Originally published in 1970 this book was written by a successful trade union leader. It describes the changes which took place in the environment in which trade unions have to function; the vast modern corporations, with their highly professional management and often with an international base making them almost immune to pressure in any one country; the technological revolution; the direct involvement of government in industrial relations, prices and incomes policy and the international pressures which impel government intervention.
1. Introduction 2. Changes in Economic Structure 3. Trade Union Structure 4. The Power and Constitution of the TUC 5. Strategy for the Future.
Biography
Will Paynter was General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1959 to 1969.
Review of the original edition of British Trade Unions:
‘…an intelligently argued analysis…It is likely to be taken seriously by those in the trade union movement as it does not stem from the pen of an outsider but from one of Labour’s elder statesmen whose left-wing political credentials are above question.’ Malcolm Warner, Government and Opposition, Vol 6 No. 2.
