ABSTRACT
Union leadership has become a new center of social and political power. At the same time the inner tensions of unionism place almost unsurmountable obstacles in the path of functioning and responsible union leadership. The union itself is completely dependent on its leadership however much the slogans of "democratic unionism" try to play down his role. The union leader's job is a political one: to oppose, control and limit the governmental power of the enterprise. The British union leader appears more "mature" largely because for a long time he was able to sidestep the problems of union responsibility. The only thing we can expect to result from the mere lapse of time is a leadership that is bureaucratic, colorless and without sharp corners. But these qualities of the well-behaved civil servant who knows how to stay out of trouble, are hardly all a union leader needs.
