The Wales TUC, 1974-2004: Devolution and Industrial Politics

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The Wales TUC is the national institution representing the organised workers of Wales. Joe England seeks to explain and assess its achievements over the past thirty years of dramatic change: the rundown of the coal and steel industries, the decline in manufacturing jobs, the growth of white-collar employment and unions, the Thatcher and Major years of high unemployment and industrial law reform, and the increasing numbers of low-paid part-time workers, most of them women. Throughout the period the Wales TUC has negotiated with a succession of Secretaries of State of varying persuasions, consistently promoting the case for investment in jobs and fair treatment for workers. A leading campaigner for a Welsh Assembly it now has to adjust to the demands of that body whilst seeking to halt the decline in trade union membership and promote partnership with industry. The result is a book that is relevant not only to the study of recent Welsh political and industrial history and to an understanding of pressure group politics, but also to labour history and industrial relations.

Reviews

' ... very good - well written and interesting. It brought it all back.' - John Monks, General Secretary of the TUC 1993-2003 'Much more than just a history of the Wales TUC, this is the story of industrial and social change out of which grew the new politics of devolution. A fast-moving and enjoyable read, covering thirty years that have defined modern Wales.' - David Jenkins, Wales TUC General Secretary 1984-2004 '...interesting and important...Joe England has succeeded in writing a history that engages with what were and continue to be important issues for the WTUC... an engrossing and fascinating story...' New Welsh Review '...a good story and well told...' Industrial Relations Journal

Author Bio

Joe England was formerly Warden and Chief Executive of Coleg Harlech. He is the author, with John Rear, of Chinese Labour under British Rule (1975, OUP) and Industrial Relations and Law in Hong Kong (1981, 1999, OUP), and has written widely on the labour movement in south Wales and Hong Kong.