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Trade Unions

Introduction to Topic Six;

Unemployment:

People mutht be amuthed.

They can’t be alwayth a learning, nor yet they can’t be alwayth a working, they an’t made for it.

Charles Dickens from Hard Times.

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            At the end of the twentieth century, there were 27.5 million people employed in Britain. This figure represented a growth of nearly 3 million over the previous 15 years. There were 1.7 million unemployed in 1999. This represented a growth of 0.7 million over the same period. This paints an overall picture of success. There were four times as many people getting employment as losing it! However, there was another very large group of 17.5 million, called the economically inactive; and they had grown by nearly 1 million. These definitions are from the International Labour Office, a part of the United Nations. They have been used since 1984 in Britain; and are now widely used in Europe. Who are the economically inactive; and should some of them be included in the unemployed figure?

                                        Key Concepts

Government Training Schemes:

These are more than 20 years old in Britain.

They were originally seen as a bridge from

school to work. The focus then changed on to

what local employers wanted from pupils

leaving local schools, good timekeeping etc..

Then local firms were accredited by the

government to provide training , or at

least a certificate. There were continuing

revamps of these schemes, as none were

seen as satisfactory.

 n

Gover      

 There are problems with each of these three categories. To be counted as in employment a person has only to do one hour’s paid work in the week prior to interview. One hour seems to be a very low figure; and we do not know if there were any hours in the previous weeks. Also, government training schemes last for varying lengths of time, and do not guarantee full time employment on graduation. Finally, discovering in interview the existence of unpaid work in a family business is difficult. The interviewer may not speak the language of the small business owner. The extent of the unpaid work may be extremely variable. It may vary from no hours to more or less than one hour.

To be counted as unemployed", the claim of wanting a job is a very subjective matter. This will be difficult to measure consistently over a sample of some 120,000 people. Further, the requirement of actively seeking a job is even more a subjective matter.  However, there is the objective check of a limit of the previous 4 weeks, when the person was to have been seeking a job. Even this requires a good memory, although this claim could be checked with those potential employers, who have kept details of those applying for jobs.

To be counted as economically inactive one has to be looking for a job. This is again very unclear, although there is a limit of the previous 4 weeks. What does one have to do to be counted as looking for a job? Does it mean reading only the local paper; or a regional, national, or even international paper? Is it attending the local job centre? In this last case, maybe one ought to be counted in another statistic called the claimant count. This is not a sample, but a 100% measure of all those claiming state benefits for unemployment. It produces a figure of 1.2 million. This figure changes as every government changes the rules whereby one can receive state benefits. The many changes make it an unreliable guide, and create much work for statisticians.

To return to the earlier question of the relationship between the unemployed and economically inactive, we are now in a better position to look at this. The downward trend in unemployment over the last 15 years of the twentieth century is probably correct; even if the reduction of 1.5 million to a figure of 1.7 million is less reliable. The sample of about 60,000 households, with approximately 120,000 people is by far the largest sample in Britain. This means that short of a census, with a 100% count, this is the most reliable data we have.

Total male and female economic inactivity rose slightly over this period. However, when looking at the movement over these 15 years of economic inactivity for men and women separately, some striking differences appear. Firstly, whilst the movement for women was downwards, for men it was upwards. The following table gives the details.

Note: The above figures are in millions, and are adapted from the Labour Force Survey Labour Force Survey. 1999.

The difference in the direction of the trend for economic inactivity, with men's inactivity rising and women's falling needs explanation. Put differently, why are an increasing number of women than men either looking for a job, or getting one in the last 4 weeks?  The basic difference between being unemployed and economically inactive is a subjective one. In both cases they are without a job; but the unemployed person wants a job, and by implication the inactive person does not, as they have not looked in the last 4 weeks. The illustrative example from the Labour Force Survey makes this clear.

"Harry Thompson is out of work, but stopped looking for new jobs a year ago as he does not believe that any jobs are available."

