The working class under Thatcher

JOHN GIBSON

The working class under Thatcher It is a commonplace that eight years of Tory government have had a traumatic effect on the British working class. The creation of longterm mass unemployment has proved the most damaging consequence of industrial decline and the Tories' most powerful weapon against the labour movement. Thousands of workers have been made redundant, thousands more have been unable to enter the world of work on leaving school. The young, the old, the unskilled, women and blacks have been the particular victims of the jobs crisis.

Those in work have found themselves forced to work harder in worse conditions, and to give up traditional rights and protections, simply to hold on to a job. Yet the recession of the eighties has produced many contradictory impressions. Traditional heavy industry is collapsing in Clydeside and Tyneside, in the Rhondda, Lancashire and Yorkshire, but what about the new factories springing up in Silicon Glen, the Western corridor and East Anglia? Couldn't Britain survive as a nation of shop assistants, insurance clerks and software salesmen, just as it was once the workshop of the world? There may be more out of work, but are not those who have jobs better off than ever before? For every derelict mill or factory there seems to be a new shopping mall and a leisure centre. The aim of this article is not so much to answer these questions or to challenge the prevailing prejudices about the state of the working

class in 1987, as it is to provide the basic information necessary to begin this task. Before we can understand the impact of the Thatcher years, we need to know what has really changed and what is mere speculation or prejudice. Here we provide the facts; in the next issue of Confrontation we will attempt to draw out some of the political consequences of the current transformation of the working class.

1. Employment and unemployment: an overview The government defines the working population' or the 'economically active' as those of working age who are employees in employment, plus those who are unemployed (including all those without a job who are seeking work whether or not they are claiming benefits), plus the self-employed, plus Her Majesty's armed forces.!

The economically inactive population includes full-time students, full-time houseworkers (mainly women), those taking early retirement and the permanently disabled. The officially defined working population obviously excludes the expanding twilight sector of illegal' immigrants, child labour and other forms of The employed labour force (the working population minus the unemployed) was 24 794 000 in June 1979 and 24 178 000 in September 1986. (Source: Employment 32 illicit working. Table 1 Working population Employees Unemployed Self-employed Armed forces The working population (thousands) Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987) June 1979 The working class under Thatcher 27 376 25 969 22 638 21 160 1 175 3 198 2 696 1 842 314 change +5.4 -6.5 +172 +46 +2.8 323

Source: Employment Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987 Despite an increase in the overall working population (which reflects a growing number of young people entering the labour market, see Graph 1) the number of employees declined by nearly 1.5 million between 1979 and 1986 (see Table 1). Apart from the Graph 1 Thousand 22 750 The working class under Thatcher 27 000 26 750 26 500 26 250 26 000 - 25 750 - 25 500 25 250 25 000 24 750 24 500 24 250 24 000 23 750 23 500 23 250 23 000- Working population and employed labour force Employed labour force Unemployed 33 Seasonally adjusted Working population

The working class under Thatcher 34 dramatic rise in unemployment, the other striking feature is the growth in the number of self-employed-by more than 800 000.

If we look at the fluctuations in the job figures since 1979 we see that the number of jobs reached a trough in 1983 from which there has subsequently been some recovery. Between March 1983 and September 1986 some 1.3m new jobs were created. These include 549000 jobs for the self-employed and 758 000 new employees.

While virtually all the two million jobs lost between 1979 and 1983 were full-time, most of the new jobs created since 1983 have been part-time. The government's method of calculating the working population gives only a very crude picture of the working class. Its labour force totals include many people who cannot be properly regarded as working class, and excludes some who should be included. Changing methods of calculation and attempts to conceal the real level of unemployment have made it difficult to make direct comparisons between 1979 and 1986. • employees The category 'employees' includes many top managers— 3.1 per cent of the total according to one estimate? Even excluding this category, the total evidently includes many managerial, supervisory, technical and professional staff who play an intermediate role between capital and labour in society. However there is no statistical way of defining these social strata. Young people on Youth Training Schemes (362 000 in September 1986) are not counted as employees. However, those on the Community Programme are: there were 241 000 such workers in September 1986.

While the numbers in the armed forces are recorded separately, the police are included in the category of 'employees. Both wings of the security forces are agents of the capitalist state. They are largely recruited from the working class, but no longer part of it. In March 1986 there were 192 000 police. In 1979 there were approximately 188 000.

The working class under Thatcher 35 • self-employed Statistics on self-employment are unreliable. The best source is the population census which is carried out every 10 years-the most recent was in 1981. Subsequent figures are based on a small household sample-the labour force survey—which is carried out annually. Monthly estimates are based on the assumption that the numbers of self-employed have continued to rise at the same rate as they did between 1981 and 1985, that is, at around 30 000 a month.

There is some evidence to suggest that current figures exaggerate the increase." The number of people classified as "self-employed' increased by 854 000 between 1979 and 1986. This figure includes capitalist entrepreneurs, large and small, as well as many ordinary workers who are obliged to work as subcontractors, freelancers and homeworkers. The number of the self-employed who do not employ other workers grew from 1.0m (58 per cent of the total) in 1979 to 1.8m (67 per cent) in 1986.* Self-employed workers are concentrated in distribution, services and particularly in construction, which accounted for two thirds of the total self-employed in 1984. Most of the growth in the selfemployed is the result of directly employed workers being forced to turn themselves into one-man (they are 75 per cent male) subcontractors in order to get or hang on to jobs. While there have been record numbers of bankruptcies, there has been no increase in the number of small businesses being set up each year since 1979.

• the unemployed According to official figures there were 3.198m out of work in September 1986, compared with 1.175m in June 1979. However between June 1979 and September 1986 there were no less than 18 changes in the way unemployment is calculated.' These changes are estimated to have removed 674 000 from the unemployed register.

There has also been a major expansion of government schemes specially designed to keep the unemployed off the register and off the streets. These schemes, such as the Youth Training Scheme, the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative and the Young Workers Scheme, involve 474 000 people in various work and bogus

36 The working class under Thatcher training activities, for which they receive no more than basic dole benefits. Adding the 674 000 people artificially removed from the books to the 474 000 on make-work schemes to the official unemployment figure brings the total for September 1986 up to 4.319m. This total includes 200 000 women who were removed from the figures by an October 1982 ruling that only those eligible to claim benefit could register as unemployed. However it is reckoned that a further 300 000 women could be added to the total.° This brings the real total of unemployed in September 1986 up to 4.619m.

2. Changes in employment patterns Not only has there been a drop in the number of jobs since 1979, but there have been significant changes in the patterns of employment.?

While manufacturing has declined dramatically, employment in the service sector has held steady overall and expanded significantly in some areas. The private sector has grown as nationalised industries, ManuF public administration and services have been cut back and privatised. In every sector there has been a growth of insecure jobs Peclive with poor pay and conditions (part-time, subcontractors, temporary workers) around a core of permanently employed workers with better pay and conditions (see Table 2).

a) Manufacturing The number of people employed in manufacturing declined from 7.1m in June 1979 to 5.2m in September 1986—a total drop of 1.9m or 27 per cent. In 1979 some 31 per cent of all employees worked in manufacturing, today the figure is 24 per cent. The decline in British manufacturing since 1979 has been a rapid acceleration of a longterm trend: in a great industrial city like Sheffield 50 per cent of all jobs were in manufacturing in 1972; today the proportion is 20 per cent.

Source: Employment Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987 Table 2 Mineral, ore extraction Other manufacturing Total manufacturing Energy, water supply Construction Professional services Miscellaneous services Public services Total services The working class under Thatcher Changes in employment patterns, 1979-1986 (male and female, thousands) Metal goods, engineering, vehicles Total production and construction Agriculture, forestry, fishing

TOTAL ALL SECTORS

June 1979 1129.2 3331.9 2646.2 7107.3 711.5 1096.5 9019.6 358.7 4624.1 2156.3 6438.0 13 218.4 22 596.7 Sept 1986 773.3 2305.9 2086.8 5165.9 518.8 983.7 6668.4 338.4 5201.1 2467.6 6435.5 14 104.2 21 111.0 % change -31.5 -30.8 -19,9 -27.3 -27.1 -18.1 -26.1 -5.7 +12.3 +14,4 0.0 +6.7 -6.6

38 The working class under Thatcher • a uniform collapse The decline in employment in manufacturing has affected almost every sector of industry. Worst hit have been metal manufacturing (down 55 per cent), motor vehicles and parts (down 47 per cent) and textiles (down 38 per cent). The only growth area was office machinery and data processing equipment, where employment has increased by 27 per cent.

