...was indeed a factor which led to the miners’ strike in 1984 but not necessarily the biggest one. It is relevant to state that the Thatcher Government was concerned over the general power that the unions held and had taken action to curb union powers with the introduction of the Employment Act 1982. Source 1 highlights the fact that the strike was the culmination of a long conflict between the Conservative Party and the mineworkers union. The National Union of Minors (NUM) was the strongest and most powerful union and it was widely accepted that it had been responsible for bringing down the Edward Heath Conservative Government following the minors’ strike of 1973-74. In 1972, the NUM led by Arthur Scargill had put forward a joint bid to gain wage increase and to highlight the increasing number of pit closures that threatened its members livelihood. In order to succeed Scargill had used minors from across the country to bring the movement of coal to a standstill. Heath believed that the government would survive the strike longer than the miners. He cut electricity which led to ordinary people being without light and heating for long periods. Heath held an election as to who ran the country, the miners or the government. The answer of the electorate was not what he expected and the Conservatives lost power with the mood of the public showing some sympathy towards the unions. It might be considered that this provided a motive for Thatcher to take on the NUM and Arthur Scargill...
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...prime cause of the miners' strike in 1984 was the Conservative government's determination to reduce trade union power? - (40 - pg. 142 M. Lynch) On the 6th of March 1984, the National Coal Board announced that, in order to reduce government subsidies to the coal industry, twenty coal pits were to be closed. Six days later, Arthur Scargill, the leader of the NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) announced that the regional strikes that were already occurring across Yorkshire, were to be made nationwide. This exorbitant reaction was felt necessary, when taking into account that tens of thousands of jobs were to be lost. Whole communities thrived and relied on coal in northern England, southern Wales, and parts of Scotland. These communities were under threat. What followed onwards was a twelve month mass strike by the miners and their union, with the Conservative government led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, already prepared, by stockpiling coal and coke. Regardless, the UK still suffered mass disruption in power. Many were effected. The 1980's was the first generation in the UK where almost every British household had a television. The miners' strike was broadcasted live, and within it, showed the police brutality, the miners' violence, and the chaos that it begat. The footage showed two forces fighting each other, similar to the two forces in politics; Arthur Scargill of the NUM, against Ian McGregaor (Head of the National Coal Board) and Margaret Thatcher. Two very stubborn...
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...agree with the view that the prime cause of the miners’ strike in 1984 was the conservative governments determination to reduce trade union power? The fact that the Conservative government wanted to reduce trade union power was indeed a factor which led to the miners’ strike in 1984 but not necessarily the biggest one. It is relevant to state that the Thatcher Government was concerned over the general power that the unions held and had taken action to curb union powers with the introduction of the Employment Act 1982. Source 1 highlights the fact that the strike was the culmination of a long conflict between the Conservative Party and the mineworkers union. The National Union of Minors (NUM) was the strongest and most powerful union and it was widely accepted that it had been responsible for bringing down the Edward Heath Conservative Government following the minors’ strike of 1973-74. In 1972, the NUM led by Arthur Scargill had put forward a joint bid to gain wage increase and to highlight the increasing number of pit closures that threatened its members livelihood. In order to succeed Scargill had used minors from across the country to bring the movement of coal to a standstill. Heath believed that the government would survive the strike longer than the miners. He cut electricity which led to ordinary people being without light and heating for long periods. Heath held an election as to who ran the country, the miners or the government. The answer of the electorate was...
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...influential and successful people that changed Britain’s political views for the better and had the greatest impact on modern Britain is Margaret Thatcher. Born in October 1925 at Grantham, Thatcher came from a humble background but was soon to become one of the most remarkable politicians the likes of Britain has never seen. The first and most important impact Margaret Thatcher had on modern Britain was her astonishing and strong leadership. Her transformative governance did not only change the course of Britain but also Europe. She contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall which started a major transformation of central and eastern European economies. Thatcher’s own belief in her skills and goals helped her gain the title of the first (and only) female Prime Minister in which many admired and still do today. Another huge contribution Margaret Thatcher had on modern Britain was how she turned the economy around because of her many valuable ideas. Margaret Thatcher was instrumental in putting a stop to the power of the trade unions. Millions of days a year were being lost through strike action and this was extremely harmful to the British economy. By the end of her leadership these days were down to a fraction of what they had been. Mr Scargill, an influential trade leader, has been used to calling a strike by a mere show of hands but Mrs Thatcher put a stop to this and firm regulations were put in place. She used the press to do this. Her policies regarding the trade unions were...
