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This thesis has sought to achieve four related objectives in its analysis of the worker co-operative movement from the 1820s until the present. Firstly, we have sought to re-establish the importance of moral precepts in determining the agenda of the political economy of co-operation. We have drawn attention to the importance of Christian values and theology in providing the inspiration and an ideological framework for much of the movement's development. Secondly, we have sought to provide a critique of the theory and practice that has characterised worker co-operative development in the past and in the present. We have sought explanations for past failures and for the continuing marginal existence of the worker co-operative movement. Thirdly, we have sought to establish the importance of the analysis of the English Labour Economists of the 1820/30s for the provision of an alternative strategy for worker co-operative development. We show that their ideas were largely ignored by their contemporary co-operators and after Marx it has been generally assumed that their contribution to socialist thought had been surpassed. Finally, we develop the ideas of John Francis Bray in the light of our contemporary situation to provide a reworked and up to date statement of his approach to the redemption of labour. Our approach differs from Bray's in its recognition of the futility of utilising small savings to buy up capital. We advocate the use of small savings to buy labour. We demonstrate that this approach is both easier to execute and more effective in its results given modern labour market conditions and the established strength of organised labour.

This thesis examines the life-history of an institutional complex, namely the emergence, functioning and breakdown of joint central regulation in Sweden. Institutionalisation is divided into four stages and comparisons are made with Denmark, Norway and Britain at each stage. The first stage was the formation of the labour movement between l880 and l898. Union organisation developed from a local craft unionism to a class-wide federation. The class-wide character of this federation is explained in terms of the influence of socialism and the movement away from craft unionism, which are in turn related to Sweden's industrialisation and democratisation. The second stage was the employer counter-attack during the first decade of the twentieth century. An escalatory pattern of conflict developed in the engineering industry and then at federal level, the existence of a class-wide union federation stimulating the class-wide organisation of the employers. Out of this conflict came an embryonic joint central regulation, though the defeat of the 1909 general strike led to a reversion to decentralised industrial relations. The third stage saw the establishment of joint central regulation with the negotiation of the 1938 Basic Agreement. While inherited organisational structures were a necessary condition, Social Democrat government precipitated the 1938 compromise but only after attempts to further develop state regulation had failed. Although an organised opposition had developed within labour, the main resistance to joint central regulation came from a group of employers. In the fourth, postwar, stage joint central regulation culminated in the institutionalising of central wage negotiations. The expansion of the public sector, economic growth and intensified political conflict then undermined joint central regulation, though it also had certain self-undermining features. In the 1970's industrial conflict and legislative regulation increased, as the corporatist integration of industrial relations broke down.

The Dissertation compares characteristics, attitudes and perceptions of samples of young persons (Y.P.'S) in training for skilled work (designated Apprentices) and of TOPS Trainees, matched as far as possible in occupational goals. Attitudes and practices of Employers, Teachers, Instructors, Trade Union Officials and Employers' Organisations concerning recruitment and training for skills, and to related issues, are surveyed using data from questionnaires and interviews. "Success scores" are calculated for each Apprentice, and variables affecting the score are examined for significance. The Coventry Apprentice resembles earlier examples and is more motivated, ambitious, self-confident and educated than the average Trainee, whose competence is poorly valued by employers except in non-manual skills. Selection strategies prior to apprenticeship are unsophisticated. The smaller firm is characteristic of Coventry but large firms provide most training, typically job-specific and limited to basic qualifications. Employers are conservative, cautious, insufficiently knowledgeable about Trainees and less sympathetic to Y.P.'s than local Union leadership, which is attitudinally pragmatic, non-interventionist and "traditional". Further Education Teachers are efficient, demand-responsive and esteemed, but are less confident and sensitive than many Instructors. The market achieves equilibrium mainly between availability on the Supply side and short-term considerations based on profitability on the Demand side. Success in Apprenticeship is measurable using relatively objective criteria of Performance on and off the job, Job History and Character/Work Orientation, comprising scores for Ambition, Motivation and Job-satisfaction, or by the subjective criterion of Potential. These criteria can be used singly or together, preferably combining the objective and subjective. Sex, age and year of recruitment have little Influence on Success, unlike systematic training, character traits and the degree of support from the employer. Size of firm has more influence on attitudes, strategies and results than has sectoral activity. Relatively small changes in recruitment and training methods would make the Coventry skilled labour market Immediately more effective, but reform depends on overcoming deeply entrenched opinions.