• a sunrise sector? The new technology sector is the last hope of all those who see some future for British manufacturing. What sort of employment prospects does it offer? The definition of what constitutes a high technology industry or company is a difficult and controversial area.

It is important to recognise that while many jobs classified as 'hitech' are in traditional manufacturing or assembly work, some jobs in traditional manufacturing are quite hi-tech. For example, of the 42 000 workers engaged in the electronics industry in Scotland, only 10 per cent actually work with semiconductors. However, the modernised steel plant at Ravenscraig has a higher proportion of hitech workers than many electronics firms.? We use the most commonly used criterion-those industries which have the highest ratio of research and development costs to their output.'° The top 10 categories are: radio and electronic capital goods aerospace equipment, manufacture and repair electronic data processing equipment pharmaceutical products electrical instruments and control systems telegraph and telephone apparatus office machinery synthetic resins, plastics and rubber active components and electronic sub-assemblies electronic consumer goods.

The working class under Thatcher 39 These sectors employed a total of 669 100 people in March 1986.

Given changes in the classification methods, the nearest date we can use as a comparison is March 1982 —before the supposed 1983 jobs upturn. The total jobs in the same sectors then was 696 600: in other words, the number employed in the new-tech sector has declined by 27500 over the past four years.

By its nature the hi-tech sector is highly capital intensive. Taking the office machinery and data processing sectors together, between 1979 and 1985 output went up by 30.8 per cent a year, while employment increased by 0.8 per cent a year." In addition, Britain's competitive prospects in the hi-tech sector appear bleak. Already it is being left far behind by Japan, West Germany and the USA. A sector which employs only a few hundred thousand workers in total, and seems unlikely to expand much, offers little prospect of a recovery in the jobs market. • the military-industrial complex Defence spending is playing an increasingly important role in British industry-and in the structure of employment.

In the 12 months up to March 1980, total Ministry of Defence expenditure on British products accounted for 6.2 per cent of the net output of manufacturing industry.!? In the year ending in 1985, it took 10 per cent in cash terms. MoD spending on manufactured goods more than doubled from £3360m to £6840m. If we include arms exports, both figures rise by a third. In 1985 the MoD took 50 per cent of the output of British Aerospace, 40 per cent of British Shipbuilders' products and 20 per cent of the produce of the electronics industry. Today some 520 000 people are employed directly or indirectly on defence contracts. Defence now accounts for around one in 10 of the manufacturing workforce-in 1979 the figure was one in 13. Going to war is a traditional capitalist response to economic crisis—in the thirties rearmament provided the stimulus to industrial revival out of the Great Depression. Today British industrialists are looking to a share in Reagan's Star Wars programme, participation in joint European military initiatives or to independent British projects as a solution to their profitability problems. The 'military-

40 The working class under Thatcher industrial complex' may provide jobs in the short term for millions of workers, but the long-term consequences could be catastrophic for the whole of society. b) Non-manufacturing production industries • energy and water supply Around 27 per cent of jobs have disappeared in this increasingly capital intensive sector since 1979. The total fell from 711 500 to 518 800; men were affected more adversely than women.

• construction The building industry has been one of the greatest casualties of the recession: the number of direct employees is down 18 per cent on 1979—from 1.2m to 983 700. There has, however, been considerable expansion of self-employment in the construction sector: from 343 000 in 1979 to 469 000 in 1986. Adding the selfemployed to the total figures, the overall decline is six per cent.

• agriculture, forestry and fisheries Employment in this long-declining sector has continued to contract in the recession. The number of jobs fell from 358 700 to 338 400 between June 1979 and September 1986, a 5.7 per cent drop. Women were hit harder than men.

c) Services The total employed in services increased from 13.2m in June 1979 to 14. Im in September 1986 —an increase of 0.9m, or 6.7 per cent. In 1979 some 58 per cent of employees worked in services, by 1986 the proportion was 67 per cent. However, the small overall increase disguises significant variations between different categories within the service sector. It also obscures the fact that there has been a significant expansion of self-employment in services: from 1.1m in 1979 to 1.5m in 1986—a 38 per cent increase.

If we divide the service sector into three broad categories we can get a better idea of the changes that have taken place. The following

The working class under Thatcher 41 classification is used by the general and municipal workers' union as a guide to its drive to expand recruitment in targeted service sectors."?

• professional services Professional services include wholesale and retail distribution, banking, insurance and finance and other business services, renting and real estate. Overall employment in this sector expanded by more than 12 per cent between June 1979 and September 1986, from 4 624 100 to 5 201 100. The biggest growth area was business services (up 53 per cent), followed by banking and finance (up 25 per cent). While employment in wholesale distribution grew by slightly less than five per cent, jobs in retailing declined by three per cent.

There has also been a major increase in self-employment in this sector, from 886 000 to 1.1m, a rise of 190.000, or more than 21 per cent. • miscellaneous and leisure services Direct employment in hotels and catering, cleaning and repairs, recreation, culture and personal services such as hairdressing has expanded overall by 14 per cent, from 2 156 300 to 2 467 600.

However, there has been a much larger growth in self-employed workers in this sector, from 234 000 to 467 000, a rise of almost 100 per cent. Combining direct self-employment in professional and miscellaneous leisure services we can see that there has been an overall increase of 1 335 300 jobs in private services—an increase of nearly 17 per cent. • public services Public services include transport, post and telecommunications, public administration, education and health. Overall the public services job market has stagnated: total jobs remained constant at around 6.4m. The biggest fall was in public administration (an eight per cent drop). The biggest increase was in 'other services' which grew by 22 per cent, and in 'medical and other health' which registered a 12 per cent growth. Self-employment is not a significant factor in public services. Employment in public transport has

42 The working class under Thatcher declined in all sectors, especially sea and rail.

• bogus growth It is important to note that some of the growth in service employment is bogus—a result of statistical manipulations. Two of the biggest growth areas-business services and wholesale distribution -have benefited from the replacement of directly employed workers by various types of subcontractors. The privatisation of government services, for example, may appear to create new jobs in the contract cleaning sector, whereas in fact jobs are merely being shifted from one sector to another—and usually cut in the process. The Institute of Manpower Studies estimates as many as 300 000 of the "new" service jobs could be of this character.!* The government's habit of counting part-time jobs in the same way as full-time jobs gives an unduly rosy picture of the growth in jobs.

d) Flexibility One of the most significant trends of the past few years has been the introduction of 'flexible' employment and working patterns within the workplace. These developments have taken place in parallel with the emergence of a dual labour market including a core of securely employed, skilled or trained workers with decent pay and conditions and prospects, and a periphery of unskilled, insecurely employed workers with little prospects of training or promotion. The diagram below summarises the concept of the 'flexible firm', the goal of modern management. Numerical flexibility allows employers to adjust manpower levels to fluctuating output demands by varying the mix of part-timers and temporary workers, as well as workers doing overtime or shifts and those on flexible hours. Functional flexibility allows management to deploy the same worker to perform a wider variety of tasks.

"Distancing' means replacing directly employed workers with those with a more "distant relationship-subcontractors, the selfemployed, agency temps or freelancers.

A recent survey, conducted by the Institute of Manpower Studies for the National Economic Development Office in association with

The bosses' objective: a flexible labour market

PERICAL FLEXIBLY

DESPERA CROUP

Agency temporaries Source: IMS The working class under Thatcher Sell-employment Core group Functional flexibility Trainees Retrainees Public subsidy trainees in company Trainees not in employing bodies Short-term contracts

PERIPHERAL GROUPZ

part-timers 43

HUMERICAL FLEXIBILITY

Subcontracting

44 The working class under Thatcher the Department of Employment, assessed moves towards more flexible working patterns in 72 large firms in four different sectors-engineering, food and drink manufacturing, retail distribution and financial services.' Elements of the above approach, in different combinations, were apparent in virtually all the firms surveyed Nine out of 10 firms had introduced changes towards greater numerical flexibility. Temporary working was particularly common in manufacturing, part-time working more apparent in services. The use of overtime and shift working was a particular feature of engineering, and much less prevalent in financial services. The survey noted that functional flexibility was virtually confined _ to manufacturing. The increased use of various sorts of distancing' arrangements was reported in 70 per cent of firms.

