Working for the Union: British Trade Union Officers (Cambridge Studies in Management) [Hardcover]

John Kelly (Author), Edmund Heery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 1994 | ISBN-10: 052138320X | ISBN-13: 978-0521383202

This book is a study of the relationship between full-time union officials and shop stewards across the whole of British industry in 1986-87. It is the first major study of union officials for twenty years, and one of the most detailed studies of workplace collective bargaining and union organization following the recession of the early 1980s. In the wake of recession, union decline and industrial restructuring, Britain is said by some commentators to be entering "a new industrial relations." This book provides a unique body of evidence that throws new light on this claim, and casts serious doubt on its validity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"John Kelley and Edmund Heery's excellent study of full-time trade union officers, Working for the Union, goes a long way....It has a clear theoretical project, it is methodologically sophisticated, and it fills a major gap in our understanding of British trade unions. It is certainly the most important book on British trade union organization....[it] provides an unparalleled picture of the work of trade union officers. But the implications of this fine study go well beyond improving our understanding of that crucial stratum of union organization, to shed light on some of the central issues in contemporary British industrial relations." Industrial and Labor Relations Review

"This book is destined to become a classic of the industrial relations literature...this book belongs on the shelf of every serious industrial relations scholar." Industrial Relations

Book Description

This book is a study of the relationship between full-time union officials and shop stewards across the whole of British industry (public and private, manufacturing and services) in 1986 and 1987. It is the first major study of union officials for 20 years, and one of the most detailed studies of workplace collective bargaining and union organization following the recession of the early 1980s. In the wake of recession, union decline, industrial restructuring, anti-union legislation, and changes in union policies (towards a "new realism"), Britain is said by some commentators to be entering "a new industrial relations". This book provides a unique body of evidence that throws new light on this claim, and casts serious doubt on its validity. It combines survey, interview, questionnnaire and observation data and this overcomes the well known limitations of both the large-scale surveys and the individual case studies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (July 29, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052138320X
• ISBN-13: 978-0521383202
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,390,943 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)