In Place of Strife

In Place of Strife (Cmnd 3888).

In Place of Strife (Cmnd 3888) was a UK Government white paper written in 1969.^[1] It was a proposed act to use the law to reduce the power of trade unions in the United Kingdom, but was never passed into law.^[1] The title of the paper was a reworking of the title of Nye Bevan's book In Place of Fear.

It was proposed by the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, Barbara Castle.^[1] 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 of the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, was divided over the issue.^[1] The proposals had been drafted in secret by Wilson and Castle.^[2] Divisions quickly appeared within the Cabinet when the proposals were presented, with the opposition led by James Callaghan.^[2] A settlement was eventually reached with the Trades Union Congress whereby the proposals were dropped.^[1]

Although the paper itself never resulted in legislation, its requirement that strike action could only take place after a trade union ballot would later become a key component of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

A copy of the paper may be downloaded from the National Archives.^[3]

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