ABSTRACT
Collective bargaining has long been regarded as the principal activity, indeed the raison d’êtreof trade unions in Britain and elsewhere. The traditional system of bargaining over a narrow range of substantive issues at industry level assumed that all other employment rules in the workplace would be determined unilaterally by management with perhaps a limited degree of joint consultation. Strikes should not normally be interpreted as a breakdown in collective bargaining, nor do they necessarily indicate procedural weaknesses. The Donovan Commission, observed that overtime bans were as frequent as strikes and that both threats to strike and working to rule were hardly less common. The pattern of strikes over non-pay issues such as manning levels, discipline, union recognition and redundancy can also be explained primarily in terms of bargaining structures. Strikes will occur as long as employers and trade unionists are free to negotiate terms and conditions of employment.
