Description
Book SynopsisDuring the winter months of 2002-03 there was played out the most significant and bitter industrial dispute in the UK since the miners' strike of 1984-85. There then followed a further eighteen months of protracted negotiations, overshadowed by the Government's preparations for invasion of Iraq, constant threats to ban strikes, and the passing of draconian anti-union laws. This book tells the story of the firefighters' dispute and shines a beacon on the way the New Labour Government was prepared to go extraordinary lengths - though it was not always successful - to thwart the ambitions of a relatively small and dedicated group of public servants, who were seeking pay justice after years of decline in their relative pay, despite significant increases in productivity and skill levels.
Trade Review'This book successfully captures the spirit and essence of the FBU's Pay Campaign and the avoidable confrontation which stemmed directly from the Government's actions to block the search for a negotiated settlement. This New Labour ministers did firstly by preventing the employers from making realistic offers, then by setting up the unnecessary Bain inquiry, and later on by directly intervening to block a framework settlement agreed between the union and the employers' side. I hope that all in the labour movement will learn the lessons of this dispute. I believe that this book makes a valuable contribution to our collective understanding of an extraordinary campaign conducted by a group of the UK's finest public servants, and the obstacles they were faced with in their struggle for pay justice.' - Andy Gilchrist, FBU General Secretary 'This book is likely to take its place among the classic literature of industrial relations. The authors have succeeded in combining objectivity with a clear sense of commitment to the necessity for collective bargaining as a basis for industrial relations.' Jim Mortimer, Socialist Campaign Group News July 2005 An excellent account ... The great strength of United They Stood is that it exposes the motivations of the government and thereby the wider relevance of the strike for all trade unionists - indeed, for everyone who wishes to understand the nature of New Labour and its strategic failings. John Foster, Morning Star, July 2005
