In Place of Strife

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In Place of Strife (Cmnd 3888) was a UK Government white paper written in 1969. It was a proposed act to curb the power of trade unions in the United Kingdom, but was never passed into law.

It was proposed by then-Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity Barbara Castle. Amongst its numerous proposals were plans to force unions to call a ballot before a strike was held and establishment of an Industrial Board to enforce settlements in industrial disputes. The Labour Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister Harold Wilson, was divided over the issue, however, and the opposition, led by Home Secretary James Callaghan, prevailed.

The white paper never became law, although some elements of it could be recognised in the more far-reaching union legislation later enacted by the government of Margaret Thatcher.

Some commentators^[specify] view the rejection of the White Paper as the moment when the Labour Party began its gradual decline towards its 18 years in the political wilderness, from 1979 to 1997. Others^[specify] argued that the lack of legislation to restrict union activity played a role in the escalation of union disputes and strike action that would bring the British economy to its knees in the 1970s. Opponents of the proposed legislation in the trade unions and Labour Party^[specify] argued that the legislation reflected an attempt to reduce the incomes of the working class through making industrial struggles for higher wages more difficult, in order to boost capitalists profits. Those who did not deny this argued that British firms were failing to compete on the world market and that could be revived if profits were boosted (by the restriction of industrial activity) so that the capitalists would invest in the economy, and the economy would grow.

Some opponents^[specify] in the Labour Party of the 1966–70 Wilson government argued that the relative decline of the British economy on the world stage was due to the negligence of the capitalist class and would not be revived by allowing the British capitalists to enrich themselves and boost shareholder earnings at the expense of the working class. They also claimed that the Labour Party’s 1964 electoral manifesto, which called for greater nationalisation of failing companies and investment in the “scientific revolution”, was the key to growth. Others feared that further conflict with the unions would lead to certain electoral defeat. The Labour Party was defeated in 1970. Strike activity continued to rise during the subsequent Conservative government, to 22 million days lost due to strikes in 1972.

The title of the paper was a reworking of the title of Nye Bevan's book "In Place of Fear".