A HISTORY OF BRITISH INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, 1939–1979: Industrial Relations in a Declining Economy - Hardcover

`. . . provides the reader with an interesting range of studies from broad discussions of labour management and institutional development to more specific case studies which include such key example as the automobile industry.' -- Joseph Melling, University of Exeter, UK `The book is a good introduction to a topic still, as Wrigley himself says, barely out of its infancy, with extensive bibliographies and many virtues. Moreover, if it helps to stimulate a genuine textbook and a more multi-faceted treatment of industrial relations than is possible at the moment, it will have been well worth while.' -- Stephen Caunce, Business History `This book and particularly the chapters by Gospel, Gilbert and Whiteside on management, the geography of strikes, and the "social wage" lays a good basis for the further study of these wider issues.' -- Rod Lowe, The Economic Journal

This authoritative history offers a major assessment of British industrial relations between the outbreak of the Second World War and the advent of Margaret Thatcher's government in 1979. Written by a group of leading specialists, this outstanding book examines the role of the government, the unions and employers, the influence of social welfare considerations on industrial relations policies and the patterns of strikes. Case studies focus on industrial relations in the docks, the motor manufacturing industry and road haulage between 1945 and 1979. A History of British Industrial Relations, 1939-1979 is both an up-to-date survey and a substantial addition to the literature which includes several chapters based upon new research. As well as revealing the complexities of British industrial relations in these four decades, the book also includes consideration of the extent to which, if at all, problems of industrial relations adversely affected the performance of the British economy.