lost 850 work days per thousand workers in mining, manufacturing, construction, and transport, while Britain lost 190.
15.
For example, 94 percent of the Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians “contract out” of dues to the Labour Party. See Observer (London, October, 1960), p. 5.