(Office of National  Statistics, Reference Shelf, Page 3)

            This quotation raises other problems. Significantly, the example is male. Why does Harry have the belief that there are no jobs? Could it be that he is not willing to take a part time job? Certainly there are more part time jobs in existence for women, at 5.4 million, than for men, at 1.4 million. Harry's belief about the number of jobs may be more or less accurate, but his belief may also be that part time jobs are not appropriate for men. This may be because that Harry believes in the breadwinner role, that is to have a full time job, which pays enough wages to support a family. This raises the thorny political problem about Harry's willingness to take up work, albeit part time. Should Harry and those like him, be added to the unemployed category? Perhaps not, if he not looking for part time as well as full time jobs. However, there may be many other men who are looking for part time jobs, but for a variety of reasons do not wish to admit this in interview. The part time job may not be entirely legal; it may be cash in hand. A strong belief in the bread winner role may inhibit one from admitting to a search for part time jobs. Arguably, these men should be counted as unemployed. This would significantly increase the size of the unemployed, but not the trend. Provided there has been consistency in distinguishing wanting from not wanting in interview, the trend is unaffected. This consistency requires some subtlety in the interview in order to distinguish the different types of searching for work.

Further, people may become confused about dates. They may believe the interview they did attend was five or more weeks ago, when in fact it was within the 4 weeks. The long term inactive and older interviewees may well forget their act of looking in the last 4 weeks. In addition, they will wish to hide their failure at a job interview from an interviewer. There may well be guidelines for interviewers to deal with these obvious problem s. However, one is now in a grey area, where individual interviewers have to decide which category to place an individual into. There will not be total consistency between interviewers in any one year, and less so over 15 years. All this is not to question the reliability of the figures so much, but to raise the problem of the categories. It is arguable that as both the unemployed and the economically inactive are without a job, they should be added together. However, this also has its problems. Harry could have a serious and chronic illness. Harry could be over 55 years old, approaching retirement. He might be interested in part time work, though not all employers are willing to have men. He might reject part time and be holding out for another full time job, as this has been his life times experience of work for men. Harry does not have the same chance of getting a job as a man half his age; or a woman for that matter. These are good reasons for not having Harry in the unemployed category. However, there are the residual doubts about the enormous difference in the figures of 17.5 million economically inactive, and 1.7 million unemployed.

            The political desire to have a low unemployment count is understandable. Any one unemployed person is both a loss to society, and a cost. They are a loss in the sense that their contribution to the production of goods and services is lost. They are a cost because their subsistence has to be paid for in state benefits, which helps to keep the tax level high. There is also the cost to the National Health Service, not least because of the mental pain of unemployment after a lifetime of uninterrupted work. Finally, there is no guarantee that the trend may not change in an upward direction in an uncertain economic future. Therefore, the desire for low unemployment figures may well not be a realistic desire over a large number of years.      

Despite the popular view that the unemployed do not wish to work, as with the problem raised by Harry above, most of the evidence points the other way. British Social Attitudes is a good source for the popular view. For some years there has been a large majority expressing a willingness to  pay taxes for health and education; but many fewer for social security . This can be seen as the fear of scroungers. That is, some people are seen as scrounging off state benefits, and are not willing to take up paid work. One study, which went against this popular view, was of women workers in North Yorkshire, who had just been made redundant. This showed that all but two of the 300 workers were actively seeking work. In fact, they saw unemployment as a temporary interruption in working women’s lives. Further, unemployment was not seen by these women workers as an opportunity to retreat back into the home, which has been seen traditionally as the “natural” place for women (Coyle, 1984). Another reason given by these women for the temporary nature of unemployment was that one waited until the children were old enough to go to school. Then one would look for work again.  As there were not many alternative employers in the area, this could be seen as a naive hope. Nevertheless, these women saw themselves as active workers, temporarily unemployed.

