Trade Union collective identity, mobilisation and leadership – a study of the printworkers’ disputes of 1980 and 1983 Nigel Costley 1 2 University of the West of England Collective identity and strategic choice – a study of the printworkers’ disputes of 1980 and 1983 Nigel Costley A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of the West of England, Bristol for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Bristol Business School, University of the West of England 2021 3 Declaration I declare that this research thesis is my own, unaided work. It is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of the West of England, Bristol for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Nigel Costley Date 4 Copyright This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Acknowledgements Thanks to Professor Stephanie Tailby, Professor Sian Moore and Dr Mike Richardson for their continuous encouragement, support and constructive criticisms. 5 Abstract The National Graphical Association (NGA) typified the British model of craft unionism with substantial positional power and organisational strength. This study finds that it relied upon, and was reinforced by, the common occupational bonds that members identified with. It concludes that the value of collective identity warrants greater attention in the debate over union renewal alongside theories around mobilisation and organising (Kelly 2018), alliance-building and social movements (Holgate 2014). Sectionalism builds solidarity through the exclusion of others. Occupational identity is vulnerable to technological change. This model neglects institutional and ‘associational’ power, eschewing legal protections in favour of collective bargaining and ignoring alliance-building in favour of sovereign authority. The development of large conglomerate unions has placed membership unity over sectionalist solidarity but membership and its density in workplaces have fallen (Trade Union Statistics). This thesis concludes that the capacity for strategic choice by union leaders depends upon the union’s leverage with employers and its ability to mobilise collective action within and beyond the workplace. These rely on strong collective identity of workers as demonstrated by the NGA in its 1980 national printing campaign. The series of employment laws, launched in 1980, has constrained strategic options available to union leaders but the thesis argues that the technology and non-union labour rather than new laws were the critical factor in the NGA’s defeat in the 1983 Messenger dispute. The loss of positional power exposed the weakness of associational (or coalitional) power when the NGA looked to the TUC and union allies for aid. It argues that the forces that had made the union organisationally strong prevented it from taking alternative routes to survive or to transform itself in the face of fundamental technological change. Yet this should not lead union strategists from paying more attention to the value of sectional occupational identity in the mobilisation and organisation of workers. 6 Contents CHAPTER ONE Introduction 11 Union fortunes 15 The research project and my own experience 18 The Messenger experience 19 Research Questions 21 Thesis structure 21 CHAPTER TWO Union identity, power and strategic choice 26 Union purpose and effectiveness 27 Collective identity and union formation 32 Union power 34 Positional power, sectionalism and solidarity 36 Leadership and democracy as power resources 41 Leadership ideology and union values 48 Leadership and strategic choice 50 institutional and associational power 53 Chapter summary and conclusions 57 CHAPTER THREE Craft trade unionism and the printing industry 59 Family tree of the NGA 61 Industrial relations in printing 62 Apprenticeship entry 64 Bound by tradition – the development of craft unionism 66 The chapel and a community of workers 67 Welfare and control of the labour supply 71 Social capital unionism 74 The closed shop 75 The consequences of exclusive membership 79 Craft unionism and gender 81 Patriarchy at work 83 Strategic choice in craft unions 87 Strategy and associational power in printing 89 Technical change 91 Transformation of newspaper production 94 Amalgamation as a strategic option 96 7 Chapter summary 100 CHAPTER FOUR Politics and Law, the industrial relations background 102 Whose freedom? 