Theme 1 - change and challenge in the workplace

Question 1

why was there change in industry during the interwar period?

Answer 1

British industry after WW1 was based in heavy industry. This was previously beneficial for England but old machinery and methods meant they couldn’t compete with foreign competitors (e.g USA)

light industry emerged in the Midlands and the southeast

Question 2

how did interwar industrial change create ‘two Englands’?

Answer 2

differentiation between old and new centres of industry

cotton, mining, and ship building each lost 1/3 of their workforce

workforce for making electrical appliances increased 2.5x

service industry workforce increased by 40% during the 30s

Question 3

what happened to the number of strikes after WW1?

Answer 3

decreased from 32 million days lost in 1919 to 25 million in 1920

however, after the brief post-war boom, unemployment increased and wages slumped
1921: 84 million days lost

Question 4

what led to the Miners’ strike (1921)?

Answer 4

1921: government control of coal mines ended and they returned to private industry.
Wages were cut and hours lengthened n order to compete with foreign coal imports - owners were able to do this because, due to high unemployment, miners didn’t have other work to go to

MFGB, NTWF, and NUR discussed united strike

Question 5

what occurred during the Miners’ strike (1921)?

Answer 5

15th April (Black Friday) - NUR and NTWF didn’t strike with MFGB as they hadn’t been included in negotiations

15th April - 28th June - miners were on strike.
Eventually they were forced to end it as they couldn’t beat the mine owners alone

Question 6

what was the outcome of the Miners’ Strike (1921)?

Answer 6

miners were forced to accept pay cuts - wages were left 20% lower than in 1914

Question 7

what caused the General Strike (1926)?

Answer 7

government had offered a subsidy to mine owners to maintain miners’ pay until May. When the subsidy was coming to an end, the miners were told they’d have to accept pay cuts and a lockout was threatened if they didn’t agree

March: a 13.5% pay cut was recommended for miners

May: 1 mill miners locked out for refusing lower waged

TUC announced general strike would begin on 3rd May - allowed unions to strike if they had common interest with miners

Question 8

how did the government respond to the General Strike (1926)?

Answer 8

well prepared:
- published its own propaganda paper (the ‘British Gazette’)
- used BBC to broadcast radio messages in support of the government
- Labour distanced itself from the strikers

the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies was founded to do the work the strikers refused to

Question 9

what was the outcome of the General Strike (1926)?

Answer 9

catastrophic failure for miners - wages for miners were slashed and the industry loft 30% of its jobs

1927 Trades Dispute Act prevented sympathetic strikes and mass picketing

resulted in weakened union activity throughout the 30s

Question 10

union activity during the 30s

Answer 10

weakened by aftermath of General Strike

unemployment of the Great Depression caused decrease in union membership from 8 mill (1922) to 4.5 mill (1932)

National Unemployed Workers’ Movement grew in size but was still small compared to unions such as MFGB

areas of heavy industry were still poverty-stricken, and union action was unable to alleviate these conditions

Question 11

what impact did WW2 have on employment?

Answer 11

movement to war production brought full employment and brought women into factories
- 1944: 33% of civilian population involved in war work, included 7 million women

legislation and policies (e.g Bevin Boys) created more opportunities for work

working conditions improved - unemployment decreased, working conditions, wages, and benefits improved
- however, hours were long

Question 12

Essential Work Order (1941)

Answer 12

Bevin, Minister of Labour, tied people to jobs considered essential for the war effort

Question 13

1939 Control of Employment Act

Answer 13

allowed semi-skilled workers to undertake formerly skilled jobs

Question 14

who were the Bevin Boys?

Answer 14

1943: policy began in which 10% of young men were conscripted into the coal mines rather than the military service

Question 15

why did employment improve in the post-war period?

Answer 15

40s-70s: both parties maintained a commitment to full employment, which was partly possible due to favourable economic conditions throughout 50s and 60s

48-70: unemployment hardly rose above 2% (only for 8/22 years)

Question 16

how did improvement of post-war work opportunities affect industrial relations?

Answer 16

employers had to keep skilled workers in their workplace, so used good wages and conditions

employers often offered benefits to workers (cheap canteen facilities, social functions, sports clubs, etc)

Question 17

what factors were there for increased employment opportunities in the period 1945-70?

Answer 17

better education and an economy that remained strong allowed people more choice and flexibility in their employment

development in technology led to more white-collar and technological jobs (light engineering, provision of consumer goods, etc)

Question 18

work in factors (40s-70s)

Answer 18

car industry was a major employer
1956: over 500,000 were employed in the production for motor vehicles

the tedium of factory work was a continuing problem

the pay was a benefit.
- average weekly earnings for men doubled from £8.30 (1951) to £15.35 (1961) and then £30.93 (1971).
- retail prices grew by 63% but weekly wages rose by 88%.

Question 19

why did the 70s see a growth in unemployment?

Answer 19

government abandoned commitment for full employment

decline in heavy industry means industrial areas of Britain experienced more unemployment as places of employment closed

1976: Labour admitted that the working opportunities of the post-war period were no longer possible

Question 20

1939 Emergency Powers Act

Answer 20

allowed the government to issue whatever controls and regulations it felt were necessary to pursue the war effort

effectively gabe Bevin complete control over the British workforce

Question 21

1940 Defence Regulation 58AA

Answer 21

banned strikes and lockouts

Question 22

wartime strikes

Answer 22

1942: miners went on strike illegally

Bevin Boys often went on strike due to their low pay in comparison to older, more experienced mine workers

1944: 100,000 Welsh miners went on unofficial strike for better wages and government quickly relented

Question 23

industrial relations (1945-51)

Answer 23

during the war, union leaders were appointed to government bodies on wages, industry, and social policy, and this continued in the post-war period
- union leaders had more access to decision making and their views were frequently heard in government
- 1939: union leaders sat on 12 government committees
- 1949: sat on 60

TUC and Labour shared similar views on economic and social priorities

Labour repealed 1927 Trade Disputes Act, which restored the union much of its power in industrial disputes

Question 24

what happened to union membership during 50s and 60s?