            Another study of a Bristol tobacco factory did show that for younger unmarried women work was seen as a “brief stay”. (Pollert, 1981). The prospect of marriage was seen as a sort of escape from paid work. However, the older women had also had this view when they were younger and unmarried. Their experience was that, despite marriage, they stayed working in the factory. However, their commitment was not as strong as in the previous study. In this case the commitment to work was weak compared with other studies. For the younger women, their experience of school and the wider culture prepared them for a femininity that looks to a career as a mother and wife.  Employment, by contrast, is seen as being only a job, with a brief stay.

However even in this bleak study these young women made friends with other young women. Also there were discussions about fashion, boy friends, marriage and abortion. The older women discussed family life and the problems of young children. These were serious discussions, and it is not clear if the younger women took part.

 In the case of the older women, work was necessary because a second wage was necessary. Yet, here as well there were positive aspects to the job. Because they had more experience, and had longer memories of the workplace, they were more effective than the younger women were in fighting back against management control. They had an eagle eye for any infringement of the factory rules by managers. Their friendships were longer standing, and they were supportive of one another in any conflict. There was real commitment to one another in the workplace. In this sense, they were committed to work. Their commitment to the daily boring dirty task was another matter. Then there was the return to the second shift of domestic work, discussed in the next chapter.

A more recent survey of studies (Roberts, 95: 1995) discovered that the group aged 16 to 19, and with the least qualifications, was most at risk from unemployment. However, this group was most eager to work. They were willing to do any job, anything to escape unemployment. However, what does anything mean for this age group? Have they abandoned hope for any job at all or just for a decent job? Alternatively, were they temporarily accepting the offer of a low wage in order to escape unemployment? What this research discovered was that these young people would accept any wage above their state benefit entitlement.  Commitment to work changes with changes in the life cycle, it is not an absolute commitment throughout one’s life, and appears to be strong amongst school leavers.

            An interesting measure of this commitment to work has been called the reservation wagexe "reservation wage" (Roberts, 95: 1995). This was a measure of the lowest wage they would accept, and not refuse the offer of employmentxe "employment". This showed that a concern for high wages was not a barrier to paid employment. Indeed, it was a way of dealing with the experience of varying periods of employment and unemployment.

Other strategies for dealing with this changing pattern of work included seeing unemployment as a sort of holiday; and seeing hunting for jobs as a vocation in itself. One study of a further education college showed vividly how students were trained to sell themselves so well that they enjoyed the thrill of presenting themselves in a job interview, as the performance of an actor (Cohen, 310: 1997). The point was to enjoy the giving of the performance. Then if the job was refused at the end of the interview, one had retained one’s self respect as a good actor. One remained unemployed, but cool!  Further, short spells of unemployment may not have a long-term effect. One is between jobs rather than unemployed. The existence of a variety of government schools to work schemes over the last 20 years has also broken up the time between jobs and non-jobs. This produces a very fragmented experience of employment for young people.

  However, there are a number of problems here. This willingness to work does go against the popular view of the unemployed as work shy". But if the “reservation” wages accepted are so low as to be exploitation wages, then this brings into question the desirability of having these jobs on offer in the first place.  There may well be a presumption on the part of the employer that 16 to 19 year olds do not need a living wage, as they may be still living with a parent, or parents. Further, by getting this work done for very low wages the employer is not only saving on a higher wage bill, they are also avoiding having to employ older workers, who may have a greater need for, and may demand higher wages.  Indeed, these 16 to 19 years olds may be taking jobs that would otherwise have gone to older workers.

