Government Involvement in Industrial Relations

Abstract

The economic and industrial relations policies of the various political parties and pressure groups have their roots in the history of the British industrial revolution. Until 1824 it was illegal for workers even to combine for collective action against their employers. Then, after half a century of development of trade unions, picketing became legal in 1871 but until 1906 it was largely ineffective because the employer could sue a trade union for any loss or damage he suffered as a result of a strike.