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The thesis traces the development of the political protest strike as a new tactic within British trade union practice. This tactic evolved in response to government interference in the internal affairs of trade unions. The main thrust of the work concerns the study of the processes of mobilisation and demobilisation within the formal and informal machinery of union decision making and government. The dissertation contains the first attempt to record systematically response rates to these protests nationally and regionally, and over time. A statistical series has been created which has made it possible to test for relationships between political strike action, general industrial militancy and changing levels of unemployment. The thesis can be regarded as a contribution to the literature on trade union government structure and internal politics, and to that on industrial conflict. It reveals the importance of ideological factions which operate within unions, and suggests that conflict between these factions is the most important source of division in the internal politics of trade unionism. It highlights the importance of activists and lines of argumentation in the process of mobilisation/demobilisation. The thesis focused specifically on the AUEW(E) and on the Clydeside and West ~idland regions to allow for comparative study and to test for the regional impact of factional organisation on response rates

This thesis is an examination of the nature of trade union modernisation policies in the UK based on research largely carried out in the north-east of England. The aim of the research was to identify and assess the ways in which unions - given the substantial diminution of their collective social power in the 1980s and 1990s - have looked to modernise themselves. The research, which is based on semi-structured interviews with union full-time officers, shop stewards and lay representatives, and a questionnaire survey of union members in a local authority, indicates that union modernisation policies - in so far as they are predicated upon an assumption that the revival of the unions is contingent upon their ability to service members as individuals from the centre - are somewhat misplaced. Specifically, the thesis shows, first, that unions have been impelled to adopt a service ethos largely because of their increasing inability to offer collective benefits; second, that the efficacy of more individualised service provision and representation is, however, often dependent upon already-existing strong collective organisation; third, that an alternative approach to modernisation - whereby unions take up some of the issues -flagged up by the new social movements - is fraught with obstacles; and fourth, that 'these modernisation policies - to the extent that they involve a centralisation of power within union hierarchies - might weaken trade unionism where it exists. Although the thesis concludes by questioning the extent to which any kind of modernisation policy can have more than a marginal effect given the hostility of the environment in which the unions have recently been operating, it is argued nonetheless that if they are to survive and thrive in the future unions would be advised to look at how they can best fortify their collective structures.

New work environments bring together physical and social aspects of organisations in ways that create changes unfamiliar to many practitioners, and which are relatively unexplored theoretically and empirically by researchers. This thesis is concerned with increasing understanding of specific new work environments; those piloted within Scottish Enterprise National; and from this, drawing some general inferences on the nature of these environments. Literature from the multiple strands of organisation theory, management and organisation, and built environment literatures, were brought together in this thesis in order to guide the investigation. A single case study approach was adopted, with the researcher embedded in the organisation for the duration of the research. Primary and secondary data was reviewed in an historical manner. A descriptive and analytical form of case study write up was used in explanation and theory building of the thesis. It was established that, to increase understanding of new work environments a, conceptual level of investigation is essential. Elements emerge at this level which are not otherwise present. There is a complex mix of tangible and intangible elements that require careful consideration, to understand how the physical aspects in new work environments can contribute to organisation performance.

The theoretical and policy implications of incorporating labour standards to international trade agreements (LSITA) are studied. The paradigms of the "new international labour studies" and of the international division of labour serve as the main references for the construction of a multidisciplinary theoretical approach for the study of LSITA, devised on four premises: (a) an international horizon of the labour process, patterns of employment and labour relations; (b) the role of trade unions and international labour solidarity; (c) the inadequacy of neoclassical economics and free trade theory; and (d) link of LSITA to a broader development perspective. Arguments from organisations and individuals involved in the debate are investigated and categorised. The global experience of LSITA is reviewed at four levels. (A) unilateral: child and prison labour. (B) Bilateral: the EEC proposal in the Lome II negotiations and the EU and US GSP programmes. (C) Multilateral: attempts in the GATT/WTO and (D) Regional: the Social Charter of the EU and the labour side agreement of NAFTA, under which the case studies of General Electric, Honeywell, Sony and u.S. Sprint are evaluated. For each level an assessment is carried out regarding: (1) the effects on the industrial relations processes in the countries involved; (2) the 2 3 general case for LSITA; and (3) the case for strengthening existing provisions and extending social clauses to a multilateral level. A core of labour standards, based on ILO Conventions is put forward as a minimum IIpackage." It is suggested that mul tilateral approaches, provided they meet certain transparency and accountability criteria, should take precedence over bilateral and unilateral. A list of essential pre-requirements on transparency and accountabili ty is put forward. The principle of the "mostfavoured nation" in terms of labour standards is recommended for introduction at at a multilateral level.

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