The next study was done in Kent with 153 school leavers (Wallace, 1987). Here there was found to be a mismatch between the qualifications and skills the school leavers had, and the local jobs available. Firstly, there were not enough jobs; and secondly the school leavers were over qualified for the jobs that did exist.  Further, the school leavers who were unemployed had a summer of relaxation and fun after exams. They went swimming. Their peers who did get jobs, and led a more disciplined life at work, envied them.  Then, when the summer passed, the time was spent with cheap wine and sleeping pills to deaden the boredom and increasing awareness of unemployment.  As time passed cohabiting, as opposed to marriage, took place. Marriage was only for those in a regular job. Those who did marry went on to buy their own home. The cohabiting couples remained in the home of their parents. With the arrival of a child, the house became a three-generation house. This sharp contrast showed that work was the vehicle for independence from parents and respectability, whereas lack of work produced dependence and lack of respectability. A big church wedding was highly prized by those who had it, and possibly experienced as a loss by those who did not experience it.

            What these studies show is that most unemployment is of the involuntary, as opposed to the voluntary, kind. Some may enter the labour market with little expectation of work because of a poor school performance. They may not expect to be employed, but still wish it. Those with good qualifications may find that they are overqualified. They expect work but may not get it; or at least may not get a job for which they see themselves as qualified. Some of those who are in work may wish to leave it, and become voluntarily unemployed. But they still need the money. A married couple with two incomes may still not have enough for a young family. Therefore, people work, although they may not wish to do so. In other words, those who might wish to become voluntarily unemployed often do not have the choice. This reduces the numbers who are voluntarily unemployed.

            A study of more middle aged male workers, who had never previously experienced unemployment, found that they experienced lack of work as unfamiliar and even unreal (Scase & Goffee, 1989). The lack of money from wages had a deep personal and political significance. They seemed to have learned that men are valued by the money they earn. They wanted that money, not just to pursue some leisure interest, which was rarely mentioned, but money as a measure of their worth, and a reward for their long commitment to the employer. Their investment in building homes in their locality was based in part on a trust in the local employer. Work was seen as a sort of contract based on trust in the employer and the government. With unemployment, this contract was broken! Talking of leisure as an alternative to unemployment was premature for these middle aged men. 

The main thrust of these studies is that most people do wish to work. They find that it makes an independent life possible. The possibility of convivial relationships, or even friendships at work, is also an attraction. The casual banter of everyday working life creates a sociability that may be benign. It may also be oppressive, sexual and racist in nature, and a form of managerial control. Work can be an escape from the family, or other anxieties in life. Work can also be the source of anxieties.  

            Perhaps the most detailed and rigorous study of unemployment was done in Sheffield in the 1980's (Westergaard et al., 1989). It points out that it was in the Second World War "Second World War" that the government gave a commitment to full employment, which was defined in the 1950's as no more than 2% or 3% unemployed". In the 1970’s, there was much discussion of the possibility of a natural rate of unemployment, but much higher than 2% or 3%. This led to the idea that labour could be very insecure for some. To ease this insecurity, measures such as mobility allowances to seek work elsewhere, statutory redundancy payments, or lump sums, were introduced by government. In the 1970's and 1980's training and retraining schemes were introduced. These schemes lowered wage costs to the employer, and reduced the count of the unemployed. These schemes varied in the quality of their provision, and in their effectiveness in getting people back into work long term. The growth of unemployment in the early 1980's was dramatic. Where there was unemployment for more than one year, this was associated with poverty. People were beginning to be divided into workers and non-workers, rather than distinctions between different types of workers. There appeared to be a periphery of temporary, casual, part-time, and non-workers; and a core of full time workers.

            In the Sheffield sample there was a long tradition of active trade union membership in the steel industry, long associated with the city. In more concrete terms this meant that over half were informed enough to have expected redundancy before it happened; and a quarter were actively involved in union affairs. About a quarter said that the union could have put up more of a fight, but the majority acquiesced in the closure of the plant. Most of the workers were male, middle aged, or approaching retirement.  Nonetheless, fully 70% of them claimed to have intended to find new paid work. Against that 11% used their redundancy money to take a holiday, for a rest, and had little hope of future work. Some applied for new work whilst still at the steel works, others did not. Many of those who did not had been paid wages in lieu of notice, so were delayed in seeking new work by the terms of their redundancy package. However, the study found that it made no difference to the unskilled manual workers and the routine office clerks whether they applied for a new job before or after closure. These workers were described as unqualified. They contrasted with the skilled manual workers and office staff, who were much more likely to get new jobs, as they had qualifications/skills to offer a new employer. This finding seemed to fit the earlier split into core and periphery. However, the study discovered that in the case of workers over the age of 60 more traditional divisions became apparent. Here non-manual office workers had more self-confidence and contacts than the manual workers did. The non-manuals were much more successful in getting new jobs; but with the major proviso, that most of the new jobs were at a skill level below their old job.

