Unemployment and redundancy: a union viewpoint

The fact that unemployment and the threat of unemployment are two of the major issues facing unions was underlined by an historic first joint conference convened in August 1981 by the Federation of Labour and the Combined State Unions. The present level of unemployment, and the magnitude of potential changes in the labour market over the next decade or so, pose challenges to union organisation just as great as the more immediate problems of maintaining wages levels and working conditions. Since that Conference there has been a series of industrial disputes over aspects of job security both in the private and in the state and local body sectors.