This article describes and appraises the difficulties experienced by British unions since 1979. During that period, union membership has declined over 20% and three successive Conservative governments have enacted labor legislation opposed by unions. The author views the government's strongly...

For up to twenty years after the Second World War both in Britain and the US boasted `mature' industrial relations systems supported by their governments and, allowing for some differences in degree, by most employers. Since the early 1980s, these systems have been critically weakened. This...