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...1951-64 * The growth of the economy and rising living standards * Social tension: 1950s unrest; race riots, violence, criminality (Kray twins) and hooliganism (mods and rockers); selection and the diverse nature of secondary education (11+); changes in attitudes to class (into 60s) * Class system is well cut End of consensus 1964-75 * The impact on the economy of government interventions, 1964-1973 * The oil-price crisis of 1973 and the end of the ‘long post-war boom’ * The impact on communities of industrial disputes; the significance of the Miners’ strike 1973; the impact of the 3 day week, 1974; and the birth of environmentalism (cars, industrialisation, nuclear disarmament) Thatcher 1975-90 * The social impact of Thatcherism, including privatisations and the sale of council houses (makes a larger divide between the poor and working class) * The significance of the Miners’ strike 1984-85, on industrial relations; the emergence of extra-parliamentary opposition (change in society’s attitudes) Rise of New Labour 1990-2007 * Social issues and population change; the extent to which Britain had become an integrated and multicultural society by 2007 – yet still division within the community, still today but has changed * Understanding the meaning of: * Assimilation * Accommodation * Integration * Multi-ethnic * Multi-cultural * Multi-racial Analyse the ways in which British society remained the...
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...Assess the reasons why Thatchers economic policies were controversial Thatchers economic policies throughout her premiership change the post war consensus completely and some of her most controversial economic policies included privatisation, poll tax, the Big Bang and the switch from Keynesian economics to monetarism. Her tough control of trade unions was another controversial issue that Thatcher made an economic policy because the power of trade unions could destroy any recovery she was trying to make. Thatcher believed that government spending had led to excessive taxation, inflation and borrowing and she wanted a free market economy. Howe reduced income tax by 3% and raised VAT from 8% to 15% which reduced inflation from 22% in 1980 to 4.5% in 1983. This was controversial because it moved away from the post-war economic consensus of full employment, stable prices and Keynesian economics. Monetarism increased the consumer culture and a generation of voter’s who’s goals were purely materialistic. In the 1981 budget Alan Walters increased taxes during the worst recession in 50 years which received criticism from both the Labour and Conservative parties. However in later years the monetarist policies have since been credited with the sustained economic growth of the 90’s but at the time it was still a very controversial policy because it helped shaped the culture of consumerism and unemployment was not tackled. Privatisation started in 1981 and 82 by selling shared...
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...otherwise have been the case. The oil crises of the 1970s heralded the onset of long-term (youth and adult) unemployment and the decline of the domestic manufacturing sector. The overall downsizing and restructuring trend that followed was particularly noticeable in the manufacturing sector of the economy: a large proportion of operations that were traditionally carried out “in-house” were either contracted out or exported to areas of the world that offered substantially lower labour and/or running costs (Matlay, 2001). Throughout the 1979-1997 period, general and specific support aimed at start-ups as well as established small firms were boosted by the “free market” economic policies pursued by the Conservative Governments led by Margaret Thatcher and John Major (Matlay, 1997a) Membership of the EU inevitably meant accepting some restructuring of the UK economy, in accordance with European comparative advantages. This is certainly true for industrial production, with the...
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...Thatcherism was the name given to the type of policies that were put in place, by the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The policies primarily involved the idea monetarism, privatization, and strong law and order. Thatcherism put emphasis on the government controlling the amount of money that was in circulation in Britain, so that inflation was kept at a steady level and so it was not a hindrance to economic growth. Moreover, it also involved getting the public sector opened up, so that the private sector could get involved in it. This was done in order to once again stimulate economic growth and create jobs, as private firms run more efficiently than public ones, which allows them to employ more people and so there is more money being spent in the economy. Lastly, Thatcher also put strong emphasis on strict law and order. She believed better law enforcement would therefore create a stronger country. However, when David Cameron came to power, unlike many previous leaders, he was quick to question many of the key ideas of Thatcherism; but it has been widely debated that although he was quick to dismiss them, these ideas of Thatcherism may still be present in the current conservative party. In terms of economic policies, there still seems to be an air of Thatcherism within David Cameron’s Conservative Party. The fact that Cameron has centred his economic policy around massively reducing public spending, and his wish to see the state hand over certain responsibilities to...
