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The Politics of the New Working Class

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Trade Unions and Politics

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Abstract

Chapter 6 examines, first, the replacement throughout the industrial world of the ‘old’ working class based on traditional manufacturing by a ‘new’ non-manual working class. To what extent is this new working class different in its political aspirations, ideology and behaviour? Second, the chapter considers the political consequences of the public sector’s growth. Public sector unions were central in the politicisation of industrial relations and the reaction against union ‘power’. Finally, change in the political economy in the 1970s gave an impetus to exclude, marginalise or neutralise union political influence. Since then unions have been seeking a modus vivendi in an unsympathetic environment as a base for resurgence of influence. What form has this taken? Will it be successful? How will the unions be managed in the 1990s?

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Notes and References

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  1. Andrew J. Taylor
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© 1989 Andrew Taylor

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Taylor, A.J. (1989). The Politics of the New Working Class. In: Trade Unions and Politics. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20135-8_6

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