Understanding the unions

The five International Socialism articles included here were my attempt to understand the low level of strike activity by British trade unions over three three decades up to the strike wave of 2022-23. They became part of a sustained debate with others equally concerned with the issues involved, though with different approaches. The analysis of the current state of British trade unionism developed in these articles remains of vital importance for what it reveals about how the limitations of the unions work today. The entire debate can be found online in back issues of the journal here: