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Industrial democracy in Britain : theory, practice and limitations

University of British Columbia

The object of this dissertation is to argue a case for industrial democracy as a corollary to political democracy; to examine the historical development towards worker participation in the management of industry as conceived by the British Labour Movement, and to assess the capabilities and limitations of these achievements. Chapter One provides an initial theoretical discussion on the problem of what industrial democracy may be taken to mean by examining the views of various theorists on the topic. The chapter also offers a set of defining characteristics of industrial democracy, in particular the separation of ownership from control and the sole right to participate in the control of industry as being derived from the function of labour. Chapter Two charts the ascendancy of British Trade Unionism and the development of collective bargaining as the single mechanism of worker representation to the exclusion of strategies for industrial democracy. The tentative demands for some form of industrial democracy from the 1960's are explained in terms of worsening economic conditions, Britain's forthcoming entry into the E.E.C, and a: radicalization of the Labour Movement. These factors, it is argued, provided the main stimulus for the Bullock inquiry on industrial democracy. Chapter Three deals in some detail with the Royal Commission on Industrial Democracy, 1977. The main proposals put before the Committee are outlined together with the supporting evidence, and discussion is given to the Committee's rationale behind the proposals it eventually recommended. Reaction to the publication is discussed with regard to the Labour Government, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trade Union Movement, the media and academics. Chapter Four is concerned with the weaknesses of the Bullock Report and with the limitations on any future development of industrial democracy in Britain. Two "formative" Labour Governments (1929-31 and 1945-51) received particular attention and their inevitable failure is explained through a critical focus on Fabian ideology. It is argued that Fabianism has prevented a coherent and committed Labour Party policy on industrial democracy in the past and will continue to act against any possibility of future legislation on the subject. Similar treatment is given to the nature of trade unions whose insistence on the preservation of collective bargaining also works against the development of a unified labour demand for full industrial democracy. The final concluding chapter offers some analysis of moves towards workers' control in other countries. It concludes, however, that while Fabianism and collective bargaining remain sacred cows of the British Labour Movement the potentiality for real industrial democracy in Britain remains weak.

Thesis/Dissertation

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0095297

Master of Arts - MA

Arts, Faculty of; Political Science, Department of

UBCV

DSpace