            The sample was interviewed three years after they experienced redundancy, which allowed an analysis of their attempts to find new work. At that point, there were nearly 60% who were without paid work. Of the 60% unemployed nearly all had experienced it for 6 months; 90% for more than one year; and 75% for more than two years. One man put the experience in these terms;

"I felt I was letting them all down, like not being a proper             husband or father  ... it was worse somehow when they were understanding       ... I felt I didn't deserve it."

(Westergaard, 96: 1989)

            The few women in the sample pulled out of the labour market and went to unpaid work in the home. Similarly, older workers over 60 took early retirement as an alternative to the stigma of unemployment; although two thirds were worse off money wise. This was not available to younger workers. As a 37-year-old machinist put it:

"Everyone was looking after themselves ... The people in their 50's and the younger married men wondered if they would ever get another job, but the older men were satisfied. It was like a bonus for them."

(Westergaard, 81: 1989)

Age mattered. Younger men got back into paid work more easily. They had recent work experience to offer. Qualifications and skill mattered. 80% of skilled manual workers, plus managers, technical and commercial staff got new jobs easily. Whereas only 40% of  non-skilled and semi-skilled manual workers, plus routine grade office workers, got new jobs. The latter group was only half as successful as the former. The authors argue strongly that what this shows is that there really was no market for the unqualified and unskilled. The few unskilled jobs that there were tended to go to the skilled and qualified anyway! About a third of the skilled and qualified experienced this downward movement. The successful skilled and qualified not only got new jobs, but also full time ones; or else they became full time unemployed. This unemployment for the skilled and qualified went against the core/periphery theory. There was nothing for these workers, or ex-workers, even in the periphery. But the relative success of the skilled and qualified in getting full time employment does fit the theory.  

Another aspect of the success in finding work comes from urban geographers. They argued that networks based on kinship were less successful than networks based on work. This was because networks based on work tended to have more information about other jobs than networks based on kinship or friendship. In the latter case, where there had been a tradition of jobs going through connections with kin. However, severe unemployment was likely to affect most kin. This was particularly true in a study of West Belfast (Lawless et al., 1998). Here there were "house shops" and "community bakers" run by locals. This was a good base for access to local goods and services, but not for access to information about new jobs! 

This study looked at the political changes associated with this experience of redundancy and unemployment.  Some 12% of regular Labour voters defected to other parties. The unemployed were less likely to defect than the employed. However, a quarter of the unemployed skilled workers did defect. Further, even long-term unemployment did not stop this minority defecting from Labour.  Also, one third of the sample blamed unemployment on immigrants and wanted their repatriation as a solution. Most of these workers did not defect, and continued to support Labour. This points to a form of racism that is perhaps not entirely coherent. Extreme racists would have been expected to move to a right wing political party, or at least to stop supporting Labour.

            A study of an unemployment centre in Brighton in the 1980's also focused on the political views of the unemployed (Baggueley, 1991). Rather than wide ranging views about changing society, most unemployed people were concerned about their relationship with the social security system. The level and type of financial relief was their focus for political struggle. This can be seen as a concern for distributive justice, also found in a national survey of the same period.  In other words, the unemployed saw themselves as members of the working class in a class system. But they did not see themselves as revolutionary agents. Their beliefs were described as informed fatalism, that is they were fairly well informed as to their rights as unemployed persons, but were fatalistic about their ability to change these rights (Marshall et al, 143: 1988).

