Abstract
During the last two or three years, trade unions have become increasingly aware of the need to decide how to respond to the new microelectronics-based technology. The attitude of unions is obviously a major factor determining the ability of British industry to adapt to the new technology — subject to the willingness of industry to invest in the first place. From the union point of view, the security and quality of their members’ working lives is at stake, as is their own role as protectors of their members’ interests in their jobs. The TUC has paid considerable attention to the new technology. A special consultative conference was held in May 1979 to discuss the issues involved. An interim report on Employment and Technology was considered at this conference, and a modified version was presented to the annual conference later in the year.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
TUC, Employment and Technology (London: TUC, 1979).
For discussion of collective bargaining as a form of industrial democracy see M. Poole, ‘Industrial Democracy: a Comparative Analysis’, Industrial Relations, vol. 18, no. 3 (1979) pp. 262–72.
Also D. Guest, ‘A Framework for Participation’, in D. Guest and K. Knight (eds), Putting Participation into Practice (Farnborough, Hants: Gower Press, 1979).
For an analysis of the issues involved in arguments about the control of work see E. Rose, ‘Work Control in Industrial Society’, Industrial Relations Journal, vol. 7, no. 3 (1976) pp. 20–30.
APEX, Office Technology: The Trade Union Response (London: APEX, 1979) p. 13.
TGWU, Micro-electronics: New Technology: Old Problems: New Opportunities (London: TGWU, 1978) p. 3.
APEX, Automation and the Office Worker (London: APEX, 1980) p. 3.
The impact of new technology on products and processes, and hence on jobs, has been discussed in a number of places, including the two APEX publications. One of the most detailed analyses is contained in the report of the Department of Employment Manpower Study Group: J. Sleigh, B. Boatwright, P. Irwin and R. Stanyon, The Manpower Implications of Micro-electronic Technology (London: HMSO, 1979).
An explanation of the evolution of custom and practice in the work-place is given by William Brown in Piecework Bargaining (London: Heinemann, 1973).
For a classic examination of the characteristics of work and market situations which affect the willingness of workers to join unions, see D. Lockwood, The Blackcoated Worker (London: Allen & Unwin, 1958).
See also G. Bain, D. Coates and V. Ellis, Social Stratification and Trade Unionism (London: Heinemann, 1973).
R. Hyman, The Workers’ Union (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971) includes an interesting account of the factors which encouraged the establishment of union organisation among the semi-skilled in manufacturing, especially pp. 38–45.
R. Price and G. S. Bain, ‘Union Growth Re-visited: 1948–1974 in perspective’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. XIV (1976) pp. 345–7.
Employment and Technology, pp. 25–32; Office Technology: The Trade Union Response, pp. 11–24; and ASTMS, Technological Change and Collective Bargaining, ASTMS Discussion Document (London, 1979) pp. 2–4.
Central Policy Review Staff, ‘Social and Employment Implications of Microelectronics’, mimeo (London: CPRS, 1978); APEX response to CPRS Report ‘The Social and Employment Implications of Microelectronics’, mimeo (London: APEX, 1979); Technological Change and Collective Bargaining, pp. 4–5.
The ‘pessimistic’ view is treated in depth in C. Jenkins and B. Sherman, The Collapse of Work (London: Eyre-Methuen, 1979).
APEX, Automation and The Office Worker (London: APEX, 1980).
ASTMS, ‘Technology Agreements’, mimeo (London: ASTMS, 1979).
Banking and Insurance Finance Union, Report of the Microelectronics Committee, for the 1980 Annual Conference (Esher, Surrey, 1980).
Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunication and Plumbing Union, New Technology Guidelines (London, 1980).
National Union of General and Municipal Workers (GMWU), New Technology Report to Congress (London, 1980).
NUJ, Journalists and New Technology (London: NUJ, 1980).
TGWU, Microelectronics: New Technology; Old Problems; New Opportunities (London: TGWU, 1978).
The ‘Rules Approach’ to industrial relations, in which this distinction is of fundamental importance to the methodology, is discussed in J. F. B. Goodman et al., Rule-Making and Industrial Peace (London: Croom Helm, 1977) pp. 12–19.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1983 Derek L. Bosworth
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
James, B. (1983). The Trade Union Response to New Technology. In: Bosworth, D.L. (eds) The Employment Consequences of Technological Change. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-06089-4_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-06089-4_12
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-06091-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-06089-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance CollectionEconomics and Finance (R0)