Trade Union and Employment Forum
This Forum brings together academics, trade unionists, employers and the media to examine the historic context of trade union and labour policies and identify lessons that can be learnt for today and the future. The Forum also marks key events that have shaped the workplace and business world such as the 1984 Miners’ Strike, the Health and Safety Act, the introduction of employment tribunals and the anniversary of the 1926 General Strike.
Regular seminars and conferences bring together interested parties and provide the opportunity to hear from key players and experts in a wide range of topical employment issues. From time to time the forum also produces opinion pieces to be found on this website.
The Forum is part of the History and Policy Group based in the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London, connecting historians, policy makers and the media.
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Democracy at Work: 150 years of the TUC
In October this year, to celebrate the TUC’s 150th anniversary, the History and Policy Trade Union and Employment Forum held a conference in King’s College, London at which a series of experts and practitioners presented a picture of key figures during that time and discussed past and current roles of the TUC.
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The future of UK labour law
Four experts from the academic history and policy making fields explore how the entire framework of labour law in Britain might be revisited following Britain's departure from the EU.
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Flexible work and its consequences: historical perspectives
On 6 April Noel Whiteside, Professor of Comparative Public Policy at the University of Warwick and Sally Brett, Head of Equality, Inclusion and Culture at the British Medical Association discussed flexible working now and in the past.
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Workers in the Boardroom
During her bid for the Tory leadership in July 2016, Theresa May called for employee representation on company boards. The idea was quietly shelved but remains existing practice at some firms – an expert panel gathered to discuss the history and practice of the idea.
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How Europe Won Over the British Left
H&P's Trade Union Forum chair John Edmonds spoke to Claire Bowes for BBC Witness about early Euroscepticism on the left and the impact of EC President Jacques Delors' speech to the Trade Union Congress in September 1988.
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In Place of Strife (1969)
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Why is equal pay for women so difficult to achieve?
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Flexible work and its consequences: historical perspectives
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Workers in the Boardroom: worker directors and lessons from history
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The Future of Trade Unions
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Trade Union Forum: Trade Unions and the European Union
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Whatever happened to collective bargaining?
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Trade unions and the First World War
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Miners’ Strike, 30 years on
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About Us
H&P is based at the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, University of London.
We are the only project in the UK providing access to an international network of more than 500 historians with a broad range of expertise. H&P offers a range of resources for historians, policy makers and journalists.
