ABSTRACT
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) concentrated primarily on two issues: monetarism to combat high inflation and trade union reform. The rise of the trade union movement from the mid-1800s was consolidated by legislation in granting it privileges in 1871 and 1875, and in particular the 1906 Trade Disputes Act. After winning the 1970 election the Conservatives attempted to deal with the issue in one piece of legislation, the 1971 Industrial Relations Act. The 1970s strikes energized the Conservative Party. Cecil Parkinson later wrote that the coal mining industry in particular 'was given a privileged position and it abused the privilege'. The miners' strike was not the end of industrial unrest in Britain. The demoralization of the trades unions had a severe impact on certain areas of the country and was one of the key reasons many in Britain took a visceral dislike to both the prime minister and her administration.
