Unions. The governments aims were to reduce the influence of pressure groups on the newly formed freer market.Freeman and Pelletier see the change in union density as being due toA changed legal environment for industrial relationsKahn and Freud take the opinion that there isNo major country in the world in which law has been a less significant role in the shopping of industrial relations Kahn and Freud, P252The five Acts delivered by the Conservative government included the following:1. The Employment Act 19802. The Employment Act 19823. The Trade Union Act 1984 4. The Employment Act 19885. The Employment Act 19901. Employment Act 1980This was the first of the laws to reduce the effectiveness of the closed shop, this made it difficult to arrange and maintain it. The act gave employers legal remedies against secondary picketing. The Act made it so new closed shops had to be agreed by at least four fifths of the workforce. The Act also meant that anybody could claim unfair dismissal if sacked for refusing to join a union, for any other reason other than religious purposes. The Act made it available for public funds to be used to hold unambiguous postal ballots for the election of office.In 1984, 80% of nationalised industries had manual closed shops, yet by 1990, there was less than 1% Milllward et al., 1992, P982. Employment Act 1982The Employment Act of 1982 tightened the law on closed shops and outlawed union labour only contracts. Trade Unions became responsible and liable for damages if they were to investigate unlawful industrial action. Employers were given legal remedies against political strikes.3. Trade Union Act 1984The main point of this Act was against Trade Unions and the way they ran their internal affairs. The Act stated that union executives had to submit themselves for re-election by secret ballot every five years, and unions had to hold a secret ballot every ten years, if they wished to keep th...
