Croucher, Richard (1977) Communist politics and shop stewards in engineering, 1935-46. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis is about the activities of Communist militants within the
engineering industry between 1935 and 1946, and attempts to show the
importance of these militants to the history of industrial relations
in this period in which shop stewards as we know them today first
emerged as ran important group. The work is primarily concerned with
examining the relative importance of political and industrial factors
in determining the relationships obtaining between shop stewards and
their constituents during World War II.
The importance of Communist politics to Communist and non-
Communist shop stewards is examined, but the main area of research is
into the way in which different local industrial contexts influenced
shop stewards' behaviour. The importance of methods of wage payment,
local agreements, types of technology and rates of technological change,
and a whole range of other industrial considerations was often greater
in the minds of even come left-wing shop stewards than the latest left-wing
discussions. Also, the way in which shop stewards took up (or failed
to take up) the problems arising for their members out of a war in which
munitions workers were almost as much in the front line as were
servicemen and women themselves is touched upon.
The thesis is divided into two main sections. The first
group of chapters deals in a general and introductory way with the
topics mentioned above. The second and rather more important section
builds on the first in that it deals with the problems in a deeper
(though necessarily narrower) way. It comprises four local studies of
major engineering districts during the period 1939-1946.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Shop stewards -- Great Britain -- History, Labor unions and communism, Engineering -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century, Communism -- Great Britain -- History, Great Britain -- History -- George VI, 1936-1952, Industrial relations -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century
Official Date:	April 1977
Dates:	Date Event April 1977 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Social History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Extent:	465 leaves
Language:	eng
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/4081

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