Trade Unions: The Discipline of Law?

Adrian Williamson
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Adrian Williamson: Trinity Hall

Chapter 6 in Conservative Economic Policymaking and the Birth of Thatcherism, 1964–1979, 2015, pp 160-190 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract By 1979, Lord Denning was nearing the end of a distinguished judicial career. He had been instrumental in spreading the ‘discipline of law’ into numerous areas of British life. However, he complained that ‘the law can do nothing’ in the industrial field, for ‘Parliament has granted [the unions] immunity … Parliament must think … that the law should have nothing to do with trade disputes’.1 1979 also saw the death of Otto Kahn-Freund. It is impossible to discuss this story without acknowledging his role. An émigré from Nazi Germany, he had articulated in 1954 the central principle of voluntarism: that, in Britain, ‘the law and the legal profession have less to do with labour relations’ than in any other comparable country.2 Kahn-Freund emphasised the ‘specific national heritage’ that had created this (non-) system. Taft-Hartley might be all very well for Americans, but ‘such legislation does not work here’.3 1954 was, of course, during the high watermark of the post-war settlement. The need for the state to work in tandem with the unions was a key part of that settlement.

Keywords: Monetary Policy; Trade Union; Collective Bargaining; Industrial Relation; Shop Floor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:psitcp:978-1-137-46026-4_6

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137460264_6

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