On Monday 13th September 2021, the History & Policy Trade Union & Employment Forum(Opens in new window) hosted an online seminar on instances of TUC and union promotion of dignity at work seen through the lens of Walter Citrine’s career as General Secretary and President of the International Federation of Trade Unions from the 1920s to the 1950s.   

Speakers:

Jim Moher (Author-Walter Citrine, Forgotten Statesman of the Trades Union Congress)
Mary Bousted (Joint General Secretary National Education Union and TUC General Council member )
Tom Wilson (Former Senior TUC Officer)
Philip Carter (Director, History & Policy)
Gail Cartmail (President TUC & Assistant General Secretary, Unite)
Paul Nowak (Deputy General Secretary, TUC)

A Champion of dignity at work: the TUC in the Citrine era

History & Policy at the Institute of Historical Research was delighted to host a webinar to mark the launch of the new book,  After the Virus: Lessons from the Past for a Better Future, by Hilary Cooper(former government economist and senior policy maker), and Simon Szreter(Professor of History and Public Policy at Cambridge University and co-founder and editor of History & Policy). 


Why was the UK so unprepared for the pandemic, suffering one of the highest death rates and worst economic contractions of the major world economies in 2020? Hilary Cooper and Simon Szreter reveal the deep roots of our vulnerability and set out a powerful manifesto for change post-COVID-19. They argue that our commitment to a flawed neoliberal model and the associated disinvestment in our social fabric left the UK dangerously exposed and unable to mount an effective response, with particularly devastating consequences for deprived communities and elderly patients in care homes.

In the face of the coming century’s urgent problems, from climate change to biodiversity collapse and global inequality, the authors put the case for the vital role that history should play in enabling us to think differently – about the future economy, our future society, how we govern ourselves and who we want to be. Drawing on the history of British collectivist individualism, beginning with the Elizabethan Poor Laws, they argue that a strong and nurturing welfare state has facilitated the most successful periods of economic and social flourishing in our history; and a revival and adaptation of its principles can help us again in the twenty-first century. 

At this virtual event Hilary Cooper and Simon Szreter discuss the ideas in their book, which was followed by a Q&A facilitated by Professor Philip Murphy.

After the Virus: Lessons from the Past for a Better Future is published by Cambridge University Press in paperback and as an e-book. 

Get 20% off when you purchase this book – visit www.cambridge.org/afterthevirus and enter discount code ‘COOPER21’ at the checkout. Discount expires 30th July 2022.
 

Hilary Cooper is a former government economist and senior policy maker with expertise in labour markets, children’s services and local development. Her current freelance work examines the challenges of ageing. She was the joint winner of the 2019 IPPR Economics prize for the essay Incentivising an Ethical Economics, with Simon Szreter and Ben Szreter.

Simon Szreter is Professor of History and Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, researching economic, social and public health history. His publications include Health and Wealth, which won the American Public Health Association’s Viseltear Prize, and Sex before the Sexual Revolution, longlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize. He is co-founder and editor of History & Policy.

After the Virus: Lessons from the Past for a Better Future

The Lloyds Register Foundation's Heritage Education Centre (HEC) has a rich archive covering 260 years of Lloyd's Register history. Alix Mortimer at History & Policy spoke to Dr Louise Sanger, Applied Research and Heritage Manager at HEC about what researchers on the Hindsight Perspectives project (and others) could expect to find, how the archive has changed over the years, and a couple of her personal highlights - probably relatively few archives carefully preserve an envelope of rust.

What’s in the Lloyds Register Foundation archive?

From sail to steam... to zero carbon. Dr Elin Jones on shipping technology innovation.

Alix Mortimer, Research Engagement Manager at the Hindsight Perspectives for a Safer World project, interviews the authors of the third Hindsight Report, Louis Halewood (Plymouth) and Rory Hopcraft (Plymouth). We sweep from international order making in the nineteenth century through to IMO governance and the challenges of cyber security in the twenty-first, and the report proposes that, given this complex governance history, the "maritime cyber commons" is a critical lens for maritime policy makers and industry thought leaders considering these challenges today.

Sea power, cyberspace and the governance of the global commons

Did you have any inkling about the scale of the Coal Board closures? 

1. Did you have any inkling about the scale of the Coal Board closures?

Should you have known a confrontation was coming? What was your strategy?

2. Should you have known a confrontation was coming? What was your strategy?

Professor of Economic History, University of Cambridge.

History & Policy Round Table: Thomas Piketty on Capital and Inequality

Chair: Rick Trainor 

Invited panel: Martin Daunton, Avner Offer, Jim Tomlinson and Keith Tribe

Professor Martin Daunton

Historians, trade unionists and politicians will explore the contribution of the 'Oxford School' of industrial relations to national employment policy, debates about the role of trade unions in society and the balance between legal regulation and voluntary reform of industry best practice. Marking the anniversary of the 1965-68 Donovan Commission, this conference will reflect on the influence of the Oxford industrial relations academics and the close relationship they pioneered with politicians, trade unionists and businessmen from the 1950s. 

