Why did the General Strike of 1926 take place?
Why did the General Strike of 1926 take place? A general strike is when a group of workers from different industries all stop work in support of each other to win certain demands. This would bring the country to a halt and make it very hard for the Government to resist giving in to demands. The general strike of 1926 was mainly for the miners, they had low pay and long hours. They wanted better conditions and equal rights for all. In this essay I shall assess the events leading up to the strike and have a look at all the short and long term causes of the strike. The coal industry before the war was booming. It was used for nearly everything and during the war the demand for coal increased even more. Because coal production was so important to the war effort the Government took over the ownership of the mines and ran them instead of the private owners. Improvements were made in conditions and pay for most miners. When the Government nationalised the mining industry miners hoped it would continue after the war. But in 1921 all mines were retuned to private owners. After the war the coal mining industry went into decline. This was because, oil was used as a fuel (especially in shipping), electricity became available, more efficient boilers were made, other countries began to mine coal and British pits had been 'over mined' during the war and owners were reluctant to spend
Trade Unions
Trade Unions Trade Unions - a future? "A trade union is an independent self-regulating organization of workers created to protect and advance the interests of its members through collective action." Over recent years, it has become fashionable in many quarters to write off Britain's trade unions, to label them as obsolete institutions out of touch with new realities and incapable of change. In today's world of individual employment contracts, performance-related pay schemes, Human Resource and Total Quality Management and all the other ingredients of the so-called 'new' workplace, trade unions are often regarded as anachronistic obstacles preventing success of the market economy. As collective voluntary organizations that represent employees in the workplace, it is argued; trade unions no longer serve a useful purpose. The main priority of this essay is to represent the arguments for and against the relevance of trade unions in today's working society. Furthermore, I shall comment on the future of the trade union movement, based upon the facts and findings that helped construct this text. Trade unions exist because an individual worker has very little power to influence decisions that are made about his or her job. The greatest advantage in joining a trade union is because, by doing so, individuals possess more chance of having a voice and influence in their place of work. By
The Waterfront Crisis
Table Of Contents Sr. No Title Pages Prologue - Introduction 2 2 The Buildup - Background 4 3 D - Day-The crisis 6 4 The Heavyweights -Stakeholders 6 5 Roots Of The Crisis- Situational Factors 8 6 Implications - Effects 8 7 Synopsis - Conclusions 9 8 References 0 Prologue Workplace Relations Act The Waterfront Crisis was a conflict between the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and Patrick Stevedores, which captured national media attention during 1998 and directly involved tens of thousands of Australians through mass picket lines and community rallies in support of the union. It captured the attention of the world as workers all round the world waited in anxiety and impatience for a result that had far reaching implications. For many Australians, it was as though Berlin Wall of the waterfront had fallen. Patrick Stevedores in a late night surge, dismissed about 1400 of its workers registered with the MUA. In a bitter and constitutional altercation, the MUA and Patrick Stevedores fought, before the result was announced 5 weeks later. John Howard had won a very closely fought election beating incumbent Keating to come to office in March 1996, appealing to those sections of the working class and middle class deeply disenchanted with the Labor government and the cuts it had imposed in the standard of living. (WSWS.org 1998). He promised to improve
The difficulties experienced by the coal industry between 1914 and 1925.
The difficulties experienced by the coal industry between 1914 and 1925 There were many difficulties for the coal industry between 1914 and 1925 which I will be discussing in this essay. Industries in Britain at this time were privately owned, mostly by English people. In April 1914 the 'big three' Unions met together to see how they could strengthen their claims in the future. The Miners Federation of the MFGB represented over 1 million men working in 2500 pits, the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) and the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU). A Trade Union is a organisation which gives protection for members, fighting for better pay and compensations and protecting workers rights. The Unions altogether represented one and a half million Trade Union members, and were certainly not going to make life easy for the industry owners over the next couple of years. The alliance of these unions meant that they could now have 'sympathetic strikes'. This meant that if one group had a strike then other industries would strike in sympathy even though the problem going on has nothing to do with them. An example of this is in 1984 when a miners strike threatened the steel workers job. The unions were very important for workers in the coal industry because conditions were very poor as they were working for long hours underground with nothing to protect them from things falling from
Examine the changes that the continuing development of human resource management has brought about in the organisation with the emergence of trade unions in comparison to the effect from industrial relations.