In early 1987 the government made its first official estimate of the size of the secondary labour market: 8. 1m, a figure reckoned to have grown by 16 per cent between 1981 and 1985.l6 This figure includes part-timers, temporary workers, homeworkers and the selfemployed. Between 1981 and 1985 the number of temporary workers is estimated to have risen from 621 000 (including various schemes) to 1 314 000 (excluding schemes). In 1983 an industrial tribunal ruled that a casual worker who worked solely for the Trusthouse Forte hotel and catering chain was technically self-employed. Despite years of service he had no legal right to claim redundancy pay. The number of part-time jobs increased by 300 000 between 1981 and 1985.

There are around 1.88m home-based workers in Britain today.

The proportion of workers classified as 'permanent' declined from 70 per cent of all employees in 1981 to 66 per cent in 1985. The 34 per cent of the national labour force designated as peripheral includes 25 percent of all male workers and 50 percent of female workers.

Projections worked out at Warwick University anticipate that the peripheral workforce will grow by 900 000 over the next four years, while overall employment declines by one million.'

It is important to emphasise that the dual labour market remains a goal towards which many capitalists aspire, rather than a state of affairs which prevails at present in British industry. It is much more difficult for crisis-ridden British employers to create the conditions

The working class under Thatcher 45 for a stable and loyal core workforce today than it is has been for booming Japanese and German employers over the past 30 years.

The resilience of traditional workplace methods and trade union organisation remains an obstacle to the fulfilment of the bosses' dream of a totally flexible and subservient workforce.!9 e) Sex The most striking shift in the sexual division of labour over the past eight years has been the relative decline of male employment (see Tables 3 and 4). Between June 1979 and September 1986 the number of male employees in full-time employment declined by almost 1.5m, a drop of more than 11 per cent. In the same period the number of female employees remained virtually constant (see Tables 5, 6 and 7).

Full-time women's jobs fell by 1.5 per cent, part-time jobs increased by 2.6 per cent; overall women's jobs grew by 0.2 per cent. As a result men's share of the labour market fell from 58 to 55 per cent, while women's rose from 42 to 45 per cent.

Full-time male employment has declined in every area of manufacturing except for that producing office machinery and data processing equipment. The overall decline in jobs between June 1979 and September 1986 was nearly 28 per cent. Including other production and construction employment, the drop was nearly 27 per cent. The five per cent increase in men's jobs in services provided little respite for men shaken out of industry.

Because men have been predominantly employed in manufacturing, they have been bit hard by its decline. In terms of full-time employment, men's jobs have fallen by 11 per cent, whereas for the whole of the workforce the fall is eight per cent. In June 1979, 51 per cent of male workers were employed in production and construction industries, compared with 40 per cent of the employed workforce as a whole. By September 1986 the proportions were 42 and 32 respectively. Looking at it another way, in June 1979 men constituted 74 per cent of all workers in production and construction; today the percentage is the same—but 1.8m men's jobs have disappeared.

Full-time jobs for women have also declined in every sector of manufacturing except office machinery and data processing

Source: Employment Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987 Source: Employment Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987 46 Table 3 all figures in thousands) male female Table 4 (thousands) Mineral, ore extraction Other manufacturing Total manufacturing Energy, water supply Construction Professional services Miscellaneous services Public services Total services The sexual division of labour Employees in employment (including part-time women, Changes in male employment, 1979-1986 Metal goods, engineering, vehicles Total production and construction Agriculture, forestry, fishing

TOTAL ALL SECTORS

June 1979 % 13 153 9 443 June 1979 891.0 2604.1 1506.0 5001.1 621.8 1096.5 6719.4 269.4 2242.4 941.4 2981.1 6164.9 13 153.7 The working class under Thatcher Sept 1986 11 652 58 9 460 42 Sept 1986 592.7 1822.5 1206.6 3621.8 444.3 865.2 4931.3 250,3 2518.8 1102.2 2849.4 6470.6 11 652.2 % 55 45 % change -33.5 -30.0 - 19.9 -27.6 -28.5 -21.1 -26.6 -7.1 +12.3 +17.1 -4.4 +5.0 -11.4

Source: Employment Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987 Table 5 1979-1986 (thousands) Mineral, ore extraction Other manufacturing Total manufacturing Energy, water supply Construction Professional services Miscellaneous services Public services Total services

TOTAL ALL SECTORS

The working class under Thatcher Changes in full-time employment for women, Metal goods, engineering, vehicles Total production and construction Agriculture, forestry, fishing June 1979 190.5 581.0 845.2 1616.7 71.3 62.8 1750.8 57.6 1382.7 467.2 1918.4 3768.3 5576.7 Sept 1986 152.3 411.7 690.3 1254.3 60.9 68.4 1383.6 55.8 1567.1 523.1 1961.9 4052.1 5491.5 47 % change -20.1 -29.1 -18.3 -22.4 -14.6 +8.9 -21.0 -3.1 +13.3 +12.0 +2.3 +7.5 -1.5

Source: Employment Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987 48 Table 6 1979-1986 (thousands) Mineral, ore extraction Other manufacturing Total manufacturing Energy, water supply Construction Professional services Miscellancous services Public services Total services

TOTAL ALL SECTORS

Changes in part-time employment for women, Metal goods, engincering, vehicles Total production and construction Agriculture, forestry, fishing June 1979 47.7 146.8 295.0 489.5 18.4 41.4 549.3 31.7 999.4 747.7 1538.4 3285.6 3866.6 The working class under Thatcher Sept 1986 28.3 71.6 190.0 289.9 13.6 50.1 353.6 32.3 1116.1 842.3 1624.1 3582.5 3968.4 % change -40.7 -51.2 -35.6 -40.8 -26.1 +21.0 -35.6 +1.9 +11.7 +12.7 +5.6 +9.0 +2.6

Source: Employment Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987 Table 7 1979-1986 (thousands) Minerals, ore extraction Other manufacturing Total manufacturing Energy, water supply Construction Professional services Miscellaneous services Public services Total services The working class under Thatcher Changes in women's employment (full-time and part-time), Metal goods, engineering, vehicles Total production and construction Agriculture, forestry, fishing

TOTAL ALL SECTORS

June 1979 238.2 727.8 1140.2 2106.2 89.7 104.2 2300.1 89.3 2382.1 1214.9 3456.9 7053.9 9443.3 Sept 1986 180.6 483.3 880,3 1544.2 74.5 118.5 1737.2 88.1 2683.2 1365.4 3586.0 7634.6 9459.9 % change -24.2 -33.6 -22.8 -26.7 -16.9 +13.7 -24.5 -1.3 +12.6 +12.4 +3.7 +8.2 +0.2

50 The working class under Thatcher equipment: the overall drop between June 1979 and September 1986 was 22 per cent. There was however a rise in full-time jobs—nine per cent—in construction, though the numbers involved are small.

Women's full-time jobs increased in the service sector overall by seven per cent. The biggest growth areas were sanitary services (76 per cent) and business services (61 per cent). Full-time jobs for women declined on the railways (15 per cent), other inland transport (six per cent), in public administration and defence (eight per cent) and in education (five per cent).

Women's work is now heavily concentrated in services: in June 1979, 68 per cent of full-time women workers were employed in services, by September 1986, the proportion was 74 per cent.

• women and part-time work The number of women engaged in part-time work increased slightly from 3.867m in June 1979 to 3.968m in September 1986, an increase of 103 000, or less than three per cent. The number of part-time women workers declined in every manufacturing sector —the overall drop was 41 per cent. The growth area was services where part-time jobs for women went up by nine per cent. There were substantial increases in sanitary services (76 per cent), insurance (25 per cent) and banking and finance (12 per cent).

It should be noted that the figures for part-timers exclude women who are self-employed part-time and homeworkers, of whom there are estimated to be between 300 000 and 600 000 in Britain, virtually all women.2 f) Geography The stereotype of the worker as the bluff northerner with folk memories of cloth caps and clogs, chapel and union, of leeks, ferrets and pigeons, if it ever bore much relation to reality, is now increasingly remote. Since the inter-war years there has been a steady drift of population in Britain away from Scotland, Wales, and the North towards the South-east. This has continued in the recession, producing an unprecedented concentration of people within 100 miles of London.

Source: Employment Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987.