Peter Ackers

In March & April 2016, H&P ran a two day training course for academics to learn how the policy-making process works, and how to engage with policy makers and shapers. Drawing on H&P’s connections in Whitehall and civil society, delegates heard from civil servants, NGO leaders, journalists and historians with experience in government, Parliament and beyond.

Bernard Muscat - Senior Social Media Officer, Macmillan Cancer Support

Ahead of the UK’s referendum on continued membership of the European Union, the Trade Union Forum will explore the roles that Trade Unions have had in shaping the public debate on EU policies, reflect upon the roles the Unions played in the 1975 referendum, and offer suggestions for TU engagement in the ongoing debate.

Speakers will included Dr Andrew Blick (Director, History & Policy), Lord Monks (former General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation), Dave Prentis (UNISON), Doug Nicholls (Chair of Trade Unionists against the European Union) and Jean Lambert MEP

Jean Lambert MEP

Dave Prentis - General Secretary of UNISON

Dr Andrew Blick - Director of History & Policy

Ahead of the UK’s referendum on continued membership of the European Union, the Trade Union Forum will explore the roles that Trade Unions have had in shaping the public debate on EU policies, reflect upon the roles the Unions played in the 1975 referendum, and offer suggestions for TU engagement in the ongoing debate.

Speakers will included Dr Andrew Blick (Director, History & Policy), Lord Monks (former General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation), Dave Prentis (UNISON), Alex Gordon (former president of the RMT) and Jean Lambert MEP

Alex Gordon, former President of the RMT

Plenty of attention is being paid to the political and constitutional effects of Brexit, but what will its economic impact be on life’s most basic commodities? How did food prices inform the debate in the weeks and months leading up to the referendum, and how have they informed debate in the past? How have the spectres of want and hunger been invoked over the last century and a half in political contexts, and are we paying them enough attention now?

Professor Anthony Howe - The University of East Anglia

9 May 2017 - 18:00 pm - 19:30 pm
Nash Lecture Theatre, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS

This H&P speaker series will feature former senior public servants and other policymakers reflecting on their careers with a response from a contemporary historian who has studied the events in which they participated.

In conversation with: Dr Andrew Blick

Sir Thomas Legg’s career at the Lord Chancellor’s Department spanned nearly 40 years and between 1989 and his retirement in 1998 he held the posts of Permanent Secretary and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. Since retirement he has also chaired several government inquiries including the investigation into the parliamentary expenses scandal in 2009-10. During this period there were many important developments in the UK legal system and its role within the UK constitution, including the incorporation of European law and the rise of judicial review of government action. Sir Thomas will reflect on his unique experiences and their implications for the crucial issue of the relationship between government and the rule of law.

Speaker Series: Sir Thomas Legg - government and the rule of law

How can global and historical movements for women’s political rights provide models for achieving racial and gender equality in the British political arena?

On the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, this one-day workshop will explore the ways in which past and contemporary movements, especially featuring women of colour and women in the global south, can be applied to current issues regarding voting and parliamentary representation. The session will include papers delivered by a number of historians and social scientists, whose discussions will draw upon examples that include Australia, Brazil, the Caribbean, India, and South Africa. Sam Smethers (Chief Executive, Fawcett Society) and Frances Scott (Founder, 50:50 Parliament) will also provide discussion on current policy and campaigning practices. Through collaborative discussion between academics, policy-makers and political activists, the session will consider the ways in which these global and historical movements can be used to attain greater equality and diversity in the British political arena.

Sumita Mukherjee - University of Bristol

Mariam Memarsadeghi, Iranian-American human rights and democracy advocate and co-founder of Tavaana: E-learning Institute for Iranian Civil Society, her talk is about the contemporary position in Iran and the work of her organisation in promoting democracy there.

Mariam Memarsadeghi - Tavaana: E-learning Institute for Iranian Civil Society

Alex Loktionov of Robinson College, Cambridge will discuss the ancient history of Egypt and the lessons that might be derived for contemporary democracy promotion.

Alex Loktionov - University of Cambridge

This event is the first in a 2018 series marking a number of anniversaries of key events in the history of the UK Civil Service, including also the Haldane (1918) and Fulton (1968) reports.

