Trade Unions' Part in Britain's War Effort
| Author | J.V. Radcliffe |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271624222400119 |
| Date | 01 November 1942 |
| Published date | 01 November 1942 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
117
Trade
Unions’
Part
in
Britain’s
War
Effort
By
J.
V.
RADCLIFFE
W HEN
Parliament
and
the
people
of
Britain
in
the
early
months
of
this
year
became
seriously
concerned
at
the
failure
to
reach
maximum
produc-
tion
in
the
war
effort,
the
first
Minister
of
Production,
Lord
Beaverbrook,
ap-
pointed
a
committee
of
inquiry.
The
chairman
of
this
committee
was
Sir
Walter
Citrine,
general
secretary
of
the
Trades
Union
Congress
and
of
its
ex-
ecutive,
the
General
Council,
which
is
the
permanent
central
authority
of
the
unions.
There
is
only
one
trade
union
center
in
Britain,
and
every
union
of
importance
is
affiliated
with
it.
Sir
Walter
Citrine’s
appointment
had
general
approval.
He
was
selected
for
his
personal
ability
as
well
as
for
the
wide
and
detailed
knowledge
of
indus-
trial
conditions
and
requirements
that
he
had
acquired
in
his
official
position
in
trade
unionism.
He
had
been
a
mem-
ber
of
the
little-used
Central
Joint
Ad-
visory
Committee
to
the
Production
Executive
of
the
Cabinet,
and
there
he
and
his
fellow
trade
unionists
had
taken
the
initiative
in
calling
for
examination
of
the
machinery
of
production
with
the
purpose
of
making
material
improve-
ments.
It
is
a
remarkable
fact
that,
whereas
the
trade
unions
have
a
single
compre-
hensive
organization
for
the
whole
field
of
industry,
the
employers
have
not.
The
British
Employers’
Confederation
matches
the
trade
union
organization
in
the
field
of
industrial
relations,
and
it
is
through
the
confederation
that
Brit-
ish
employers
have
been
represented
in
the
International
Labor
Organization.
Indeed,
the
confederation
might
be
de-
scribed
as
originally
a
defense
associa-
tion
of
unitary
employers’
organizations
to
meet
the
trade
unions
on
an
equally
broad
ground
in
the
sphere
of
wage
and
social
policy
and
of
legislative
enact-
ment
concerning
conditions,
health,
and
welfare
in
industry.
UNIONS
IN
GOOD
STRATEGIC
POSITION
The
organization
of
the
employers
for
economic
and
commercial
objects
is
the
Federation
of
British
Industries.
As
a
consequence
the
unions
have
been
in
a
better
strategic
position
both
for
survey-
ing
the
industrial
field
and
the
war
ef-
fort
in
industry
and
for
contributing
to
the
discussion
of
ways
and
means
of
adding
to
output.
The
deficiencies
in
the
organization
of
the
employers
have
been
but
partially
made
good
by
indi-
vidual
advocacy
of
efficiency
and
the
formation
of
ad
hoc
groups
and
associa-
tions.
In
the
fall
of
1939
the
General
Coun-
cil
approached
Neville
Chamberlain,
then
Prime
Minister,
with
a
request,
which
was
substantially
a
claim,
to
be
consulted
in
all
matters
concerning
working-class
interests.
The
claim
was
not
challenged;
but
there
may
be
a ’side
difference
between
the
admission
of
a
principle
and
its
consistent
application.
This
the
trade
unions
found
at
first,
not
because
of
any
deliberate
intention
to
evade
the
Prime
Minister’s
undertaking,
but
rather
because
working-class
inter-
ests
penetrate
almost
all
branches
of
government
administration,
and
few
Government
Departments
understood
the
technique
of
relations
with
the
Trades
Union
Congress.
The
unions
interpreted
the
undertak-
ing
as
an
assurance
of
consultation
on
all
aspects
of
domestic
policy,
and
this
is
how
it
has turned
out.
The
method
of
consultation
has
been
by
advisory
or
consultative
committees,
and
a
network
of
committees
now
extends
throughout
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