Search results for ""Author Stephen Williams""

The facts of workplace stress are terrifying for businesses: in the average organisation ten percent of employees report very low levels of satisfaction with their jobs and three percent of turnover may be lost. Yet while stress may be endemic to business, it is not inevitable. Breaking through barriers of ignorance to promote happy and productive workforces, Steve Williams and Lesley Cooper provide a framework for building appropriate interventions along with a proactive template for dealing with stress before issues come to a head. Full of examples and workable solutions, this internationally-oriented book offers a wealth of sound advice and an essential stress debrief.

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This official history of NUPE covers its years of membership expansion, growing recognition and entry onto the national industrial and political stage. From a position of near obscurity in the 1920s, NUPE grew into one of the most important forces in the trade union movement in the 1970s, playing a key role in some of the major struggles of that decade and beyond. The authors throw new light on NUPE's relationship with the Labour governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan (1974-79), and analyse for the first time from the union's perspective the events that became known as the 'Winter of Discontent'. They convincingly argue that accounts which hold the dispute responsible for the demise of the Labour government, and thus for opening the way for Thatcherism, are inadequate and misleading - often deliberately so; in general such accounts are based on a deprecation of public services, public service labour and the 'social wage'. These developments are discussed in relation to the role of union leadership and considerations of organisation and democracy, revealing much that will be of interest to activists and students of trade unionism alike.

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In 1895, Eleanor Marx and Edward Aveling were two of the best-known socialists in Britain, mixing with the most influential figures of their time, from Keir Hardie to William Morris. The couple were committed to building a socialist political force based on the 'scientific' theories of Eleanor's father Karl and his collaborator, Friedrich Engels. Marx and Aveling's 'letters' to Russia from England offer a unique perspective on British socialism as it entered its crucial phase, which culminated in the foundation of the Labour Party in 1900. As they reported from the heart of capitalist Britain, a Liberal government fell, having failed to keep its promises to labour. The remainder of the year saw the election of a Conservative-led Unionist administration, an underwhelming general election performance by socialists, and the death of Engels. These lively, accessible letters include sharp reflections on Victorian cultural figures including Oscar Wilde, Annie Besant, and the 'new woman' novelists. An introductory essay sheds light on the authors' complex, tumultuous life and work together, and reveals the friendships and political connections Karl Marx, Engels and the authors had with prominent Russian revolutionaries. The book will be of interest to students, historians, and all those interested in left politics and movements in Britain.

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2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the Limehouse Declaration and the launch of the Social Democratic Party in the UK, which was later to merge and form the Liberal Democrats. To mark this important milestone, this book brings together prominent politicians from across the spectrum of social democracy to reflect on its history and the challenges it faces in the coming decades. With an introduction by Sir Vince Cable describing the current state of social democracy across the world, leading figures including Sarah Olney, Roger Liddle and Chris Huhne explore a wide range of contentious policy areas such as the economy, housing and globalisation. Together, they set out a vision for the country and for the Liberal Democrats that has social justice at its core.

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