First published in 1939. This book provides a balanced picture of Trade Unionism as it was in the 1930s, both in general and in each of the principal industries and services. The study opens with a brief outline of Trade Union history, before examining Trade Unions in various industries, including mining, transport, and the postal service. British Trade Unionism To-Day will be of great interest to students and scholars of labour and political history.

From small and largely ineffectual beginnings the British trade union movement gradually emerged into a force to be reckoned with--a powerful organization that, at its peak, could make or break the operation of British politics and industrial relations. A History of British Trade Unionism sets out to describe, discuss and, furthermore, evaluate the major developments in the evolution of the trade union movement and provides an essential and up-to-date summary of the chief debates that have long divided historians. It focuses upon both the institutional nature of trade union growth and the more rank-and-file shopfloor experience which has been the subject of discussion in recent years. In this fascinating book Keith Laybourn examines the problems of trade union growth in the early nineteenth century, the emergence of the so-called 'new model' and 'new unionism' of the late nineteenth century, the link with the Labour Party, the shop stewards' movement since the First World War, inter-war developments including the General Strike in 1926, the success of British trade unionism between the Second World War and the late 1960s and, finally, the more recent decline of British trade unionism particularly in the face of restrictions imposed by the Thatcher governments. A History of British Trade Unionism gives a full and discerning account of the trade union movement from 1770 to the present day and clears an invaluable 'pathway through the forest of detailed research...to enable the general, rather than specialist, reader to appreciate the major debates which have convulsed the study of British trade union history...'.

British Trade Unions Today is concerned with the trade union movement in Britain, how it operates, and how it strives constantly to achieve its objectives. This text examines why the British people hold trade union membership cards, why they do it, how they do it, what they expect from their unions, and how the trade union movement affects the citizens of Britain. This book consists of nine chapters and begins by discussing the history of trade unions in Britain, with emphasis on how various forms of organization came about and how they are now. The next chapter focuses on the legal battles faced by British unions to fight for their right of formal existence and compares the legal framework for industrial relations in the United Kingdom with that in the United States. The reader is then introduced to the societal goals of trade unions and what they have achieved so far, particularly with respect to improving wages and employment conditions. The chapters that follow consider the rationale for the unions' establishment of a national center, the election and selection of union officers, and union communications and publicity. This book also examines how trade unions conduct collective bargaining, along with their finances, and concludes by assessing the future of the unions in the context of the social environment in which they operate. This reference material will be useful to trade union leaders and members as well as companies and policymakers who deal with unions.

The current debate about industrial relations cannot be understood without a knowledge of trade-union history. Dr Pelling's book, which has for several years been a standard work on the subject, has again been revised and updated to take account of recent research and to explain the course of events up to the Thatcher years, the miner's strike and the Employment Acts. The growth of white-collar unionism and the extension of women's rights are dealt with in the concluding chapters.

In this, the first full-length treatment of the child in Spanish cinema, Sarah Wright explores the ways that the cinematic child comes to represent 'prosthetic memory'. The central theme of the child and the monster is used to examine the relationship of the self to the past, and to cinema. Concentrating on films from the 1950s to the present day, the book explores religious films, musicals, 'art-house horror', science-fiction, social realism and fantasy. It includes reference to Erice's The Spirit of The Beehive, del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, Mañas's El Bola and the Marisol films. The book also draws on a century of filmmaking in Spain and intersects with recent revelations concerning the horrors of the Spanish past. The child is a potent motif for the loss of historical memory and for its recuperation through cinema. This book is suitable for scholars and undergraduates working in the areas of Spanish cinema, Spanish cultural studies and cinema studies.