1st Edition

Labour Unionism in the Financial Services Sector Fighting for Rights and Representation

By Gregor Gall Copyright 2008
    222 Pages
    by Routledge

    222 Pages
    by Routledge

    In recent years, there has been an acute crisis of worker representation in the finance sector in Britain. Labour union and staff association membership and density has fallen, collective organisation has experienced dislocation and disorganisation and worker self-confidence has been sapped. Prior to this, there was a sense of an identifiable trajectory towards greater 'unionateness' by labour unions and staff associations, with the sector moving towards growing self-identification of employees as 'workers' and the use of traditional tools of collective bargaining such as threats of strikes and strikes themselves. This study documents and explains these changes in wider historical terms, providing invaluable reading for those interested in the future of both the labour movement and the finance sector.

    Contents: Preface; Labour unionism in the financial services sector: struggling for rights and representation; Historical genesis and development of labour unionism and staff associations; Development of labour union presence and organisation, 1970-1989; Weathering storms: stimuli, opportunities and challenges, 1990-1999; Blown asunder: dissolution, disorganisation and dislocation of collective organisation, 2000-2007; Putting historical processes into perspective and prospects for the future; References; Index.

    Biography

    Dr Gregor Gall is based in the Business School at the University of Hertfordshire, UK.