Chronicle: Industrial Relations in the United Kingdom April‐July 1986
| Date | 01 November 1986 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1986.tb00695.x |
| Published date | 01 November 1986 |
British Journal
of
Industrial Relations
24:3
November
1986
0007-1080
$3.00
Chronicle: Industrial Relations in the
United Kingdom April-July
1986
THE LABOUR MARKET
The fall in the price of crude oil, as a result of the failure of the OPEC cartel
to agree on production quotas in the early summer, promised to help British
industry by cutting energy costs and causing a fall in Sterling against many
other major currencies. Nevertheless, the growth of manufacturing output
appeared to falter in April and May. The seasonally adjusted unemploy-
ment figure continued to creep upwards, yet the underlying rate of increase
of average earnings continued at
7.5
per cent, although earnings increases in
manufacturing ceased to rise faster than those in the rest of the economy.
Those unemployed for more than a year stood at
40
per cent of the total, and
many commentators suggested that this part of the unemployed no longer
affect the wage expectations of those in employment. Retail price inflation
dropped to
2.5
per cent in June, less than half the annual rate of increase at
the beginning of the year. Working days lost in industrial disputes continued
at below last year’s level. Despite high levels of unemployment, skill
shortages have been reported with increasing urgency. On May
26,
the
Association of British Chambers of Commerce published a survey showing
that
79
per cent of companies in the Thames Valley area reported difficulty
in finding skilled manual workers. It also highlighted strong regional
variations. On the Merseyside, for example, only
8
per cent of firms
reported such shortages.
GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES
ECONOMIC
POLICY
Share ownership
Responding to the Chancellor’s announcement in his Budget speech
(Chronicle, BJIR, July,
1986),
on April
9,
the TUC’s economic committee
approved a report which did not reject outright, but was critical of the
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