History & policy database

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.

  • The Osborne Judgment of 1909

    Dr Jim Moher suggested that Walter Osborne's campaign in the 1900s shed important light on individual/collective tensions over the trade union political levy, while Tony Dubbins (Trade Unions for Labour) argued that the unions were still a popular voluntary force which were not treated with sufficient respect in reviews of party funding.

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  • ‘Trade Unions from the 1970s to the present’ and ‘Trade Union productivity and partnership, and the

    Professor Richard Whiting suggested that a generation of social change had made the struggles of the 1970s look like a 'medieval drama', while Professor Peter Ackers argued that partnership between management and unions was now the only alternative to a government-driven neo-liberal approach.

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Trade Union and Employment Forum Links

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.

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