The First Principles of Industrial Relations, by A.E.C. Hare
Reviewed by John Byrne
1959Labour ReviewJohn Byrne Read the scan at ETOL (PDF) →Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: words can be misread, and the end of one piece can run into the next. For anything you quote, read the scan.
[p032] Workshop Floor The First Principles of Industrial Relations, by A. E. C. Hare (Macmillan, 12s. 6d.) This book is by no means the last word on industrial Telations, but as a contribution to that very vexed subject it is quite good. The author covers a fairly wide field, examining the industrial and political structure of our present society, and tracing the changes that have taken and are taking place in industry, and the attitude of the workers to these changes. The part that interested me most was that devoted to an examination of the causes of discontent on the shop floor. This part gives a balanced insight into the causes of friction, dis- content and strikes. Hare not only hits the nail on the head, but very often drives it well and truly home. In the closing pages, however, the author wanders all over the place looking for 2 remedy. But he does not find one, and I am not surprised that he states that profit-sharing does not bear fruit and that many other things have not had the deésired effect. He misses the real point: that until workers control the industries in which they work there can never be lasting industrial peace. JOHN BYRNE Yorkshire Colliers