ABSTRACT
Broad structural, agency and ideational explanations are placed at the centre of understanding and explaining trade union decision-making. In the transition from a peak to low trade union density and collective bargaining coverage environment, the attitudes towards political action have correspondingly changed. An assumption that trade union coordination would be more difficult to attain in the Social Contract (1974–79), in contrast with the NMW (1998) and ERA (1999), is problematic, as the chapter discusses. Nonetheless, a core argument is presented which contends trade union coordination and ideological convergence is increasingly important in a liberal market economy. The transition to informality due to absent and weak coordination mechanisms in the Labour Party’s structures and the wider economy profoundly shaped legislative outcomes. In this context, strategic choice was central to the channel, mechanisms and process used for policy influence; the degree of coordination and the approach adopted by trade union leaders (collective, group and individual). Accordingly, the chapter presents a new analytical framework for capturing trade union policy influence during periods of Labour Party governance in the post-1970 period.
