The Dynamics of Industrial Conflict

Lessons from Ford

Henry Friedman, Sander Meredeen

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English

Routledge
01 December 2025

Economics of industrial organisation; Employment & unemployment; Political economy; Management of specific areas; Industry & industrial studies

Series: Routledge Library Editions: Industrial Relations

The Dynamics of Industrial Conflict (1980) focuses on the workings of industrial relations in the British motor industry, presenting the first joint retrospective analysis of industrial relations in a major multinational. The book includes a closely documented account of the Ford Sewing Machinists’ strike for equal pay and tells the inside story of that dispute, analysing its impact on the coming of equal pay and Britain’s new sex discrimination legislation. It assesses the consequences of the dispute for workers, management and unions at Ford, and then traces its repercussions on Britain’s industrial relations in the 1970s, down to the fall of the Labour Government in May 1979. A detailed explanation is given of the concealed ‘learning process’ which goes on below the surface of every system of industrial relations, whether at factory, company, industrial or national level.

By: Henry Friedman, Sander Meredeen
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781032848082
ISBN 10: 1032848081
Series: Routledge Library Editions: Industrial Relations
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 01 December 2025
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Part 1. The Evolution of Industrial Relations at Ford 1. A Management View 2. A Shop-Floor View Part 2. The Sewing-Machinists’ Dispute 3. The Dispute Seen Through Management’s Eyes 4. The Dispute Seen Through Shop Steward’s Eyes Part 3. First Dialogue 5. The Dispute Analysed Part 4. Internal Consequences of the Dispute 6. A Management View 7. A Shop-Floor View Part 5. External Consequences of the Dispute 8. A Joint View Part 6. Second Dialogue 9. The Learning Process in Industrial Conflict

Henry Friedman and Sander Meredeen