Unions and Economic Crisis

First published in 1984. This book represents a major study of union responses to the economic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Abjuring governmental or managerial outlooks, it argues that unions, as representatives of essential producer groups, would be central to the renegotiation of the economic world. The work also stresses the importance of situating union responses to the crisis within the socio-historical evolution of their political economies during the rise and decline of the post-war economic boom. The Social Democratic affiliation of unions in Britain, West Germany and Sweden make them particularly comparable. This title will be of interest to students of politics and economics.

Peter Gourevitch, Andrew Martin, George Ross, Stephen Bornstein, Andrei Markovits, Christopher Allen

Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1 Unions in a Declining British Economy: The Case of the British TUC; Part 1 Introduction Part 2 Union Strategy in the Postwar Settlement Union Designs for Postwar Britain Postwar Reformism The Postwar Settlement The Unions in the Postwar Political Economy The Emergence of Doubts Part 3 The Postwar Package Revised, Challenged and Reconsidered The Strategy as of 1964 The Strategy Fails The TUC Reconsiders Part 4 The Crisis Years The Initial Phase The Crisis Deepens The Contradictions of the Social Contract Strategy The Strategy Collapses The TUC and the Tories Part 5 Conclusion Statistical Tables Notes; 2 Trade Unions and the Economic Crisis: The West German Case; Part 1 Introduction Part 2 The Unions during Reconstruction and Wirtschaftswunder, 1945-66 The German Postwar Settlement The Wirtschaftswunder: West German Economic Policy, 1948-66 The German Unions during the Wirtschaftswunder, 1952-66 Part 3 The Unions between Grand Coalition and SPD Reforms, 1966-73 Crisis and Recovery: Economic Policy and Development, 1966-73 Cooperation and Mobilization: The Unions, 1966-73 Part 4 Slow Growth and Emergent Dilemmas Economic Trends and Policy, 1974-81 Union Responses Toward Strategic Reevaluation? Part 5 Conclusions Statistical Tables Notes; 3 Trade Unions in Sweden: Strategic Responses to Change and Crisis; Part 1 Introduction Part 2 The Shaping of the Swedish Model Establishment of the Swedish Model Adaptation to Inflationary Growth Part 3 The Erosion of the Swedish Model Prospective Problems and Potential Solutions Vulnerability in the State Arena: The Industrial Policy Response Vulnerability in the Market Arena: The Industrial Democracy Response Wages, Profits and Investment: Towards Collective Capital Formation Part 4 The End of the Swedish Model? The International Economic Crisis and its Impact on Sweden Wage Bargaining and the Economy in the New Political Context Continuing Crisis and Alternative Responses Part 5 Epilogue: The Logic of Union Economic Strategy in Sweden; Statistical Tables; Notes; Conclusion; Index