The working class under Thatcher (i) number of employees in each sector (1986) (il) % change in each sector 1979-1986 Sector Services Diagram 1 North/South: changes in employment patterns (it) as % of total employees in the particular sector North Employees in thousands Production and construction All industry Sector Production and construction Services All industry (i) 4 155 6 900 11 234 South Employees in thousands 2 513 7.054 9 727 (ii) 62.3 49.4 53.6 (1) (il) 37.7 50.6 46.4 51 (iii) -29.0 +1.3 -12.6 (lil) -20.7 +9.5 -0.5

52 Source: Same as Diagram 1 Changes in jobs (1979-86) (i) in absolute numbers in that sector (i) as % of total job losses in that region Sector construction Services All industry Diagram 2 North/South: jobs lost and gained North Numbers in (i) in thousands Production and Sector Production and construction Services All industry South Numbers in (i) in thousands The working class under Thatcher (i) -1 700 +89 -1 629 (1) -656 +613 -45 (li) 72.2 12.7 97.3 (ii) 27.8 87.3 2.7

The working class under Thatcher 53 In 1979 around 33 per cent of all employees in employment in Britain lived in the South-east; today the proportion is more than 35 per cent. The South-east not only contains 39 per cent of all service workers, but 29 percent of all manufacturing workers too. Yet manufacturing in the South-east has also been hit by the recession: Greater London lost 43 per cent of its manufacturing jobs between 1960 and 1978. We can get a broader view of the North-South divide if we draw a line across the country from the Wash to the Bristol Channel. In 1979 43 per cent of all employees worked south of this line; by 1986 the proportion was above 46 per cent. The proportion of workers north of the line declined from 57 to to 54 per cent. Changes in particular sectors follow a similar pattern. The proportion of all manufacturing employees working in the South increased from 35 per cent in 1979 to 38 per cent in 1986; in the same period the proportion in the North dropped from 65 to 62 per cent. In services the proportion in the South rose from 49 to 51 per cent; in the North it fell by the same amount. There has been much discussion of the higher rate of job loss in the North over the Thatcher years. It is true that 97 per cent of all job losses have occurred in the North, but this global figure disguises a number of important factors. The fact that production and construction industries-the sectors hardest hit by the recession were concentrated in the North has meant that it suffered disproportionately from the jobs shakeout. At the same time the concentration of service jobs—a relative growth area—in the South has eased the impact of the manufacturing collapse. In addition the shakeout of heavy manufacturing has been more drastic in the North and the compensatory growth of services less.

The wave of closures and mass redundancies in the North should not be allowed to obscure the considerable shakeout in the South.

Between 1979 and 1986, while the North lost 29 per cent of its production and construction jobs, the South lost 21 per cent of its jobs in the same sector. However services grew by 10 per cent in the South, compared with a one percent expansion in the North.

Diagrams 1 and 2 summarise the changes. (For regional comparisons we use figures for direct employees only, taken from the Department

54 The working class under Thatcher of Employment, whilst recognising their limitations.)

Another significant feature of the recession is the growth of new jobs in small firms in rural areas and small towns, while the big plants in the old conurbations face closure and decline. In 1985 it was estimated that five million workers worked in small firms—a figure projected to reach between 5.7 and 6.3 million by 1990.2 But are small firms the answer to unemployment? A recent pamphlet makes this question in its title, and answers it in the negative." At present employment growth in small firms (with a workforce of less than 50) is growing at rates between zero and two per cent a year. Meanwhile firms employing more than 500 are shedding labour at a rate of more than two per cent a year. When a firm of 50 grows by two per cent only one job is gained, but when a firm of 500 loses two per cent of its workforce, 10 jobs are lost.

g) Consequences for union membership Graph 2 shows changes in union membership and density over the past seven years. Table 8 looks at the impact of the recession on a number of big unions. The overall picture is one of declining membership and density-from 55 per cent in 1979 to 42 per cent today. Membership of the major TUC unions is down by 21 per cent, with the TGWU, long the most powerful union within the TUC, particularly hard hit by a 31 per cent drop. Other unions in traditional manufacturing, transport and construction industries have all lost members heavily. Many have been forced into mergers in an attempt to keep up numbers and influence. The only unions which have managed to retain membership are those with a solid public service sector base-Nupe, Nalgo and Cohse. If the public sector cushion was removed, trade union membership in Britain would approach the 20 per cent levels of the USA or France.

Total TUC-affiliated union membership has fallen from 11.5 million in 1979 to 9.5 million in 1985. For the purposes of bolstering their bloc votes at TUC and Labour Party conferences, all the unions tend to register inflated figures. Some include former members who are unemployed and have long failed to pay regular dues. In some cases official figures may be as much as 20 to 30 per cent above the

1979-81 from Bain and Price, British Journal of Industrial Relations 1981-86 compiled from the certification officer for trade unions and the 60- 59 58 57. 56- 54 53 $*********=32 Union density % - Source: Employment Gazette The working class under Thatcher Graph 2 The union slump (A) 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 (A) number of union members as a proportion of people in work (B) number of union members as a proportion of economically active population (le, includes unemployed) 1984 55 1985 1986

56 Table 8 TUC affiliate Transport and General Workers Workers General, Municipal, National and Local Government Officers National Union of Public Employees Staffs Finance Civil and Public Services Association Changes in membership of some large TUC affiliates Amalgamated Engineering Boilermakers and Allied Trades Association of Scientific Technical and Managerial Banking, Insurance and membership 1979 2 086 281 1 510 093 1 096 865 753 226 691 770 491 000 131 774 223 884 The working class under Thatcher membership 1986 1 434 005 1 226 158 839 920 752 131 663 776 390 000 157 468 146 537 % change -31.3 -18.8 -23.4 -0.1 -4.0 -20.6 +19.5 -34.5

continued Service Employees Plumbing Women Teachers Allied Trades and Technicians and Allied Workers Workers National Union of Teachers National Union of Mineworkers National Union of Railwaymen Source: TUC The working class under Thatcher Confederation of Health Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Union of Construction, Union of Shop, Distributive Union of Communication

TOTAL OF LARGE UNIONS

membership 1979 212 930 443 621 152 222 348 875 470 017 203 452 290 740 372 122 170 294 9 649 166 membership 1986 212 980 347 635 127 612 248 693 385 455 194 244 207 651 135 306 130 261 7 599 832 57 % change 0.0 -21.6 -16.2 -28.7 -18.0 -4.5 -28.6 -63.6 -23.5 -21.2

58 The working class under Thatcher real membership levels. Table 9 reveals one of the striking features of recent trends in union membership: union density has remained approximately constant in both manufacturing and service sectors since 1979. But how can density remain the same in all sectors yet decline overall?

The answer lies in the fact that as a proportion of total employment, jobs in manufacturing—the area with the highest density-have fallen dramatically. At the same time employment in service sectors such as distribution, hotel and catering, repairs—where union membership has always been low—has risen rapidly. Thus union density in metal goods and vehicles, where hundreds of thousands of jobs have disappeared, has remained steady at around 67 per cent. It has also held steady in the expanding hotel sector—at around seven per cent. What about union membership in the growth areas-private services and small manufacturing firms? A number of factors make union organisation difficult in the private service sector. The entrepreneurs who run fast-food joints and hairdressing salons are notoriously anti-union employers. They also tend to have a rapid les than a third of workers stay in a 0b for 12 months at a stating.

McDonald's has a turnover of between 40 and 70 per cent a month?24 Since 1983 some 95 per cent of all the new jobs in this sector have been part-time.? The fact that workers in private services tend to work in small numbers in scattered units under direct management supervision adds to the problems of union recruitment and organisation. Prospects for the unions are scarcely more promising in the new technology/small manufacturing sector. Two detailed studies of firms in Scotland's new-tech towns of East Kilbride, Irvine, Glenrothes and Livingston give some idea of the scope for union recruitment in this sector.2 In 1982 the level of unionisation was 35 per cent, compared with a national level of 48 per cent. Of manual workers 48 per cent were unionised and 20 per cent of non-manuals (compared with 73 and 32 per cent national averages). By 1986 union density in the area had fallen to 20 per cent. In some

sectors-instrument engineering, electrical engineering, electronics and vehicles—union membership was virtually zero.

Changes in the proportions of union members in different occupational sectors, 1968 Changes in the classification of jobs make comparisons over the whole period impossible. We can however note the changes between 1968 and 1978, using figures compiled by Price and Bain, in British Journal of Industrial Relations, March 1983, and look at the statistics compiled by the Department of Employment and published in the annual union membership surveys in the Employment Gazette.

