Routledge Unions and Employment in a Market Economy: Strategy, Influence and Power in Contemporary Britain (Routledge Research in Employment Relations)

Due to the sharp declines in trade union density and collective bargaining coverage post-1979, the shift by trade unions towards political action has had significant implications for employment relations regulation in contemporary Britain. Yet, there remains insufficient discussion of the factors of influence affecting changes in the political action process from a historical and contemporary perspective. Unions and Employment in a Market Economy will evidence how trade unions were able to offset environmental constraints through a progressive focus on political action, despite diminished power in the Labour Party’s structures and the wider economy. The book presents four legislative events categorised as functional equivalents enacted in two different periods of Labour governance (1974-79 and 1997-2010). The selected events are the Social Contract (1974-79), National Minimum Wage (1998), Employment Relations Act (1999) and the Warwick Agreement (2004). The book’s findings lend credence to the proposition that in a liberal market economy there is a valuable dividend associated with trade union political exchange through the Labour Party. Review "Ever since the trades unions were defeated in the 1980s, alienated work, unbearable inequality and disappearing quality jobs have become the order of the day. Andrew Brady's new book focuses on the unfashionable but crucial role of trades unions as a break on this never-ending decline and as a source of hope for the future." –Yanis Varoufakis "Andrew Brady has produced an important and original new study of the changing ways through which British trade unions have exercised national political influence through the Labour Party over the past fifty years, which draws on detailed interviews with leading Labour and trade union figures. The ‘insider views’ of the Union-Party relationships during the New Labour period, in particular, are a major contribution to our political and historical understanding. The book is very timely, as Labour enters a new political phase and union influence over policy appears to be growing." ―Peter Ackers - Visiting Professor in the History of Industrial Relations, Loughborough University "Andrew Brady has the skills of the academic, the guile of a street politician, and the negotiating noose of the trade unionist. He needed all three of these traits in writing this book of unravelling the almost schizophrenic relationship between the New Labour and the UK Trade Union Leaderships. He has succeeded brilliantly." –Sir Ian McCartney - former Labour Government Minster and Chairman of the Labour Party "Using a unique dataset drawn from interviews with leading players from the trade unions and Labour, Andrew Brady’s book allows us to rethink key events such as the struggle for the National Minimum Wage and the Employment Relations Act in new and insightful ways’."―Paul Thompson - Professor of Employment Studies, University of Stirling "The mass re-engagement of voters with the radical left in Britain has its roots in a political turn by trade unions in the early 21st century. Andrew Brady's timely book traces the change in strategy that has led to unions taking overt political action to represent their members, and to a wave of unionisation struggles by precarious workers. Brady's rigorous overview of these developments will stimulate debate among academics, HR professionals and the wider labour and trade union movement itself." –Paul Mason "In this important book, Brady uses a rich body of research findings to analyse the role of the main trade unions in the ‘social contract’ under the Labour governments of the 1970s, and the very different dynamics of their involvement with the Blair-Brown governments after 1997. His major contribution is to chart the micro-politics of Party-union relations, and to demonstrate how strategic interventions can shape outcomes, even in a difficult environment. Persuading major actors on both sides of the re