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...Has the Conservative Party abandoned ‘Thatcherism’? Thatcherism was the name given to the type of policies that were put in place, by the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The policies primarily involved the idea monetarism, privatization, and strong law and order. Thatcherism put emphasis on the government controlling the amount of money that was in circulation in Britain, so that inflation was kept at a steady level and so it was not a hindrance to economic growth. Moreover, it also involved getting the public sector opened up, so that the private sector could get involved in it. This was done in order to once again stimulate economic growth and create jobs, as private firms run more efficiently than public ones, which allows them to employ more people and so there is more money being spent in the economy. Lastly, Thatcher also put strong emphasis on strict law and order. She believed better law enforcement would therefore create a stronger country. However, when David Cameron came to power, unlike many previous leaders, he was quick to question many of the key ideas of Thatcherism; but it has been widely debated that although he was quick to dismiss them, these ideas of Thatcherism may still be present in the current conservative party. In terms of economic policies, there still seems to be an air of Thatcherism within David Cameron’s Conservative Party. The fact that Cameron has centred his economic policy around massively reducing public spending, and his wish to...
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...brit“No government was able to stem Britain’s economic decline from 1951-1990” Introduction: Whilst there is a blatant division of interpretations of Britain’s economic performances from 1951 to 1990, of those claiming that Britain suffered gradual and miserable decline until the heroine and saviour Mrs Thatcher came to the helm, or of those arguing that a genuine post-war boom existed throughout a large proportion of the era and Thatcher meddled unnecessarily and indeed harmfully, it is more accurate to take a balanced and differential approach. There is clear evidence of British economic decline from 1951-1990, but to claim that it was utter decline is really a pessimistic front. Reasons to disagree: - Period from 1951 to 1973 saw an “age of affluence”, with a genuine post-war boom; Britain’s economy grew around 40% during 1951 to 1964 - Living standards rose steadily until 1973, with low unemployment rates; with a wider sense that Britain was becoming more prosperous and equal. Harold Macmillan captured this in 1957, when he declared that “Britain had never had it so good”; it also highlighted increased consumerism due to greater accessibility to consumer goods throughout the era - Arguments of “relative decline” are unfair and misleading; nations such as Japan and Germany were utterly destroyed after WW2, so it only makes sense for their nations to advance rapidly as they could start from scratch - Arguments of a lack of policy and initiative are misleading. Macmillan...
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...Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher was a prominent politician, public figure, feminist and advocator during the later twentieth century in Great Britain. She was the first female Prime Minister and changed the way politics were seen by introducing a new right-wing way of thinking; Thatcherism. Thatcherism is based off of laissez-faire economics, and a very popular political term during the twentieth century, individual self-determination. She is still quite the controversial figure to this day. There are those who say she saved Britain economically, and then there are her critics who say she destroyed the livelihoods of millions. Despite her doubters, it is evident the positive impact Margaret Thatcher had on not only the political crowd,...
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...O'Neill,[1] was seeking to have the union accept terms that they considered unacceptable: flexible working, a no-strike clause, the adoption of new technology and the end of the closed shop. Despite the widespread use of the offset litho printing process elsewhere, the Murdoch papers in common with the rest of Fleet Street continued to be produced by the hot-metal and labour-intensive Linotype method, rather than being composed electronically. Eddie Shah's Messenger group, in a long-running and bitter dispute at Warrington had benefited from the Thatcher government's trade union legislation to allow employers to de-recognise unions, enabling the company to use an alternative workforce and new technology in newspaper production. Journalists could input copy directly, reducing the need for labour in the print halls, cutting costs and improving production time dramatically. Although individual journalists (many of whom were members of the National Union of Journalists) worked behind the wire, the NUJ opposed the move to Wapping and urged their members not to go without proper negotiations. Many members refused to go and became known during the dispute as "refuseniks". The NUJ was represented alongside the Print unions in the negotiations with News International which eventually led to a monetary settlement. Start of dispute[edit] Immediately after the strike was announced on 24 January 1986, dismissal notices were served on all those taking part in the industrial action...