Dramatic changes in union density—such as for example the apparent sharp fall in agriculture-are generally statistical artefacts resulting from changing methods Table 9 to 1984 of classification. Sector Tobacco Chemicals Coal mining Construction Distribution Health services Railways The working class under Thatcher Metals and engineering Cotton and m-m fibres Bricks and building materials Insurance, banking, etc Miscellaneous services 1968 76.9 39.4 56.7 81.0 28.9 89.9 30.1 10.7 37.9 83.4 42.9 4.8 1976 97.6 53.0 74.1 101.4 56.8 98.6 32.4 13.0 64.7 94.0 52.5 7.0 59 (1968-78) % change 1978 95.8 +18.9 58.5 +19.4 79.6 +22.9 98.2 +17.2 62.5 +33.6 97.1 +7.2 36.7 +6.6 +4.2 14.9 73.7 +35.8 97.8 +14.4 +11.9 54.8 7.3 +2.5

60 Sector Agriculture, forestry Mining and quarrying Engineering, electrical Textiles Clothing, footwear, etc Other manufacturing Paper, print, publishing Construction Gas, electricity, water Distribution Insurance, banking, etc Professional, scientific Education Miscellaneous services Sector Agriculture, forestry Energy, water supply Other manufacturing Construction Education Medical, health care Transport, communication Minerals, metals, chemicals Metal goods, engineering, vehicles Distribution, hotel/catering Transport and communication Banking, finance, insurance, etc 1979 20.5 68.7 79.0 60.8 47.5 10.8 80.9 28.2 13.9 54.1 17.9 27.7 41.9 44.2 6.7 The working class under Thatcher 1980 19.3 69.3 80.4 59.2 42.3 10.3 81.1 25.8 13.9 54.2 17.3 28.2 42.6 41.9 6.6. 0.1 61.2 16.5 66.6 31.3 25.9 11.2 54.8 19.2 48.4 51.6 1981 18.2 na 70.0 65.2 85.1 80.9 40.8 27.7 44.0 39.1 10.0 9.6 75.8 83.8 25.4 26.7 14.2 15.0 54.4 54.1 17.7 17.3 27.0 27.3 42.4 42.1 42.6 43.1 5.5 5.8 0.1 0.1 $5.0 57.8 15.5 17.3 68.0 66.7 33.8 33.6 26.7 26.4 10.8 10.5 53.5 53.4 18.5 18.9 47.0 48.9 52.3 53.1

The working class under Thatcher 61 3. Unemployment a) How they fiddle the figures • taking people off the register One objective of the government's various job creation schemes is simply to reduce the numbers registered as unemployed. Another similar device was the government's June 1983 decision to remove all men over 60 from the register.

• redefining the terms In October 1982 the government changed the definition of unemployment from all those registering as available for work to all those able to claim benefit. This removed 200 000 from the unemployment statistics at a stroke. Another measure introduced in March 1986 changed the way in which the percentage unemployed is calculated. Until then it had been calculated over a total of employees in employment, the number unemployed and the police/army. Now the self-employed are lumped in to reduce the level: by the old method the official unemployment rate today would be 13.0 per cent—the new method cuts it to 11.4 per cent. A more realistic estimate, excluding the self-employed and state forces from the total workforce, and adding an extra 300 000 women to the unemployment total (see above), gives a level of 18.7 per cent.

For the purposes of making comparisons of unemployment levels in different sections of society, we use the official figures, while recognising their limitations. The percentages given use a base which excludes the self-employed.

b) Regional variations The most striking feature that emerges from comparing regional unemployment levels is the fairly even spread of joblessness and its uniform rise over the past five years. In 1979 the range was between three and eight per cent, with the South-east at the bottom and the North at the top of the table. In 1986 the range has shifted up the

62 The working class under Thatcher table, but the differential has remained constant: the gap is now between 10 and 18 per cent and despite some minor fluctuations there is little change in the positions of the regions in the league table of unemployment levels. It is also worth noting that unemployment in the South-east today is at a significantly higher level than it was in the depressed North only six years ago. The key factor in levelling out regional unemployment is the cushioning effect of employment in both public and private services. Even where local manufacturing industries are in a state of collapse, jobs are still available in hospitals, schools, town halls as well as in supermarkets, hairdresser's salons and fastfood outlets. c) Age and duration The government's job creation schemes have a significant effect on the unemployed under the age of 25. The Community Programme Youth raining Scheme the Young a wise mend the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative involved 447 000 people in 1986-87 with an income equivalent to basic benefit or slightly more.? The most striking feature of the figures is the increase in long-term unemployment for all age groups. The number out of work for more than 12 months has increased from 346 800 in 1979 to 1.341m in 1986 —a rise of 287 per cent. If we include those on schemes paying no more than dole money, youth unemployment increases from 428 000 in April 1979 to 1.592m in October 1986 —a rise of 271 per cent.

Graph 3 summarises the changes in employment by duration.

Weeks: over/up to 1976 The working class under Thatcher Graph 3 The growth of long-term unemployment 2 2-8 8-26 26-52 52-104 104 1978 Source: Department of Employment 1980 1982 1984 63 3.5 3.0 10) 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0 1986

The problems of calculating female unemployment make it difficult to estimate sex differentials. Here are the official figures.

Table 10 Male and female unemployment levels—-the official figures Source: Employment Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987.

From these figures it appears that the differential between the sexes has remained fairly constant. However, we have noted the various devices used to remove unemployed women from the statistics. To get a more accurate picture of the changes we need to add 200 000 women to the 1986 total, adjust for the effects on women's unemployment of all the other statistical changes made between 1979 and 1986, and finally add an extra 300 000 women to the figure of women out of work in both 1979 and 1986. Following this procedure Comparing the economic activity rates of men and women gives some insight into the extent to which women are excluded not only from work, but even from the ranks of the unemployed.

64 d) Sex Male Female Total Table 11 Male Female Total Female as % male we get the following table.

Female as % male June 1979 887 200 393 900 1 281 100 44.4 Male and female unemployment levels—the real figures June 1979 887 200 693 900 1 581 100 78 The working class under Thatcher June 1986 2 179 000 1 040 700 3 219 700 47.8 June 1986 2 628 650 1 990 350 4 619 000 76

The working class under Thatcher 65 Table 12 Economic activity rates of men and women All ages above 16, in millions All 26.5 (61.8%) Married female 7.2 (52.2%) Male 15.5 (75.4%) Other female 3.8 (44.3%) Female 10.9 (49.2%) Source:Employment Gazette If the same proportion of women as men were counted as economically active, then we would have to add more than five million on to the unemployment figures.

e) Race It is well-known that there are now high levels of unemployment among ethnic minorities. However, racial discrimination has not always taken the form of higher unemployment. In the sixties blacks were differentially employed in poorly paid work in manufacturing and public services. If we examine immigrant unemployment rates over the past 25 years, we see that in the early sixties when immigration was at its peak, the rate of black unemployment was several times that of whites,? There was a steep fall in immigrant unemployment in the late sixties. By 1974 unemployment was running at around four per cent for black as well as white workers.?* For black women and young people, unemployment rates were slightly higher than for their white peers. Since 1974 the gap between immigrant and white unemployment has widened rapidly due to the sharp decline in manufacturing industry. In 1977 black/ Asian unemployment was running at 9.6 per cent, compared to 5.2 per cent for whites, By 1981 unemployment levels were 18 per cent for West Indians, 17 per cent for Asians and 14 per cent for other immigrants, compared with 9 per cent for whites."!

Average figures for Spring 1983, Spring 1984 and Spring 1985 show a widening gap. Whereas white unemployment averaged 11 per cent, unemployment among ethnic minorities was 20 per cent. For people of West Indian origin it was 22 per cent, for those from India it was 17 per cent, for those from Pakistan/Bangladesh it was 32 per cent.?

Differentials were greatest in the declining traditional manufacturing areas of the North-west, Greater Manchester, the East and West Midlands. In the North-west for example, in 1983-84-85, an average of 14 per cent of white men were out of work; the proportion of all ethnic minorities was 32 per cent. Some 41 per cent of West were unemployed and 33 percent of men from There has been a dramatic expansion of state schemes for the unemployed since 1979. They have also become increasingly coercive Source: Quarterly Report, Manpower Services Commission, June 1986.

Spending on the Manpower Services Commission has risen from £¾ billion in 1979-80 to £3 billion in 1986-87."* This increase is mainly due to the rapid increase in expenditure on youth programmes and on schemes for the long-term unemployed. The Community Programme and the Youth Training Scheme now take up 66 per cent of MSC expenditure; back in 1979 similar schemes took up only 24 per cent. Projections up to 1990 suggest that by then CP and YTS will The Youth Opportunities Programme was introduced under the 1970-74 Tory government as a voluntary six months' course. The YOP programme flourished as the last Labour government doubled and nearly trebled unemployment. Its replacement, the Youth Training Scheme, was announced by the Tories in April 1983 and phased in later that year. The scheme was made effectively compulsory by imposing a six weeks' loss of benefit on those who 66 Indian men Table 13 1979-80 1986-87 • youth schemes Pakistan/Bangladesh. f) Government schemes towards the unemployed. Youth schemes 77 000 386 000 take up around 77 per cent of the MSC budget.

