The Scope of Thatcherism and Trade-union Power

Abstract

By the start of the second Thatcher term, the three pillars of trade-union power in 1945–79 had already been effectively demolished. The corporate state which involved trade unions directly in the Keynesian-inspired reflation plus incomes policy approach had been dismantled. Trade-union legal immunities had been significantly reduced by the 1980 and 1982 Employment Acts, which tackled the sensitive question of picketing and the closed shop. And Mrs Thatcher’s determination to seek industrial victories in public-sector disputes had removed the greatest source of trade-union power — the almost inevitable government climbdown couched in the language of negotiation, compromise and consensus.