MANAGERIAL UNIONISM IN THE COAL INDUSTRY.

The rapid growth in trade unionism among wages earners since 1938 has received adequate documentation, but there has been little speculation about future developments. It would now appear that unionism among wage-earners is reaching its limits. Probably the only major areas left for organizing are the service trades and in these areas the unions seem quite content to rely on minimum wage legislation. Future growth of trade unionism must therefore depend on the reactions of white-collar workers. The purposes of this article are to trace the factors which have been responsible for the development of trade unionism among managerial grades in the coal industry, to examine the relationships that have developed between the management union and the workers unions in the coal industry, to analyse the attitude of the employer, the National Coal Board, to such unionism, to analyse and trace the evolution of the salaries and conditions of employment of the managerial grades, to consider the views of the management union on the role of management in the coal industry, to consider what lessons may be derived from the management union for future white-collar unions.