First Published in 2017. Volume 6 of the directory contains the Trade Unions of Building and Construction, Agriculture, Fishing, Chemicals, Wood and Woodworking, Transport, Engineering and Metal Working, Government, Civil and Public Service, Energy and Extraction in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Shipbuilding.
This is the final volume in the Historical Directory of Trade Unions series. It provides a comprehensive list of all British unions that operated within the building, construction, chemical, dock, maritime, engineering, government, mining, quarry, and shipbuilding industries.
What do unions do and why do they do it? Do they seek to maximise profit for their members, or to obtain better working conditions that benefit society as a whole? Derek H. Aldcroft and Michael J. Oliver here provide one of the first sustained studies of the effects of union activities in terms of economic performance and the impact on the business world. From the rise of the British mass trade union movement in the 1870s to the present day, the book examines the main trends in union development and structure, and the core strategies unions have used to achieve their objectives: the use of strikes, work rules and restrictive practices; workers’ attitudes to innovation; the wage bargaining process. Important assessments are made of the influence of these strategies on investment, innovation, economic growth, and the cost of structure and competitiveness of the UK economy.
First published in 1939. This book provides a balanced picture of Trade Unionism as it was in the 1930s, both in general and in each of the principal industries and services. The study opens with a brief outline of Trade Union history, before examining Trade Unions in various industries, including mining, transport, and the postal service. British Trade Unionism To-Day will be of great interest to students and scholars of labour and political history.
