Abstract
The study examines the interrelationships between trade union structures and functions during the late 1970s by comparative investigation of the traditions, activities and power structures of the trade union movements of Britain and the Federal Republic. The study includes an historical review of the comparative movements which shaped the organisations of the period in question. It also takes account of the academic sources of critical analysis of the objects and methods of trade unions published up to the end of the decade. Case studies conducted in Germany in 1978 and 1979 investigated the activities of selected unions in the public services, mining and textiles. The investigation relied upon structured interviews with full-time officers. It revealed details of union activity, suggesting alternative and accommodating power structures within their organisations correspondent to the changing systems of collective bargaining, political action and internal democracy. The empirical and comparative historical evidence leads to conclusions about the dynamic relationship between union structures and functions and its impact on the cohesion of the industrial relations system as a whole. Collective bargaining remains the primary function of trade unions, not least because it provides for a structural fusion of union effectiveness with democratic control. The methods employed to achieve given trade union objectives embrace the 'power' structures of the particular organisation and the wider IR system. The example of the 1970s indicates that the parameters of power structures within industrial relations systems may emerge partly historically from the structural and political development of organisation and institution, partly from the rate and direction of change in the economic and social conditions at the time of investigation. Stability within industrial relations relies upon 'positive bargaining' between parties from positions of strength. Organisational structures which are incompatible with positive bargaining may diminish cooperation within the system, and therefore its stability.