ABSTRACT
Having entered Office in 1951 committees to free collective bargaining, the Conservative leadership became increasingly concerned about the extent to which full employment served to increase the trade unions strength in negotiating higher pay. Thus did the Party's 1951 election campaign emphasise that a Conservative Government would retain and strengthen the British practice under which wages and conditions are negotiated by representatives of employers and employed, a commitment which was reiterated on numerous occasions. Ministry of Labour was commonly assumed that if the economic facts of life were carefully and consistently explained to the trade unions, they would respond by practising more responsible collective bargaining. Meanwhile, in spite of increasing concern among Ministers and in the City over apparently inflationary wage increases, the Cabinets dual commitment to voluntarism and free collective bargaining ensured that the option of introducing compulsory arbitration to resolve disputes over pay claims was also firmly rejected.
