The International Library of Sociology INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES Founded by KARL MANNHEIM The International Library of Sociology ____ .~ ____ THE SOCIOLOGY OF WORK AND ORGANIZATION In 18 Volumes I Apprenticeship Liepmann II Industrial Disputes Eldridge III Industrial Injuries Insurance Young IV The Journey to Work Liepmann V The Lorry Driver Hollowell VI Military Organization and Society Andrzejewski VII Mobility in the Labour Market JdFY VIII Organization and Bureaucracy Mouzelis IX Planned Organizational Change J ones X Private Corporations and their Control - Part One LeY XI Private Corporations and their Control - Part Two LeY XII The Qualifying Associations Millerson XIII Recruitment to Skilled Trades Williams XIV Retail Trade Associations LeY xv The Shops of Britain LeY XVI Technological Growth and Social Change Hetzler XVII Work and Leisure Anderson XVIII Workers, Unions and the State Wootton INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES Essays in the Sociology of Industrial Relations by J. E. T. ELDRIDGE First published in 1968 by Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd Reprinted in 1998 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Printed and bound in Great Britain 0 1968 J. E. T. Eldridge All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The publishers have made every effort to contact authors/copyright holders of the works reprinted in The International Library of Sociology This has not been possible in every case, however, and we would welcome correspondence from those individuals/companies we have been unable to trace. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Industrial Disputes ISBN 0-415-17676-X The Sociology of Work and Organization: 18 Volumes ISBN 0-415-17829-O The International Library of Sociology: 274 Volumes ISBN O-415-17838-X Contents LIST OF TABLES page vI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN TEXT ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS X INTRODUCTION I I EXPLANATIONS OF STRIKES: A CRITICAL REVIEW 12 2 UNOFFICIAL STRIKES: SOME OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED (Co-Author: G. C. Cameron) 68 3 THE DEMARCATION DISPUTE IN THE SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY: A STUDY IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF CONFLICT 9’ 4 AN OFFICIAL DISPUTE IN THE CONSTRUCTIONAL ENGINEERING INDUSTRY (Co-Author G. Roberts) 126 J INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN THE NORTH EAST IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY IjI 6 REDUNDANCY CONFLICT IN AN ISOLATED STEEL COMMUNITY 206 APPENDIX A The Sociology of Work: Trends and Counter-trends 229 APPENDIX B An Example of a Demarcation Procedural and Apportionment Agreement 236 APPENDIX C Status in Steel: A Group Discussion 249 APPENDIX D The Shop Steward’s Role: A Comment on the North East of England 2J9 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 264 INDEX 269 v Tables I Membership involvement in Strike Activity Page 24 II Average Duration of Strikes 2J III Differences and Similarities in National Strike Patterns 1948-16 26 IV Patterns of Strike Activity and some Associated Factors 29 V General Patterns of Strike Propensities 36 VI Locational Characteristics Affecting Strike Proneness 37 VII Relative Propensity to Strike on Different Types of Issue x927-36 41 VIII Recorded Strikes in Marine Engineering, Shipbuilding and Ship Repair in North East x949-60 99 IX Unions involved in Recorded Demarcation Strikes in North East Marine Engineering, Shipbuilding and Ship Repair x949-60 101 X Length of Stoppage of Demarcation Strikes compared with all other Strikes in North East Marine En- gineering Ship Repair and Shipbuilding 1949-60 102 XI Numbers Directly involved in Demarcation Strikes compared with all other Strikes in North East Marine Engineering, Shipbuilding and Ship Repair I 949-60 103 XII U.K. output of merchant ships 1947-64 120 XIII Proportion of Wage Earners paid under systems of P.B.R. in Building and construction industries 19j3 to 19jj ‘37 XIV Some Effects of the Overtime ban in the Constructional Engineering Industry (January 195 5) ‘49 XV Iron and Steel Industry-North East Coast Area. Employment