                                                    Key Concept

This was an attempt to explain a lack of interest

in becoming involved in decision making at

work or in local politics. The authors argued that

locals were sufficiently informed to have a quite

rational expectation that they would not make a difference.

            This rough summary does not do justice to all these people. A significant minority, some 11%, did take some action against the government decisions. Some took part in protests, some wrote to their MP or councillor, some wrote to a newspaper, some had been on a march or demonstration. Most surprisingly, some 46.7% of the unemployed had complained to a Government Department.  Nonetheless, in the case of the Brighton study, the author argues strongly that the centralisation of decision making about unemployment benefits meant that local protests could have little effect. This contrasts to the period of the 1920's and 1930's, when there was some local control. At that time riots in Sheffield changed the levels of benefit. This may have encouraged political action in other localities. The current centralised system meant that the unemployed person now had a more individualised relation to the state compared with 50 or more years ago. This was because there was little point in joining with others locally, as nothing could be changed locally. This individualised relationship in itself contributed a degree of fatalism about collective action. Further, the experience of unemployment gives no clear sense of personal identity, as did social class, occupation and locality. This weak sense of identity may also produce a fatalism about collective action.

            The unemployment centre in Brighton was funded by the Trade Union Congress, (hereinafter TUC) with local and national government involvement. Stringent controls were placed on the management of the centre to protect the good name of the TUC, and control the finances. This in itself led to disagreement about who should be on the management committee, and a degree of conflict followed. The TUC view was that the unemployment centre was a success. The TUC saw itself as providing a resource for the unemployed, as opposed to allowing the unemployed to specify their own needs. The TUC rationale for the unemployment centre was that this was charitable rather than political work. Although there was a concern expressed that this initiative should help to stop the unemployed joining fascist parties. Education courses were to be run on the role of trade unions. Also there were to be informal activities to deal with social isolation; welfare rights advice; research into the problems of the unemployed. These aims met with mixed success. The welfare rights were based on individual, and not collective, needs. A good crèche might have dealt with social isolation, but the building was not very suitable.   The TUC’s views, together with centralised control, albeit by the TUC in this case, and the experience of using and running the centre must have contributed to the fatalism of the unemployed in the centre.

      In depth interviews with 26 members of the centre, they were split into two groups, 13 political members and 13 non-political. The non-political were largely fatalist. They made no spontaneous connections between their personal sense of disadvantage, and the disadvantages experienced by all the unemployed. Some of the group did use the language of class, and some the language of post-materialism. This latter language saw some temporary advantages in unemployment. They were not under the control of others, and had had a bad experience of employment anyway. They were strongly individualistic.  The political group made connections. They saw themselves as part of a broad working class movement; they were doing something positive for that in the local unemployment centre. This was summed up well by one respondent.

      "You're just an unemployed worker, you know!"

      (Bagguley, 163: 1991)

This political group was actively involved in the centre, and one of the group felt that he had benefited from the education courses offered.

      Local unemployed who had not been in contact with the unemployment centre had the most fatalistic views. One individualist said that "People go their own way".  Another respondent is worth quoting at length.

"Well that's not gonna make a lot of difference if they all get together and stand up for their rights. I mean if there's no jobs, you can't create jobs, can yer? Can't get more jobs. I don't see how you can get more jobs by standing up to the government"!           (Bagguley, 188: 1991)

If one accepts that people in general, and young school leavers in particular, are very committed to paid work; then the above comment shows how this commitment can be undermined by the real, or perceived absence of work. This undermining can be added to the costs of unemployment to society; the lost output, the health and social security costs. Less effort may now be put into looking for a job than before. Job prospects can change over time; jobs can become more available. Yet those undermined by previous lack of jobs may not now be searching. Their energies may have gone in other directions; to self-sufficiency through growing one’s own food, or even to crime.

Source:

Caffrey B. (2001) Why Work: Sociological Answers. Chapter Four. This book is available on my website.

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