AT THE end of 1971 conflicts in Britain had reached a peak not equalled for over forty years. The iwo major respects.
(1) Faced growing employment the majority of disputes took a defensive Work-ins at the Upper Shipbuilders (UCS) in Glasgow and the occupations of Fisher Bendix and Plessey were part defensive protest against capitalism's attempt to increase unemployment.
(2) All other large industrial ILdEKCO differed uncategories. character.
Clyde (1) The failure minimum (EEF) had disputes were both nationally led and officially backed from the outset.
contrast the Manchester sit-ins (March-August 1972) were offensive, locally led and, at the start of the dispute, unofficial. Many periods tactors account for these differences but can be condensed into three broad agreements in 1964/71 to achieve only the absolute concessions the enced Employers' Federation shalled placed growing responsibility onto plant bargaining.
(2) The practical experience workers during of pay restraint (1965/68). Engineering, being an industry based on a payment by results wages system, provided a proven mechanism beating pay norms, which was furthe enhanced by a continuous shortage of skilled personnel during a period of rising unemployment.
(3) A growing army of experiplant rank and file members to exploit management's weaknesses. of
----- pull-quotes -----
majority of these disputes from the Manchester sit-ins of 1972 in