1979-80 1986-87 The working class under Thatcher Adult schemes 22 000 241 000

The working class under Thatcher 67 refused to take part, or who left early without going into a job, though penalties were unevenly enforced. Loss of benefit was extended to 13 weeks in 1985.

The pressure of compulsion has been fairly successful in making young people join schemes. In 1985 only six per cent of eligible school-leavers failed to join schemes and five per cent left early.

In April 1986 the scheme was extended to two years. The number of entrants in the year 1985-86 rose to 462 000. The growing role of YTS workers in the labour market is evident from the fact that 25 per cent of all firms now employ some YTS workers. For larger firms, employing 200 or more workers, the proportion using YTS is 60 per cent. The government claims that YTS provides training for unemployed school leavers. In reality the scheme provides little useful training either in industry or in the block college release periods. The rise of YTS has been paralleled by a sharp fall in apprenticeships: down from 155 000 in 1979 to 63 000 in 1986.

• adult schemes The Special Temporary Employment Programme introduced under the last Labour government was replaced by the Community Enterprise Programme by the Tories in 1981. In October 1982 this in turn was replaced by the Community Programme. These schemes are open to 18-24 year olds who have been unemployed for six months or more in the previous nine months and those aged 25 and over who have been out of work for more than 12 months out of the previous 15. The total number of entrants in 1985-86 was 250 000.

Women make up only 22 per cent of entrants today and the trend is for younger people to go on to the scheme. Some 54 per cent were between 18 and 24 in 1983-84, the proportion was 66 per cent in 1985-86. What sort of jobs do people do on CP schemes? Around a third are involved in environmental and landscaping projects; another third work in building and construction; some 16 per cent provide services to the elderly; the remainder work in play groups, help the disabled and other areas of social welfare. The great majority of CP workers-80 per cent-work part-time. This allows the

The working class under Thatcher 68 government to pay them £67 a week while still offering union pay rates. There is little evidence of "slave-labour' on CP schemes. Their main function appears to be to reduce the unemployment statistics and keep the unemployed occupied, as well as to cushion cuts in council direct works and welfare services. People who go into a CP scheme are twice as likely to get a job than the long-term unemployed who refuse to take up a CP place. Even still, 65 per cent of those leaving CP schemes returned to unemployment.

Most CP schemes have been organised through local authorities and voluntary organisations. Under the new Restart scheme announced in summer 1986, they will become more centralised and will also be made compulsory.

The Job Training Scheme was introduced in April 1987 as a cheaprate successor to the Community Programme. It is designed to provide the unemployed under 25 with six months' work at £30 a week. By a vote of 30 to 10 the TUC carried on its tradition of collaboration with this latest, most draconian scheme.

• Restart Under the Restart scheme launched in July 1986 all those who have been unemployed for more than one year will be contacted and invited for an interview. (In some areas this period has already been reduced to six months.) They are offered a choice of six options from the various available government schemes. Failure to attend can lead to a loss of benefit for 13 weeks as can a refusal to take one of the options. Nearly 11 000 people were pushed off the dole by 9 Oct 1986, mainly for failing to turn up for interviews—only 0.3 per cent of interviewees on the grounds that they were unwilling to work. So much for government claims that the unemployed do not want to work. Table 14 details the results of Restart interviews during the initial period: only 14.8 per cent of all those interviewed were offered places on one of the various schemes. The Restart scheme marks a significant increase in the state's attempts to police the unemployed.

"You've never had it so good'-the slogan of Tory prime minister Harold Mamillan in the fifties-has become the cry of Tory ministers in the eighties. Politicians, top businessmen and bankers and their friends in the media regularly proclaim that wages are rising faster than prices and that restraint is necessary in the national interest. "The Mickey Mouse approach to pay must stop' declared employment minister Kenneth Clark, urging the government to show 'determination' in holding down wages in the public sector to set an example for private industry and services. ' He has suggested a target of 0.5 per cent for wage increases this year to compensate for Table 14 Job clubs scheme programme Employment rehabilitation outcomes interviews The working class under Thatcher Results of Restart interviews; numbers of people offered places on each scheme Restart course Community programme Placed in a job Enterprise allowance Voluntary projects Total "positive' Total number of 4. Living standards 'excessive' settlements last year.

Source: Hansard, 6 November 1986, Cols 523-24.

Number 30 012 9 757 2 890 2547 1 587 672 104 54 055 366 451 69 As % of total interviewees 8.5 2.7 0.8 0.7 0.4 0.2 0.03 14.8 100

The figures indeed confirm that living standards, at least for those in work, have generally risen under the Tories. Latest figures (December 1986) show that gross pay rises were running at 7.75 per cent overall, and at 8.0 per cent in manufacturing industry, at a time when inflation was down to around four per cent."

Table 15 Increases in prices and wages between 1979 and 1986 (per cent) By examining statistics on the pay of workers in different occupations, we can exclude the incomes of employers, managers and the police, who are included in the government's global figures, Table 16 gives the change in real earnings of single men in work, broken down into six categories of non-manual occupations and nine manual categories between 1979 and 1986. In both cases there is a fairly uniform spread: real wages show an average increase of 17 per cent for non-manuals, but a rise of less than two per cent for manuals. The only sector in which real wages have declined The differential between non-manual and manual workers has increased significantly over the past few years. The average net wage of a single manual man in 1979 was £63.80, some 89 per cent of the £73.10 paid to non-manuals. By 1986 the figure was £119.60, 77 per Table 17 provides the parallel data for a family which includes husband, wife and two children, in which only the husband works.

70 Prices Gross wages manual from our averages.36 is construction. 84.0 85.2 non-manual 117.1 Source: Employment Gazette; New Earnings Survey.

a) Earnings and living standards cent of the £155.00 paid to non-manuals.

Net wages manual The working class under Thatcher 87.5 115.7 non-manual

The working class under Thatcher Table 16 Changes in net pay, 1979-86 For a single man 1979 gross Non-manual workers 128.7 Prof/administration 112.5 Prof/welfare Literary and Sport 12.0 Prof/science 118.2 Clerical 81.4 Sales 91.0 Total 106.0 Manual workers Catering and Cleaning 72.6 Farming and Fisheries 67.7 Processing 91.8 Making and Repairing 92.1 Metal and Electrical 99.6 Painting and Assembly 90.1 Construction 93.2 Transport 92.2 Miscellaneous 83.1 92.2* Total 1979 net 86.0 76.2 75.8 79.7 57.4 63.2 72.1 52.0 48.9 63.6 63.7 68.0 62.6 65.3 63.8 58.4 63.8 1986 gross 297.5 241.0 259.7 247.7 169.8 184.0 230.1 140.4 128.4 172.6 172.9 186.9 163.5 169.3 168.9 155.9 170.8 1986 net 197.8 162.7 174.3 166.7 119.0 127.3 155.5 100.8 93.1 120.6 120.9 129.1 115.3 118.7 118.4 110.5 119.6 1986 real net 107.5 88.4 94.7 90.6 64.7 69.2 84.5 54.8 50.6 65.6 65.7 70.2 62.6 64.5 64.3 60.1 65.0 71 +25.0 +16.0 +24.9 +13.7 +12.7 +9.5 +17.2 + 5.4 +3.5 +3.1 +3.1 +3.2 0.0 -1.2 +0.9 +2.9 +1.8

72 Table 17 taking account of family income supplement Non-manual workers Prof/administration Prof/welfare Literary and Sport Prof/science Clerical Sales Total Manual workers Catering and Cleaning Farming and Fisheries Processing Making and Repairing Construction Transport Miscellaneous Total Changes in net pay, 1979-1986 For a family of four in which the man is the sole earner, Painting and Assembly 1979 gross 128.7 112.5 112.0 118.2 81.4 91.0 106.0 72.6 67.7 91.8 92.1 90.1 93.2 92.2 83.1 92.2 1986 1979 net gross 87.6 241.0 185.8 87.2 259.7 91.6 247,7 68.3 169.8 73.9 184.0 83.1 230.1 62.7 140.4 59.4 128.4 74.4 172.6 74.5 172.9 73.4 163.5 75.1 169.3 74.6 168.9 69.3 155.9 75.5 The working class under Thatcher 1986 net 98.8 297.5 225.2 122.4 +23.9 198.9 190.7 141.6 149.4 178.1 123.7 115.6 143.3 143.3 138.0 141.4 141.2 133.5 170.8 142.3 % change 1986 real net 101.0 +15.3 111.7 +28.1 103.7 +13.2 77.0 +12.7 +9.9 81.2 96.8 +16.5 +7.2 67.2 62.8 +5.7 77.9 +4.6 77.9 +4.6 75.0 +2.2 +2.3 76.8 76.7 +2.9 72.5 +4.7 77.3 +2.4

