Rubin, Gerry R. (1984) The enforcement of the Munitions of War Acts, 1915-17 : with particular reference to proceedings before the Munitions Tribunal in Glasgow, 1915-1921. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The legal control of wartime industrial relations, especially
in Glasgow, produced ambiguous results for those upon whom the
restrictive Munitions Acts impinged. Firstly, drastic labour
controls did on occasion amplify, rather than suppress, industrial
conflict. Secondly, factory discipline, especially timekeeping,
may have been marginally improved as a result of penal deterrence,
though other factors were probably more significant. Thirdly,
trade unionists who found the restrictions on wage advances and on
mobility an insufferable fetter in a tight labour market, could seek,
nonetheless, to further their interests through the legislation,
in spite of the statutory curbs. Thus they and their trade union
officials, in a relationship frequently marked by mutual support at
the tribunal, sought to exploit the legislation's manifold provisions
resourcefully and imaginatively. For example, they sought to manipulate,
to their advantage, ostensibly restrictive provisions by means of
'collective bargaining by litigation', and they also attempted
to turn defence into attack in those cases where the employer
had instigated a contentious prosecution.
It is argued that the varied and ambiguous results flowing
from munitions workers' involvement with the tribunal reflects
the double-edged quality of legislation which displayed, if only
partially, certain corporatist features. Thus it embodied both
blunt restrictiveness on the one hand# and flexibility and
opportunism for labour on the other. For the object of the
legislationg according to its sponsors, was to foster the 'national
interest', which could justify, through the attempt to eliminate
the operation of the market in the munitions trades, limited
restrictions on employers as well as restraints on labour. Trade
unionists thus maximized their opportunities under -the Munitians
Act, while defending themselves with vigour against its coercive
deployment. Working class attitudes to law were, in conclusion,
marked by a new boldness and directness in the circumstances
of the war.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Great Britain. Munitions of War Act 1915, Industrial relations -- Scotland -- Glasgow -- History -- 20th century, Weapons industry -- Employees -- History -- 20th century
Official Date:	March 1984
Dates:	Date Event March 1984 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Social History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Winter, J. M. ; Harrison, Royden ; Mason, Tony, 1938-
Sponsors:	Robert Gordon's Institute of Technology. School of Business Management Studies ; University of Kent at Canterbury. Faculty of Social Science
Extent:	vii, 640 leaves
Language:	eng

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