ABSTRACT
The fate of the royal dockyards since 1945 has reflected the complexity of political, economic and social change in Britain during these years. The other British dockyards concentrated, in the immediate post-war years, on decommissioning and a programme of repair and maintenance. A growing unease with the ability of Whitleyism generally to deal responsively with many of the demands for pay increases and to act as an effective voice for many sections of the workforce in the dockyards was becoming apparent by the late 1960s. The apparent strength of trade unionism, once so entrenched through the Whitley system, has arguably been exposed, principally by a series of governments ideologically committed to undermining the role of unions as anything other than friendly societies. In effect, the trade union movement had much to defend amid the challenges posed by the Thatcher governments, and protection of the management structures of the royal dockyards was only one small aspect of the larger scene.
