ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS OF SKILL CENTRE TRAINEES TOWARDS TRADE UNIONS AND TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP*
| Author | >Ian Brinkley,JamesJ. Hughes |
| Date | 01 March 1979 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1979.tb00627.x |
| Published date | 01 March 1979 |
ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS
OF
SKILL
CENTRE
TRAINEES TOWARDS TRADE UNIONS AND TRADE UNION
MEMBERSHIP*
JAMES
J.
HUGHESt
AND IAN
BRINKLEY$
I.
INTRODUCTTON
In its written evidence to the
Donovan
Commission
the D.E.P.' expressed concern
about trade union resistance to the absorption
of
government trainees into the skilled
labour force. Since Donovan reported at least four studies have investigated some
aspect
of
this problem. Hall and Mille9 investigated the attitudes
of
trade unions and
other groups towards Government Training CentreS trainees in Scotland and concluded
that the attitude
of
individual trade unionists was sometimes at variance with the official
position
of
the union organisation, and that shop stewards tended to be more tolerant
towards trainees than craftsmen generally.
In a study based in the North East Rees4 examined the attitudes and practices
of
full-time regional and area officials towards trainees and concluded that these officials
were cross pressured between the attitudes that prevailed at the top
of
the union
hierarchies and the attitudes
of
the rank and file.
Hunt,
Fox
and Bradley5 surveyed the post-training careers
of
G.T.C. trainees and
found that the problem
of
non-acceptancea by trade unions was less serious than
it
might
have been because 36 per cent
of
all post-training jobs had been in firms with
no
trade
union organisation.
Only
15 per cent
of
trainees in the sample believed that the attitude
of
trade unions had made it harder for them to use their training skills. Ziderman and
Walder' examined the same problem and concluded that trade unions have a less
deleterious effect on post-training job placement than is often assumed.
Unlike the earlier studies the present paper
is
concerned with trainees' attitudes
towards trade union membership, and how these attitudes relate to their expectations in
the job market. The justification for concentrating upon trainees' attitudes is that they
have received scant attention in the past.
The results reported in this paper are based upon interviews with trainees at the
Southampton and Portsmouth Skiil Centres
(S.C.sj
during the period March to August
1976.
11.
THE
SAMPLES
Two samples
of
trainees were drawn up, one
of
new entrants into the Southampton
and Portsmouth S.C.s, and one
of
leavers from those centres. Entrance to most S.C.
courses is staggered
so
that at the beginning
of
each week a small group
of
trainees enter
and commence training. Consequently at the end
of
each week there
is
a group
of
leavers. Over the twenty-four week period March to August 1976 all new entrants were
interviewed at the S.C. during the week
of
their arrival, while leavers were interviewed
at the S.C. during their final week of training. These interviews gave rise to a sample
of
*
The results reported here are
part
of a wider investigation into
Skill
Centre training carried out
at the University
of
Kent and financed by the Manpower Services Commission. The authors wish to
record their gratitude
to
the Commission for financial support and also their appreciation and
gratitude to Vernon Ward for his encouragement and assistance throughout. Thanks are also due
to Howard Gospel
for
commenting upon an earlier draft of this note.
t
Senior Lecturer
in
Economics, the University of Kent.
$
Formerly Research Associate
in
the Centre for Research
in
Social Sciences, the University
of
Kent. now Research Officer at the Centre for Environmental Studies.
64
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