Commentary

One strike or two? How data changes undermine what we know about stoppages

Changes over the past decade to the ways in which data on strikes is collected and published risk undermining the value for academics and policy-makers of a series which has been running since the 1890s, according to an analysis by industrial relations specialist Dr Dave Lyddon. In an open access article for the Industrial Relations Journal, Dr Lyddon argues that the most recent change, which … Continue reading One strike or two? How data changes undermine what we know about stoppages

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Events

Conference: Starmer Year One

Bookings are now open for the ‘Starmer Year One’ conference organised by the Labour History Research Unit at Anglia Ruskin University. The event takes place on 14 June 2025 in Cambridge. Conference organiser Professor Rohan McWilliam says: ‘By the time we get to 14 June the government will have been in power for almost a year and politics may be a little different. The results … Continue reading Conference: Starmer Year One

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Labour history news

Yorkshire Miners Association archives now indexed and catalogued online

Work at the Modern Records Centre to catalogue the archive of the Yorkshire Miners Association is now complete with a catalogue live online at the University of Warwick website. The catalogue also includes the records of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Yorkshire Area and represents a major and significant addition to the collection of NUM and coal mining material held by MRC and now … Continue reading Yorkshire Miners Association archives now indexed and catalogued online

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Events, Grants

Report: the history and legacy of the 1984/5 miners’ strike

Keith Gildart reports on a conference/symposium on the History and Legacy of the 1984/5 Miners’ Strike, held at the National Coal Mining Museum for England This year marked the fortieth anniversary of the end of the miners’ strike of 1984/5. This seismic event is now widely regarded as one of the key-turning points in post-war British history. In recent years a number of books, articles, … Continue reading Report: the history and legacy of the 1984/5 miners’ strike

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Labour History Review, SSLH news

Labour History Review celebrates 90th edition

We are pleased to announce that Labour History Review is celebrating the publication of its 90th edition. Published in association with Liverpool University Press, alongside the book series Studies in Labour History, LHR and its predecessor, the Society for the Study of Labour History Bulletin, has since 1960 explored the working lives and politics of ‘ordinary’ people and has played a key role in redefining social and political history. … Continue reading Labour History Review celebrates 90th edition

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Labour History Review

Labour History Review Volume 90 (2025), issue 1

Labour History Review Volume 90 (2025), Issue 1 has now been published. The journal appears both in hard copy and online formats.  In this issue… We begin with a round-table discussion of Keir Starmer’s Labour Government in historical perspective. The editors note that if, six months on, the signs might not be as positive as we would like, the election of Starmer’s Labour nevertheless represents … Continue reading Labour History Review Volume 90 (2025), issue 1

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Labour History Review

Round Table: The Starmer Labour Government in Historical Perspective

Contributors: Peter Gurney, Laura Beers, Lawrence Black, Malcolm Petrie, and Martin WrightThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2025), 90, (1). Read more. The full text of this roundtable article is open access. The election of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party on 5 July 2024 after fourteen years of Conservative (mis)rule may represent an important turning point in British political history. At any … Continue reading Round Table: The Starmer Labour Government in Historical Perspective

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Labour History Review

The Limits to Solidarity: Trade Union Responses to European Workers in Britain, 1945–1948

Author: Avram TaylorThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2025), 90, (1). Read more. During the first years of the post-war Labour government (1945–8), three groups of foreign workers were incorporated into the labour force: prisoners of war (POWs), Polish soldiers who had fought with the British, and European volunteer workers (EVWs). This article examines the responses of the trade union movement to … Continue reading The Limits to Solidarity: Trade Union Responses to European Workers in Britain, 1945–1948

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Labour History Review

Workforce Disability and the 1949 ‘Ineffectives’ Strike in London Docks

Author: Jim PhillipsThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2025), 90, (1). Read more. In April 1949 the employment of thirty-two registered dock workers in London was terminated because they were regarded as ‘ineffective’, incapable physically of performing the job. Their redundancies were briefly resisted through strike action. This ended when the Labour government threatened to prosecute strike leaders. The episode highlighted the … Continue reading Workforce Disability and the 1949 ‘Ineffectives’ Strike in London Docks

Unknown's avatarEditorMC