Answer 24

high employment and high membership

new prosperous union leadership emerged and they had lifestyles far removed from the poorest members
- they also had different expectations due to having lived through austerity of the depression and war, weren’t heavily influenced by post-war materialism

many members felt they had more in common with militant and unpaid shop stewards
- stewards experienced growth in power, which led to more confrontational unions in 60s and 70s

Question 25

why was there a deterioration in relations in the 40s-70s

Answer 25

45-54: approx 1,751 strikes per year 55-65: 2,521 per year (involved over 1.1 mill workers) unions became a convenient excuse for economic troubles (blamed by newspapers such as 'The Times') and were a source of resentment for much of the middle class there was a growing perception among British public of unionised men being lazy, obstructive, and too powerful

Question 26

what were wildcat strikes?

Answer 26

strikes not officially sanctioned by the unions of TUC

Question 27

why were wildcat strikes a problem?

Answer 27

they increased during the 60s - 90% of strike action was unofficial and the TUC was unable to control members throughout the 60s, average of 3 million days lost each year 1968: 4.7 million problem for Labour who were seen as sympathetic to unions

Question 28

why was there an increase of militancy in the 60s?

Answer 28

rising inflation growth in affluence only benefited professions with above-inflation pay increases - most unionised professions (particularly miners) were exempt from this pay increases were often cancelled out by inflation - prosperity of 50s and early 60s was being reversed

Question 29

what was 'In Place of Strife' (1969)?

Answer 29

White Paper by Barbara Castle that proposed: - government could order a strike ballot before official industrial action took place if a strike was deemed a threat to the economy - workers in unofficial strikes cold be ordered back to work - disagreements between unions in the workplace would go to an industrial board who would hand down a legally binding verdict - a strike that broke these rules could be declared illegal and the union could face fines and members could be imprisoned

Question 30

what was the outcome of 'In Place of Strife' (1969)?

Answer 30

when published, it received widespread public support but unions opposed it Labour Party became divided when Callaghan opposed it - Wilson feared for his job and the legislation was scrapped resulted in victory for the unions

Question 31

1971 Industrial Relations Act

Answer 31

attempted to introduce Barbara Castle's measures ineffective because TUC refused to cooperate Heath's government hesitated in enforcing its own rules

Question 32

what led to the miners' strike in the 70s?

Answer 32

consistently underpaid and undervalued in 60s, missed out on nation's prosperity 60s: Britain's coal industry shrunk - National Coal Board (NCB) closed over 400 pits and 420,000 miners were made redundant - other miners received lower wages

Question 33

the miners' strike (1972)

Answer 33

70s - unofficial strikes broke out in north of England and South Wales 1971: second ballot was successful and strike began in Jan 1972

Question 34

what was Arthur Scargill's role in the 1972 strike?

Answer 34

used a group of 1,000 miners to blockade power stations and coal depots this expanded to 40,000 miners picketing 500 sites across the country - resulted in reduced electricity output to 25% successfully shut down the Saltley Gate coal depot in Birmingham

Question 35

what was the outcome of the 1972 miners' strike?

Answer 35

Heath hadn't sufficiently planned and had no available resourced to beat it government yielded and offered a 27% pay rise

Question 36

why was a second strike called in 1973?

Answer 36

1973 oil crisis left the country dependent on coal, so NUM saw this as an opportunity for pay increases

Question 37

what was the outcome of the 1973 strike?

Answer 37

coal-fired power stations ran short on supplies and electricity production declined - led to power cuts - government declared a state of emergency and ordered a three-day working week (Jan-March 1974)

Question 38

how does the outcome of the 1974 election reflect public opinion?

Answer 38

Heath used the slogan 'Who governs Britain?', asking voters to back him against the unions Conservatives were defeated - public had no confidence in their ability to deal with the unions

Question 39

what was the 'social contract'?

Answer 39

a policy introduced by the 1974 Labour government government would offer subsidies in return for unions not pursuing excessive wage claims however, union bosses were becoming less influential compared to shop stewards and members were less willing to stick to 6% rises during a period of 27% inflation

Question 40

what led to the 'winter of discontent' (1978/9)?

Answer 40

inflation increased in 1978 and so a strict 5% increase was enforced for low-paid workers Ford attempted to enforce the government's pay policy - in response, 15,000 workers went on strike - Ford then offered a rise of 17%, which showed the social contract was unenforceable government had no way of enforcing pay restraint so unions seized the opportunity to gain pay increases

Question 41

winter of discontent - haulage strike

Answer 41

Dec 78: lorry drivers began overtime ban and demanded 40% pay rise Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) picketed oil refineries - petrol couldn't reach stations and heating oil couldn't reach schools, hospitals, or homes - exacerbated by longest, coldest winter since 1947

Question 42

winter of discontent - public sector strike

Answer 42

Jan 79: public sector unions tried to ensure their members got the same pay rises as employees in the private sector Royal College of Nursing demanded 25% wage increase public sector unions lost control of their members as members declared strike action in vital services - hospital patients had to use London Underground to get to hospital appointments - mountains of rubbish in city centres as refuse collectors went on strike strikes gradually decreases as strikers either got their pay increases or decided to return to work anyway

Question 43

what was the shift in public attitudes by the end of the 70s?

Answer 43

dissatisfaction about the power of the unions - 1969: 60% of people had positive views of the unions - 1979: 20% 1979: Thatcher was elected and promised to reduce union power