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‘Rendering the Strike Innocuous’: The British Government's Response to Industrial Disputes in Essential Industries, 1953–55

Luton University in the Cold War and in European Integration; Department of the Public Record Office

This article considers the strikes in essential industries which the Churchill and Eden governments faced in the mid-1950s. These strikes affected oil distribution, the docks and the railways and appeared to threaten the prospering economy. The article demonstrates that ministers held back from using the strong powers that were available to them to counter such strikes. These Conservative governments were dedicated to removing the lingering wartime economic powers, but had to balance this desire against the powers' utility in the face of such industrial action. When these powers were used, they were targeted carefully to reduce the effects of the strike on society but with an eye to avoiding spreading the dispute. The article also considers the government's emergency machinery which was revived and became established in this period. Thus this article shows how plans and structures developed in response to these strikes between 1953 and 1955 subsequently became a permanent part of the government's arsenal for dealing with industrial unrest.

Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 35, No. 4, 577-600 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/002200940003500404


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