Abstract: In this topic, we are going to examine the changes that the continuing development of human resource management has brought about in the organisation with the emergence of trade unions in comparison to the effect from industrial relations. The unitarist approach of the human resource management and the pluralist approach by the industrial relations will be highlighted in our study in the survival of trade unions in the organisation. HRM refers to the policies and practices one needs to carry with the direct relationship of people-to-people in accordance with the strategic issues affecting the organization in order to fulfill the management position in the organization including recruiting, screening, training, rewarding, and appraising. HRM is important for all managers in such that that they do not hire the wrong person for the job. (Raymond, J. Stone, pg ? ) Industrial relations is about the behavior and interaction of people at work. It is concerned with how individuals, group organizations and institutions make decision that shape the employment relationship between employers and employees.Industrial relations may be approached from a number of perspectives. Industrial relations draws on a number of established academic disciplines such as economics, sociology, psychology, law, political science and history. ( Plowman, D. pg 8) The origins and development of
The Coalfield, 1919 - 39
Section A The Coalfield, 1919 - 39 The inter-war period was a devastating time for the Welsh coal industry. One of the primary reasons for this was foreign competition, something that had, until then, been a minor factor. Previously Wales had enjoyed something close to a monopoly in the coal industry, and now it was seriously challenged from abroad. Coal was now being produced in America, Belgium and Poland in large quantities, and (due to their superior efficiency) it was cheaper than Welsh coal. These foreign mines were partly mechanised, so they could produce coal faster and easier then the comparatively primitive Welsh mines. They also had the advantage of a more stable industry. Poor working conditions and continually declining wages led to long strikes in 1921 and 1926, during which Wales lost much of its business to its overseas rivals. Between 1920 and 21 Britain's overall coal exports had fallen by two thirds, and, as a result, collieries began to close rapidly. Even as competition in the coal industry was becoming fiercer, global demand was in decline. The 1930s saw a considerable drop in world trade. Fewer ships were required, and many of those that were still necessary had begun to make use of oil as opposed to coal. The result of all this was dreadful unemployment and consequently a decline in Welsh population (something that had not occurred for over one
Growth and Decline in Size and Density of Australian Trade Unionism.
GROWTH AND DECLINE IN SIZE AND DENSITY OF AUSTRALIAN TRADE UNIONISM Australian trade unionism has seen a general growth in the size and density prior to the 1980s, which from that decade onwards has continually produced a negative membership growth till the present day. Australia started as a convict settlement along with free settlers owning slaves on their property, which set the trend of employment relationship between the employer and employee. The employer had complete power and advantage over the employee. To obtain equality, employees formed trade unions. Thus, up until the 1980s, Australian trade unions have been laying out the basic foundations for workplace employment. Due to recent changes in the Australian economic environment, the trade unions have failed to adjust to these changes and have suffered consequently through its decline in union membership. On 26th January 1788 Australia was officially settled. The majority of the settlers were convicts who were used as workers to develop Australia in which their struggles were a lead up to the birth of unionism in Australia. Some notable instances included were: 1791 - a convicts strike demanding daily issue of rations; 1804 - Castle Hill Rebellion where convicts protested on conditions and rations (ACTU website 387). A clear relationship developed amongst the community whereby the employer had complete authority
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COURSEWORK SPRING 2005 Assess whether the decline in Union membership has helped to improve industrial harmony. From 1979, the British labour market has experienced an era of de-unionisation that is still occurring at present. In 1979, 53% of workers were union members (Machin, 2000) and by 2004 only 27% of all workers were affiliated to a union. In the 10 year period between 1991 and 2001, there has been a fall in membership of 15% (Labour Market Trends, 2001) TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIPS, BRITAIN, 1989-2003 SOURCE: OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS The historically low figures seem to indicate continually improving industrial relations in the United Kingdom but these figures are possibly misleading. Is the sharp decline in union membership and strikes truly attributed to more peaceful industrial relations of recent years, or instead, might less positive alternative factors such as unions being outdated, a lack of union organisation, employer opposition or restrictive barriers formed by contemporary laws ruin the notion that striking is the traditional tool used to gauge poor workplace relations? Withdrawing one's labour from the market is no longer the ultimate demonstration of individual discontent. The association of a union decline with fewer strike occurrences is possibly not indicative of more peaceful attitudes at work. In
Is the strike no longer necessary?
Is the strike no longer necessary? 'A strike has been defined as a temporary stoppage of work by a group of employees in order to express a grievance or enforce a demand.' (Hyman, 1984) Being the most overt and demonstrative form of industrial action, the strike is arguably the most misunderstood feature of industrial relations because of the critical way in which it is depicted in the media. Strikes, discouraged by UK legislation, arise for many reasons, some of which include disputes about pay, conditions of work, union recognition, demarcation disputes, health and safety, discipline and job security. In recent years there has been a general tendency for strikes to be defensive; they seek to defend existing wages, which is evident in the ongoing fire-fighters strike, and also existing working conditions, which is evident in the recent train strikes. The biggest single cause of strikes has traditionally been disputes over wages; the famous Pilkington strike of 1970 provides an excellent example of this. However, many strikes are also held because of fears about job certainties. This was reflected in the long and bitter Miners Strike in 1984, where workers were to lose jobs in the coal industry. Strikes tend to be viewed by union members as a last resort; disputes need not lead to a strike if there are alternative methods of resolving differences. They have a
To what extent was the end of Fleet Street the result of newspaper industry industrial relations?
To what extent was the end of Fleet Street the result of newspaper industry industrial relations? Fleet Street in London had been the dominant centre of the British newspaper industry since its origins in the fifteenth century. But towards the end of the twentieth century, Fleet Street gradually ceased to be the centre of British journalism. This was partly due to newspaper industry industrial relations, although this was not the only factor. There were also a range of economic, political and technological factors, which all contributed to Fleet Street's decline. Over the years, Fleet Street acquired a reputation for poor labour relations. As Cleverly argues, Fleet Street was the scene of the "most bizarre relationship between management and unions."1 There was a history of industrial disputes over everything from wage levels to the editorial views of the newspapers. Newspaper industry industrial relations played a large part in the decline of Fleet Street as the dominant British newspaper production centre. This was many reasons; the bizarre industrial relationship led newspaper owners to seek for a way to distance themselves from the unions and the problems they caused. The National Graphic Association (NGA) and Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT) unions had power over the newspaper management, which proprietors sought to end. The unions had power over