Table 18 For a single woman working full time Non manual Prof/administration Prof/welfare Literary and Sport Prof/science Clerical Sales Total Manual Catering and Cleaning Processing materials Making and Repairing Painting and Assembly Transport Metal and Electrical Total The working class under Thatcher Changes in net pay, 1979-1986 1979 gross 94.8 80.2 82.3 76.3 60.6 47.6 65.9 51.3 56.1 54.4 58.8 59.4 63.5 55.5 1979 1986 net gross net 56.7 171.2 57.9 187.8 54.2 164.4 44.7 125.9 38.9 42.0 103.6 40.8 101.3 43.6 109.6 44.0 117.3 46.4 114.3 104.3 41.6 1986 65.3 218.4 148.1 119.8 129.6 115.7 91.5 36.6 105.4 77.9 47.7 142.8 102.4 99.7 74.0 76.7 74.9 80.7 85.9 83.9 77.1 73 %% change 1986 real net 80.5 +23.2 65.1 +14.9 70.4 +21.6 62,9 +16.1 49.7 +11.3 42.3 +15.7 55.6 +16.6 40.2 +3.3 -0.7 41.7 40.7 -0.2 +0.5 43.8 46.7 +6.1 45.6 -1.7 41.9 +0.7

The picture is strikingly similar to that for a single man.

What about women? Table 18 provides a breakdown of changes in income for single women working full-time since 1979. Again the figures are similar to those for single men. For non-manual female workers net pay has risen by 17 per cent; for manual workers the rise Table 19 surveys changes in gross pay in different occupations. For women working part-time there is an overall increase of 16 per cent in pay for non-manuals. For manuals there is an increase of slightly more than one per cent. The same general pattern prevails: the lower How have the Thatcher years affected differentials between men and women's pay? Comparing figures for single women working full- 74 Table 19 Non-manual Prof/welfare Clerical Sales Total Manual Total is less than one per cent.

Changes in gross pay for part-time women, 1979-1986 Catering and Cleaning Processing materials Making and Repairing Painting and Assembly your pay, the lower your increase in real wages.

1979 gross 35.55 30.1 23.5 30.0 23.8 28.8 32.0 31.1 28.92 The working class under Thatcher 1986 1986 adjusted gross 91.0 49.0 31.6 58.1 23.75 43.7 34.92 64.27 23.15 42.6 31.4 57.8 58.6 31.8 31.0 57.0 54.0 29.34 % change +37.8 +4.9 +1.1 +16.4 -2.7 +9.1 -0.6 -0.3 +1.4

The working class under Thatcher 75 time with single men working full-time: in 1979 the earnings of nonmanual women workers were 66 per cent of those of male manual workers. In 1986 the percentage was exactly the same. For manual workers the earnings differential was 66 per cent in 1979 and 65 per cent in 1986. Evidently women have got stuck with earnings around a third less than those of men.

The stagnation in women's pay is apparent over an even longer period-the decades since the enactment of equal opportunities legislation. Using slightly different criteria the Equal Opportunities Commission estimates that women's pay was 72 per cent of men's in 1975 and is 74 per cent today.

The key factor that ensures women's inferior income despite all the legislation is the fact that they are ghettoised in low-paid jobs. This is as true of modern hi-tech sectors as it is of textile mills. Look at the distribution of jobs between men and women in independent television: Table 20 % female % male booking assistant 100 science artist 100 production assistant 100 mechanical maintenance 100 casting 93 engineer 99 vision mixer 73 lighting 99 schedules off 71 stills photo 97 programme research 56 camera 96 Source: Labour Research, January 1987 Some 58 per cent of women work only with other women, while 84 per cent of men work with men. The GMBATU estimates that in 73 percent of all cases women are paid less per hour because they predominate in low-paid jobs." The recent repeal of legislation requiring employers to re-employ women after maternity leave and the abolition of the maternity grant mark a steady encroachment on women's rights at work. Récourse to tribunals has proved little use.

Only one in four women who pursued cases under the equal pay legislation felt that they had received adequate compensation: 50 per cent of all awards were of less than £300.38

Because of the increase in overtime working over the past few years, particularly for manual workers, rates of pay have not increased as rapidly as real wages, and have even declined for some workers.

Overtime and bonus payments both play a part in maintaining We can sum up the change in net hourly income of single male Table 22 Net hourly earnings (in £ per hour at constant 1979 prices) These figures show that while the real wages of manual workers may have increased marginally, they are working longer hours at a lower rate of pay. As one construction manager put it to a Department of Employment investigator, 'We don't think we can squeeze any more productivity out of our current subbies, the pips are beginning to squeak."9 Increasing the proportion of the workers* pay-packet which depends on the discretion and favour of management strengthens the employers' position when they want to start squeezing take-home pay closer to basic subsistence rates.

76 Table 21 Breakdown of hours Table 23 b) Overtime and rates of pay 1979 1986 Breakdown of hours 1979 1985 earnings while basic rates have been kept down.

manual workers in the following table.

1979 1985 % change Non-manual single men have fared better.

Basic 38.5 39.1 Basic 36.3 37.1 Overtime 1.1 5,4 1.61 1.46 -9.3 Overtime 0.4 1.5 The working class under Thatcher Total 39.6 44.5 Total 36.7 38.6

The working class under Thatcher 77 The comparable table of hourly rates gives the following results.

Table 24 Net hourly earnings (in £ per hour at constant 1979 prices) 1979 1.96 1985 2.19 % change +11.7 In terms of net hourly pay the differential between non-manual and manual has widened even more than it has in real wages. Manual rates were 82 per cent of non-manual in 1979; now they are down to 69 per cent. Changes in hourly rates for women are roughly parallel to wages, as there has been little change in women's working hours.

c) The poverty trap and low pay The poor include those dependent on state benefits and those in low-paid jobs. In 1979, 4.6 million people were dependent on supplementary benefits. By 1983, the last year for which full figures are available, the figure was 7.1 million.*° The Low Pay Unit estimates an extra 2.1 million in 1979 and 3.3 million in 1983 were living in poverty.* Thus by 1983 10.4 million people were living below the poverty line of £29.50 and £68.05 for a family with two children. To avoid public controversy, the Tories have used devious methods to begin cutting welfare benefits.*2 The Tories have • failed to raise benefits in line with inflation-in 1986 benefits fell between two and three per cent behind rising prices scrapped the £3.90 extra paid to people who live in someone else's home and are under the age of 25 stopped the maternity allowance in April-it is estimated that 85 000 mothers will fail to qualify for the new benefit to be paid by employers cut housing benefit, by raising the threshold at which rents are subsidised

78 The working class under Thatcher •cut family income supplement: if the total family income is less than a fixed amount, the government pays half the difference-but this year the Tories fixed the increase to a maximum of 30p special payments for clothes, blankets, shoes, etc, have been abolished. • the poverty trap The poverty trap is the result of the fact that when low-paid workers get higher wages they lose welfare benefits (such as family income supplement, housing benefit) and have more tax and national insurance deducted from their wage packets. It means that a wage increase from £70 to £120 for a married man with children makes little difference to the family income.* The number of low-paid 480 00s in 19% poverty trap has increased from 900 000 in 1979 to • low pay By the Council of Europe criterion of low pay which was accepted by the TUC in the seventies (an income less than two thirds the national average—£116 gross in Britain in 1985), 8.6 million workers are lowpaid. In 1985 Nalgo calculated that 65 per cent of clerical and administrative staff in the NHS fell below this figure.* The numbers claiming family income supplement has trebled from 80 000 in 1979-80 to 220 000 in 1985-86.*6 The TUC has steadily reduced its low pay horizons. Recognising the gulf between its original criterion and the wages of millions of workers, in 1985 it scaled down its threshold to £100 a week. By this criterion the total of low-paid in 1985 stood at 3.4 million. This included nearly seven per cent of male workers and 32 per cent of women workers. This marked an increase from three per cent of men in 1979, though the position of women has remained approximately constant.