In 1988 the official report Improving Efficiency in Government: The Next Steps appeared in its final form. It led on to one of the most substantial reconfigurations the UK machinery of government has seen, with the allocation of a wide range of functions to executive agencies. Kate Jenkins, former head of the government's Efficiency Unit and co-author of the report, will provide her perspective on the exercise and its significance, followed with a response by Sir Richard Mottram, whose forty-year career in the Civil Service included a spell in the early 1990s as Permanent Secretary at the Office of Public Service and Science within the Cabinet Office, where his responsibilities included public service change and management. Joining the discussion from an academic perspective will be Dr Andrew Blick (King's College London). Dr Catherine Haddon (Institute for Government) will chair.

Kate Jenkins - Reforming The Civil Service

Peter Ackers - Democracy at Work: 150 years of the TUC

Lord John Monks, General Secretary of the TUC 1993-2003

Nick Jones, journalist and broadcaser, and former BBC industrial and senior political correspondent

Lord John Monks and Nick Jones - Democracy at Work: 150 years of the TUC

27 April 2019 - 11:00 am - 16:00 pm
Modern Records Centre, Warwick University

50 years ago, the conflict between the Harold Wilson Labour Government & the trade unions over the Barbara Castle White Paper ‘In Place of Strife’ was one of the pivotal moments of post-war British Industrial Relations. It pitched voluntarist ideas of ‘free collective bargaining’ against ideas of economic planning & public policy concerns about strikes, inflation and restrictive practices. The white paper followed the 1968 Donovan Report & preceded Heath’s Conservative 1971 Industrial Relations Act. In response to Peter Dorey’s new book on In Place of Strife, this seminar has two parts. In the morning there is a historical reassessment of the political episode. In the afternoon, we consider the implications for current Labour Party policy on trade unions, as the Manifesto promises to ‘roll out sectoral bargaining’. The seminar is held at the Modern Records Centre, the largest UK trade union & industrial relations collection, which will be introduced to us.

Roger Jeary - In Place of Strife (1969): Trade Union legal rights & responsibilities revisited

Joe Dromey - In Place of Strife (1969): Trade Union legal rights & responsibilities revisited

Peter Dorey - In Place of Strife (1969): Trade Union legal rights & responsibilities revisited

David Lyddon - In Place of Strife (1969): Trade Union legal rights & responsibilities revisited

9 September 2019 - 18:00 pm - 19:30 pm
Anatomy Museum, King's College London, 6th floor, King's Building, Strand, London WC2R 2LS

Johanna Sköld is Professor of Child Studies at Linköping University and previously worked as a member of the Secretariat of the Swedish Inquiry into Child Abuse and Neglect in Institutions and Foster Homes. Her research focuses particularly on the history of child-care and redress for historic child abuse and she chairs the International Network on Studies of Inquiries into Child Abuse, the Politics of Apology and Historical Representations of Children in State Care.

Historic Child Abuse Inquiries - Professor Johanna Sköld

9 September 2019 - 18:00 pm - 19:30 pm
Anatomy Museum, King's College London, 6th floor, King's Building, Strand, London WC2R 2LS

Eoin O’Sullivan is Professor in Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin. His research focuses on the history of social policy in Ireland, including institutions of containment. His collaborative work with the journalist Mary Raftery on the history of the Irish industrial school system played a key role in the creation of the Commission into Child Abuse (Ryan Commission) and he also undertook policy research which informed the Commission’s findings.

Historic Child Abuse Inquiries - Professor Eoin O-sullivan

Brexit and workers’ rights
1 October 2019 - 18:30 pm - 20:30 pm

Keating Chambers, 15 Essex St, Temple, London WC2R 3AA

Chaired by Sarah Veale

Professor Michael Gold and Professor Simon Deakin talk on ‘What the UK's membership of the EU has entailed for workers’ rights and how the UK might achieve dynamic alignment of these rights after Brexit.’

Brexit and workers’ rights - Professor Simon Deakin

Brexit and workers’ rights - Professor Michael Gold

ONLINE SEMINAR
Trade Unions and Employment in a Market Economy

Thursday 21 May 2020, 6pm-8pm

Andrew Brady will introduce his recent book:

Unions and Employment in a Market Economy, Strategy, Influence and Power in Contemporary Britain (Routledge 2019)

Other speakers include Sir Ian McCartney and Tom Wilson.

The Seminar was chaired by Helen Hague

Andrew Brady was awarded his PhD from the University of Strathclyde in 2017. He has held various positions within Unite the Union and is currently based in Scotland in the union’s Political, Research & Campaigns Unit.

Sir Ian McCartney was Shadow Minister, Minister of State, and Cabinet Minister 1992–2007 and led the Labour Government’s work on employment and employment rights.

Tom Wilson was Director of Unionlearn at the TUC until 2017. He has also  worked for the GMB, the Labour Party as Trade Union Liaison Officer, the AUT and Natfhe (now UCU).

Helen Hague is a journalist and has recently worked on a history of the Fire Brigades Union.

Trade Unions and Employment in a Market Economy

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