Man in Employment, by Alfred Badger

[p019] Man in Employment, the Fundamental Principles of Industrial Relations, by Alfred Badger (Arthur Barker, 25s.) ‘Never, says Sir Thomas Williamson, in a foreword to this book, ‘have so much information, facts, opinion and comment been harnessed in one publication.’ The factual material which Dr Badger has brought together is culled from a wide field of bibliographical and official sources and covers all formal aspects of management/worker relationships. The opinions and comments which are included in ‘an attempt to provoke the reader to think about these facts and the principles that should govern them’ are notable only for their consistent banality. The result is a book which the author hopes will be of value ‘to employers, trade unionists and students in univer- sities, schools and colleges, as well as to the general reader’ and which reveals about the same degree of enlightenment as the Cohen Report. An examination of the history and structure of employers’ associations (‘which have performed work of inestimable value and worth to Britain’) and trade unions (which ‘must be educated to their new responsibilities’) precedes a description of the machinery of collective bargaining, voluntary and compulsory arbitration, methods of wage determination and wage-incentive schemes. The author is sceptical about the accuracy of the ‘Cost of Living Index’ but thinks it has “proved its value in preventing strikes’. On the subject of strikes and disputes, tables are introduced in order to show (no doubt for the benefit ‘of those in schools and colleges’) the magnitude of the problem in post-war years. No comparison is drawn between the incidence in Britain and that in other countries, nor does the author point out that in the years in question the average time lost through strikes has never amounted to more than one hour per year per employed worker. An attempt to elucidate the ‘Root Causes of Strike Action’ produces the interesting thesis that ‘strikes occur where they can occur—that is where the working-class community is closely knit and the workers forceful; and not where the workers are dispersed and subdued,’ which leads to the suggestion that ‘the Churches might do a great deal in this regard by preaching the doctrine of one purpose, one ideal, one destiny, one kinship.’ With regard to Method Study, the main variants of which are described, the author offers some advice to management in respect of questions arising out of the distribution of the

[p020] AUTUMN BOOKS savings thus brought about. ‘It must,’ he says, ‘be explained that the problem is not so easy as it would at first appear” Co- parinership, works’ pension schemes, the Labour Party’s pro- posed National Superannuation Scheme, accident prevention and absenteeism are all cursorily discussed. Though the author (surely unintentionally) describes profit-sharing as ‘oifering to the employee an opportunity for participation in the running of the business’ he considers that the main dis- advantage is that on the part of the employees ‘there is no acute sense of gratitude as time passes’. A chapter on ‘Automation’ ‘is followed by advice on “The Principles and Implementation of Redundancy’. ‘The Main- tenance of Full Employment’ is no deubt intended to balance things up, but discussion on this, as on national wages policy, productivity and restrictive practices (considered only in relation to trade unions) is circumscribed by the pre-Keynesian economic outlook of the author who regards any prospect of higher real wages as constituting a threat to our position in overseas markets and an inevitable contribution to inflation. For this reason ‘the State may wish at any time, in a period of crisis and emergency, to call for a restraint in wage claims 1n the national interest.” The author does Jess than justice to the intelligence of trade unionists when he suggests that the reason for the breakdown of the wage-freeze policy of 1948/9 was due to the resentment felt towards those workers on sliding-scale arrangements by workers to whom such arrangements did not appiy. The question of dividend restraint is not discussed—far less the fact that even if this could he obtained its result would — not be a reduction in profits but merely a shift in their dis- tribution between bonus shares and paid-out dividends. As a factual survey of the institutions and machinery of industrial relations this book falls short of the standard of Professor Richardson’s classic work; as an analysis of the problems and trends it is superficial and partisan; as a con- tribution to the new management ideology it will certainly ensure the author’s appointment as syndicate-leader at a future Duke of Edinburgh’s Study Conference. JOHN PEEL Social Class