However, by 1986 the TUC decided that the meagre living possible on £100 a week-below the social security level for a typical family—was too much to ask for. Setting its proposed minimum wage target in collusion with the Labour Party, it settled for £80 a week. Depending on how this is calculated, using this criterion reduces the low-paid to 800 000 and 1.2 million people. The

The working class under Thatcher 79 labour bureaucrats have made clear that even this insulting improvement at the bottom end of the wages table would be financed by restraining the wages of higher-paid workers.

5. Trends and problems • fragmentation The Thatcher years have witnessed a process of deepening divisions within the working class. The most important, if most effectively disguised, division is that between those in work and the unemployed. The remarkably even geographical distribution of the unemployed means that they are scattered everywhere, but not concentrated anywhere. The fact that there are high levels of unemployment among school-leavers and young people who have never had a job and older workers who have been made redundant contributes to the marginalisation of the unemployed. The labour movement has shamefully neglected the unemployed: defending * their rights must become a real priority, rather than a focus for token demonstrations. There is also a growing division between workers who have secure employment and those who have been forced to become selfemployed as subcontractors or freelancers and others on short-term or temporary work contracts. The expansion of part-time work, especially for women, creates another gulf within the workforce.

Differentials have increased between men and women, white and black, older and younger, skilled and unskilled. The result is a growing sense of 'every man for himself, and a growing tendency for workers to regard other workers as competitors for jobs or bonuses or overtime, rather than as comrades in a collective struggle against the employers and their system. How can the petty sectionalism and individualism encouraged by capitalist society in decay be combated in the process of rebuilding an anti-capitalist working class movement?

• reconstruction The statistics show the destruction of the old working class, but not yet the clear emergence of a new one. This in turn reflects the

80 The working class under Thatcher weakness of British capitalism and the absence of any large-scale restructuring of the economy in the course of the recession. The traditional heavy metal sector (iron and steel, shipbuilding and textiles, engineering and motors) has contracted sharply. Yet there is little real dynamism in the new technology and private sectors on which British employers and trade union bureaucrats alike are nervously staking their futures.

How can the labour movement be reorganised to represent the new working class as well as the old? The trade unions have taken a hammering since 1979, yet they remain intact, with membership levels still higher than in many Western countries. Yet this is less a real sign of resilience than an indication of the persistence of state protection for trade union organisation within the public sector.

How are the unions equipped to survive a further round of employers' attacks on jobs, wages and conditions as the crisis of British capitalism deepens? What are the likely consequences for the working class of the way the union leaders have placed all their faith for the future in the return of a Labour government with policies that threaten to turn in an aggressively anti-union direction?

The centre of gravity of the labour movement must shift from its traditional heartlands of the North, Scotland, South Wales towards the new growth areas, particularly in the South-east. The new towns, the commuter belts and the suburbs are areas of low trade union membership, known for their indifference or even hostility to traditional labour movement politics. How can workers in these areas be won to a different sort of labour movement politics?

• living standards So far mass unemployment has not proved a very effective lever against the wage claims of workers who still have jobs. This may be partly a result of the growing complexity of the labour market and the fact that workers in new-tech factories and offices cannot be easily replaced by youths off YTS schemes or redundant boilermakers. It may also indicate that the employers have been prepared to concede wage rises in return for union cooperation in shaking out jobs, introducing flexibility and reorganising workplace relations. Given the new balance of forces in the workplace, will the

The working class under Thatcher 81 unions be able to carry on winning decent wages into the future? How can workers guarantee preserving living standards?

Meanwhile the position of those who rely on state benefits of any sort has deteriorated, and things threaten to get still worse. How can the living standards of the unemployed, the elderly, the sick and disabled, all those on social security, be protected against the rigours of austerity? These are some of the issues and questions to which we will return in the next issue of Confrontation.

NOTES

1 These definitions and all the following statistics (unless stated otherwise) are taken from various issues of the Department of Employment's monthly Employment Gazette. UK Occupational Trends to 1990, Institute of Manpower Studies 1986, p178.

See letter from Professor R Layard, Financial Times, 14 April 1987.

Labour Market Quarterly Report, Manpower Services Commission, June 1986, p5. 5 New Statesman, 1 August 1986.

6 •Women: The Hidden Unemployed', Coventry trades council unemployed workers' project. 7 The following discussion uses the latest official statistics (contained in the Employment Gazette, Historical Supplement No 1, February 1987) These figures are based on the recently published 1984 Census of Employment, which was carried out annually up to 1979 but is now carried out every three years. As a result the figures are lagging well behind events. Figures for the period since 1984 are based on changes in employment in the firms that were included in the original survey. It is assumed that firms set up since 1984 conform to the pattern in established enterprises.

8 Comparisons of changing employment patterns have been complicated by changes in the categories used in the 1981 and 1984 censuses.

J MacInnes and A Spirall, Union Recognition in the Electronics Industry in Scotland', unpublished 10 Scottish Economic Bulletin, December 1985.

11 UK Occupational Trends to 1990, op cit, p60.

12 "The Arms Boom', Labour Research, July 1986.

82 The working class under Thatcher Employment Projections up to 1990, GMBATU/University of Warwick 1986.

The figures in the text on self-employment are compiled from this source and from UK Occupational Trends to 1990, op cit.

14 UK Occupational Trends to 1990, op cit, p87.

Changing Working Patterns: How Companies Achieve Flexibility to Meet New 15 Needs, National Economic Development Office 1986.

16 Employment Gazette, February 1987.

17 Ibid. 18 Cited in Marxism Today. April 1987.

19 See E Batstone and S Gourlay, Unions, Unemployment and Innovation, Oxford 1986. 20 London Industrial Strategy, GLC, p421.

21 British Business 22 November 1985.

D Storey and S Johnson, Are Small Firms the Answer to Unemployment?

22 Employment Institute 1987.

23 Guardian, 4 September 1986.

*Pressure Cooking: Workers' Attitudes and Work Relations in the Catering 24 Industry", Abstract, Manchester Polytechnic, May 1985, p65.

25 New Statesman, 29 August 1986, p7.

East Kilbride: A Labour Study', Strathclyde business school, April 1986; L 26 Cairns, 'New Towns Unionisation Survey: Glenrothes, Irvine, Livingston", unpublished. J Macinnes and A Spirall challenge this view with their conclusion that the most important finding of this study is that low unionisation in Scottish electronics is a myth.' However, their study covers a much broader field than the Silicon Glen sector, including established plants in Edinburgh and Glasgow. It may also be significant that out of 213 firms they contacted with their questionnaire only 83 replied, and these were mainly the larger firms.

Their own data shows that the larger the firm the more likely it is to recognise unions and that firms established before 1960 were four times more likely to recognise unions than those set up since 1984. They also show that the percentage of firms which recognise unions is 60 per cent in Glasgow and 89 per cent in Edinburgh, but only 16 per cent in the new towns. It is worth noting that it is the smaller, more recently established firms in the new towns—the firms where unions are least likely to be recognised-that are the growth area in employment in Scotland (J Macinnes and A Spirall, Union Recognition in the Electronics Industry in Scotland", op cit).

27 TUC, I1 March 1987. Unemployment and Racial Minorities, Policy Studies Institute 1984, pp2-3.

28 29 Trades Unions and Black Workers, TUC 1986.

30 Unemployment and Racial Minorities, op cit.

31 Employment Gazette, June 1984, p263.

32 Employment Gazette, January 1987.

33 MSC Corporate Plan, 1986-1990, p8.

Unless otherwise stated all data on prices and incomes are taken from the New Earnings Survey, published annually by the Department of Employment.

To compare real earnings it is necessary to calculate net income after the deduction of tax, national insurance, etc, for a single man, for a mythical family of husband, wife and two dependent children, in which the man is the only earner and for a single woman with no dependants. Forsimplicity, we assume a linear relationship between tax bands. In March 1983 the government changed the method of calculation of average pay from including all those over 2l to include all those on 'adult rates". We have introduced a small correction for this change to enable us to compare today's figures with those before 1983—though this means that our gross figures for 1979 do not tally with the DE's New Pyrrhic Victories, Equal Opportunities Commission, HMSO 1987, Cited in UK Occupational Trends to 1990, p78. Because of changes in the way different jobs are categorised since 1982, it is impossible to provide an accurate 34 35 36 Earnings Survey: 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 The working class under Thatcher Observer, 7 September 1986.

Cited in Labour Research, March 1987.

Labour Research, July 1986, pIS.

Low Pay Review, Winter, 1985/86.

Labour Research, July 1986.

Social Trends 1986, HMSO, p87.

Low Pay Review, Spring 1986.

Low Pay Review, Spring 1986.

assessment of changes in wages in different sectors.

Public Service Pay Campaign, TUC, January 1986.

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