Pay Freezes

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Phil Tinline traces the ups and downs of the politics of pay in Britain since 1945.

With labour shortages and the cost of living leading the news for the first time in years, Phil Tinline traces the ups and downs of the politics of pay in Britain since 1945.

Labour shortages and the cost of living are leading the news for the first time in years. There are predictions that the biggest pay squeeze in decades is imminent. So in this new three-part series for BBC Radio 4, documentary-maker Phil Tinline traces the ups and downs of the politics of pay in Britain since 1945. How did we get here? And what can our history tell us about where we might now be heading?

Our way into this story is through British winters. When workers are powerless, winter puts them under greater pressure. When they have power, winter gives them greater bargaining leverage.

BBC Radio 4 LW

Pay Freezes: From the Winter of Discontent to the Crash

From the Winter of Discontent to the Crash

BBC Radio 4 - Pay Freezes, From the Winter of Discontent to the Crash

Phil Tinline traces the ups and downs of the politics of pay in Britain from 1979 to 2008.

With labour shortages and the cost of living back as big issues for the first time in years, Phil Tinline traces the ups and downs of the politics of pay in Britain, 1979-2008.

Labour shortages and the cost of living are back as big issues for the first time in years.

There are predictions that the biggest pay squeeze in decades is imminent.

So in this new three-part series for BBC Radio 4, documentary-maker Phil Tinline traces the ups and downs of the politics of pay in Britain since 1945. How did we get here? And what can our history tell us about where we might now be heading?

In the second episode, Phil explores how the strikes by public sector workers - hospital staff, refuse collectors, gravediggers - created the abiding images of the 'Winter of Discontent' in January and February 1979. But how far did these strikes against the Labour government's incomes policy match their subsequent reputation? 

He traces how this most controversial of pay disputes opened up a path to major changes in trade unions' legal position. But also how it began the long journey to the creation of the National Minimum Wage. 

And he explores how far the marketisation of the 1980s paved the way for the acceleration of leadership pay in the 1990s, amid the proclamation of a 'War for Talent' - and campaigns against 'fat cats'.


Series contributors include: Kate Bell, Margaret Beckett, Neil Carberry, John Edmonds, Stuart Hill, Linda Hoffman, Gavin Kelly, Tara Martin Lopez, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Rain Newton-Smith, Michael Portillo, Dominic Sandbrook, Stefan Stern, Selina Todd, Norman Tebbit, Nick Timothy

Producer/ Presenter: Phil Tinline

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Pay Freezes

From the Winter of Discontent to the Crash

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