103 Post-war industrial relations 105 Labour’s approach to industrial relations 118 The New-Right prepares a step-by-step approach 110 The TUC and the law 113 Trade union power resources 115 Chapter conclusion 118 CHAPTER FIVE Methodology 119 Research aims 119 Research approach and philosophical context 121 Cast studies 122 A qualitative approach 124 Researcher as research instrument 125 Interview methodology 127 documentation and archives 132 Trade union records 132 Minutes 134 Internal government documents 136 Conservative Party archives 138 Media accounts 138 Photographs and ephemera 139 Ethical issues 140 Chapter summary 141 CHAPTER SIX Case study – the 1980 NGA national dispute 142 A closing window of opportunity 143 Union response to the new laws 154 New employers in the industry 157 Chapter conclusion 159 CHAPTER SEVEN The Dynamics of the 1983 Stockport Messenger Dispute 162 Shah the independent 164 The dispute and the law 167 8 Union leadership and democracy in the dispute 174 The escalating picket 180 Sequestration 195 Role of the state and police 200 Incitement and intimidation 208 Chapter conclusions 211 CHAPTER EIGHT The 1983 Messenger dispute in photographs 214 CHAPTER NINE From positional to associational power 225 Media coverage 226 Associational power and the TUC 228 All-out strike summoned 232 End game for the union and the TUC 240 Chapter conclusions 245 CHAPTER TEN The aftermath of the Messenger dispute 247 The aftermath and reflections on the dispute 248 The impact on printing industrial relations 256 Time for Today 257 Wapping move 258 The impact on government trade union reform policy 263 Policing lessons 264 Chapter conclusions 266 CHAPTER ELEVEN Conclusions 268 Positional and organizational power 270 Capacity for strategic choice 272 Role of the state and police in industrial relations 276 Tensions in union decision-making 279 Leadership and rank-and-file tensions 280 Collective identity and sectionalism 281 Gender and sectionalism 282 Associational power and sectionalism 283 Contribution to wider debate 285 Conclusion 287 9 References 289 Appendix One Correspondence regarding NGA archives 307 Appendix Two Minutes of meetings 311 Appendix Three Conservative Party archives 315 Appendix Four Internal government documents 317 Appendix Five News coverage of Messenger dispute 322 Appendix Six Interviews 329 Appendix Seven A palette of mobilising, servicing and organising models 331 10 CHAPTER ONE Introduction Britain’s trade unions are among the oldest in the world. They have a long and complex history (Clegg 1985, Cole 1924, Flanders and Clegg 1954, Hutt, 1962, Hyman 1975, Webbs 1896), with a matrix of organisational models and attitudes towards relations with employers. Workers are mobilised into unions around a common cause and shared interest and the boundaries of their union membership are based on the occupations and sectors covered – the clue is in the title, trade union. The number of unions has declined through amalgamations1 a process that has placed broader membership unity ahead of occupational identity and with it, as the study will explore, more emphasis on political and associational power. The decades immediately after the Second World War witnessed fierce argument over trade union reform (Barrett, Rhodes and Beishon 1975, donovan 1968). It was a period in which unions, for good or bad, were at the centre of economic life and national politics and when union leaders were household names. Conservative governments led by Margaret Thatcher from 1979, however, launched a new offensive against union power (Dorey 1991, 1995). This coincided with wider developments in global capitalism, while the British governments’ economic and industrial relations policies profoundly influenced the direction of industry restructuring and societal change. The 1980s were marked by industrial unrest and high unemployment in which the powerful battalions of trade unionism were ultimately diminished and union membership fell. This study looks back at this turning-point in the fortunes of trade unions with a focus on the role of sectional collective identity as the basis for organisational strength. Much has been written about trade union decline, the causes and the possible options for renewal (Freeman and Pelletier 1990; Hyman 2007; Boxall and Haynes 1997; Frege 2003, 2004; Undy, Fosh, Morris, Smith and Martin 2011; Undy 2008; 1 TUC statistics 11 Metcalf 2005; Bryson, Ebbinghaus and Visser 2011). The debate has included the scope and capacity for unions to make strategic choices and the options available to them including models of mobilisation and identity. The capacity of unions to take and implement strategic decisions – and the choices they make – is influenced by the industrial, political and legal environment, the nature of the leadership and the democracy of each union (Hyman 2007). The legal framework covering organised labour has swung between restriction and reform, repression and regulation (donovan 1968, Wedderburn 1986, 1987, Fosh and LIttler, 1985). Trade unions have