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...Is Thatcherism Best Described as a Revolt Against the Post-war Consensus? There is great disagreement over the value of the achievements of the Conservative governments under Mrs Thatcher, but whether it is seen as successful or a failure, most acknowledge that the advent of ‘Thatcherism’ was a major turning point in the recent political, social and economic history of Britain. The 1979 general election was in many ways the most significant since the end of the war, as it signalled the comprehensive end of what became known as the Post-war Consensus, changing fundamentally the way in which the country was governed. To understand whether Thatcherism was a reaction against this consensus we have to first understand what the consensus was - and why it ended. The consensus emerged in the difficult but optimistic years following the war. It came at least partly from a desire to create the "New Jerusalem", creating social and economic progress from victory. It was in a sense a reaction against the ‘consensus’ that went before, that of a generally non-interventionist government, which was discredited by the memory of the 1930s. The consensus, inaugurated by the policies of the 1945-51 Labour government, marked a great increase in the role of government in peacetime economy and society, something which remained generally unchallenged for decades by successive governments. This does not mean that there was no disagreement between parties and nothing was at stake at elections, as...
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...Table of Contents Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7 Unit 8 Unit 9 Unit 10 Unit 11 Unit 12 Unit 13 Unit 14 Unit 15 Unit 16 Unit 17 Unit 18 Unit 19 Human Resource Management: Present & Future Information Technology for Human Resources Equal Employment Opportunity Job Analysis and Job Design Human Resource Planning Recruiting Employees Selecting Employees Orientation and Employee Training Management and Organizational Development Career Development Job Satisfaction and Employee Motivation Conflict management Performance Appraisal Systems Organizational Reward System Base Wage and Salary Systems Incentive Pay Systems Employee Benefits Labor Unions & Employee Relations Employee Safety and Health Syllabus Activities Glossary of Terms 1 6 7 9 12 14 16 19 22 25 28 32 35 39 42 47 49 52 55 57 62 79 Unit 1 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: PRESENT & FUTURE Human resource management Activities designed to provide for and coordinate the human resources of an organization. Human resource functions. Tasks and managers perform (e.g., determining the organization’s human resource needs, recruiting, selecting, developing, counseling, rewarding employees, acting as liaison with unions and government organizations, and handing other matters of employee well – being). • Most managers are periodically involved to some extend in each of the major human resource functions. At one time or another, most of managers are involved in some aspect of employee recruiting, selecting, training...
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...r Contents This revision guide is intended to guide you to the key essentials necessary for answering questions on Unit 3. You shouldn’t use at it a replacement for your class notes or your own revision notes, but as a way of supplementing them and ensuring you have a firm awareness of major events, individuals and ideas. 1. The seeds of conflict 2. Emergence of Cold War, 1944-53 3. The ‘Thaw’ & ‘Peaceful Co-existence’ 4. The arms impact of the arms race 5. Sin-Soviet relations 6. Détente 7. End of Cold War Reminder of the structure of Unit 3 • Unit 3 = 25% of total marks • Written exam: 2 hours • Answer ONE question from Section A (30 marks), and ONE from Section B (40 marks) - choice of 2 questions in both sections • Section A – discuss an historical issue • Section B – use source material & knowledge to discuss an historical event Section A – themes to explore in your revision: 1. The post-Stalin thaw and the bid for peaceful coexistence in 1950s: a) USSR: Khrushchev b) USA: the responses of Dulles, Eisenhower and Kennedy. • the continuation of the Cold War in the 1950s following the retirement of Truman & death of Stalin, despite the bid for improved relations on the part of the USSR in the form of unilateral cuts in the size of the Red Army and withdrawal from Austria and Finland. • the...
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