ABSTRACT
The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) is the largest of the private sector unions recruiting predominantly new middle-class labour. The Association believed that managers were in a unique position and deserved special treatment by the employer. The Association's strident opposition to incomes policy has been regarded as a sign of its left-wing leanings, although, as has been argued, the motivation behind the opposition stems from a very conservative philosophy. The British Institute of Management (BIM) was established in 1948 with public funds. Its aims were to take the lead in promoting research into management problems, to co-operate in the development of training and educational schemes, and to undertake widespread propaganda concerning good management practice. The BIM's restriction of its activities to national lobbying and its refusal to organise managers at company level independently from and against their employers has not meant that managers have gone unrepresented.