at the first week in October for the years I 949-6 I 1% XVI Plant Bargaining: A content analysis of IOO meetings A. Groups participating 170 B. Elements under discussion: their frequency and mutual combination 172 C. The presence of Trade Union Officials in Relation to Elements under Discussion I74 vi Tables XVII B.I.S.A.K.T.A. and the Settlement of Disputes : A. The Use made of Statutory and Ad Hoc Pro- cedures on the North East Coast 1945-61 192 B. A Classification of the issues leading to the use of Statutory and Ad Hoc Procedures on the North East Coast 1945-61 ‘93 XVIII A. Recorded Strikes in the North East Iron and Steel Industry I 949-6 I ‘97 B. Length of Stoppages in Recorded Iron and Steel Strikes on the North East Coast 1949-61 198 C. Numbers Directly Involved in Recorded Iron and Steel Strikes on the North East Coast 1949-61 I99 D. Unions Involved in Recorded Iron and Steel Strikes on the North East Coast 1949-61 201 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE TEXT A.E.U. Amalgamated Engineering Union A.S.E. Amalgamated Society of Engineers A.S.W. Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers A.U.B.T.W. Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers A.S.S.E.T. Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians B.1.S.A.K.T.A ,. British Iron, Steel and Kindred Trades Association B.J.I.R. British Journal of Industrial Relations B. J.S. British Journal oj Sociology B.M.C. British Motor Corporation B.M.S. Boilermakers Society C.A.W.U. Clerical and Administrative Union C.E.U. Constructional Engineering Union C.S.E.U. Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions D.A.T.A. Draughtsmen’s and Allied Technicians’ Associa- tion E.T.U. Electrical Trades Union I.D.T. Industrial Disputes Tribunal N.U.B. National Union of Blastfurnacemen N.U.G.M.W. National Union of General and Municipal Workers N.U.S.M.W. National Union of Sheet Metal Workers P.E.P. Political and Economic Planning P.B.R. Payment by Results P.T.U. Plumbing Trades Union S.R. Sociological Review T.G.W.U. Transport and General Workers Union T.U.C. Trade Union Congress U.P.A. United Pattern Makers Association ix Acknowledgements Ihe impetus to write this book came initially from involvement in an ndustrial relations research project sponsored by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and undertaken by the Business Research Unit at the University of Durham (1961-64). The focus then was upon the elucidation of points of friction existing between manage- nent, unions and men in three major North-East industries: engine- :ring, shipbuilding and steel. While these particular essays are written From a sociological perspective, I hope that they bear the marks of the stimulating inter-disciplinary discussions that took place in the course 3f the Durham research. I refer here particularly to economists Gordon Cameron, Alan Odber and Geoffrey Roberts and psycho- logist Charles Baker. Two of the essays in this volume (Chapters z and 4) are in fact joint ventures and I record here my thanks to Gordon Cameron and Geoffrey Roberts for permission to publish them. A number of academic colleagues have read and commented help- fully on these essays while they were still in manuscript form. They are Professors N. Elias, R. Fletcher and W. J. H. Sprott. To them I should ike to add the name of publisher Norman Franklin, not least for his .njunction to keep the text as jargon-free as possible. Other colleagues nave commented on particular essays in one or other of their several lrafts and I am glad to have this opportunity of thanking them. They are Alan Odber (Chapters 2 and 6), Professor John Rex (Chapter 3), Professor H. A. Turner (Chapter 4) and Professor T. Lupton (Chapter 5). It remains for me to thank the following publishers for permission to re-publish essays (in slightly altered form) from two learned journals : Basil Blackwell for permission to re-publish ‘Redundancy Conflict in In Isolated Steel Community’ from The Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 3, No. 3, October 1966. Routledge & Kegan Paul for permission to re-publish ‘Unofficial Strikes: some objections considered’, from the British Jownal of Sociology, Vol. XV, No. I, March 1964.