Editing Winter of Discontent (section)

===1960s–70s labour law reforms===

In 1968 Wilson's government appointed the [[Donovan Commission]] to review [[British labour law]] with an eye toward reducing the days lost to strikes every year; many Britons had come to believe the unions were too powerful despite the country's economic growth since the war. It found much of the problem to lie in a parallel system of 'official' signed agreements between unions and employers, and [[Side letter|'unofficial', often unwritten ones]] at the local level, between [[shop steward]]s and managers, which often took precedence in practice over the official ones. The government responded with ''[[In Place of Strife]]'', a [[white paper]] by [[Secretary of State for Employment]] [[Barbara Castle]], which recommended restrictions on unions' ability to strike, such as requiring strikes take place after a member vote and fining unions for unofficial strikes.<ref name="López 36">{{harvp|López|2014|page=36}}</ref>

The [[Trades Union Congress]] (TUC) vigorously opposed making Castle's recommendations law, and Callaghan, then [[Home Secretary]], led a cabinet revolt which led to its abandonment. Callaghan did not believe it would be effective in curtailing unofficial strikes, that the proposals could not pass, and the effort would create unnecessary tension between the government and the unions that were key to its political strength.<ref name="Lopez 37">{{cite book|last=Callaghan|first=James|author-link=James Callaghan|title=Time and Chance|page=274|date=1987|publisher=Collins|isbn=9780002165150}}, cited at {{harvp|López|2014|page=37}}</ref>

After the Conservatives won [[1970 United Kingdom general election|the following year's election]], they implemented their own legislation to address the issue. The [[Industrial Relations Act 1971]], modeled in part on the U.S. [[Taft-Hartley Act]], passed over determined union opposition, included many of the same provisions as ''In Place of Strife'', and explicitly stated that formal [[collective bargaining agreement]]s would have the force of law unless they had [[disclaimer]]s to the contrary. It also created a [[National Industrial Relations Court]] to handle disputes and put unions under a central registry to enforce their rules.<ref name="López 38">{{harvp|López|2014|page=38}}</ref>

New Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]] hoped that the new law would not only address the strike issue but the steep [[inflation]] plaguing the British economy (along with other industrial capitalist economies) at the time, eliminating the need for a separate [[incomes policy]] by having a moderating effect on pay increases demanded by unions. Ongoing union resistance to the Industrial Relations Act led to a [[House of Lords]] ruling in their favor over demonstrations and widespread unofficial strikes following the [[Pentonville Five]]'s imprisonment for continuing to picket a London container depot in violation of a court order, which undermined the legislation. Coal miners [[1972 United Kingdom miners' strike|officially went on strike]] for the first time in almost half a century in 1972; after two months the strike was settled with the miners getting a 21 per cent increase, less than half of what they had originally sought.<ref name="López 39">{{harvp|López|2014|page=39}}</ref>

Heath turned to an incomes policy; inflation continued to worsen. The incomes policy was abandoned in 1973 when [[1973 oil crisis|that year's oil embargo]] nearly doubled prices within months. To meet demand for heat in the wintertime, the government had to return to coal, giving the [[National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)|National Union of Mineworkers]] more leverage. The government declared a [[state of emergency]] that November, and at the beginning of 1974 limited all nonessential businesses to [[Three-Day Week|three days of electricity each week]] to conserve power. Miners, who had seen their rise from two years before turn into a pay cut in real terms due to the inflation the government had not brought under control, voted overwhelmingly to go on strike in late January.<ref name="López 39" />

Two weeks later, the government responded by calling [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|an election]], running on the slogan "Who Governs Britain?". At the end of the month the Conservatives no longer did; Labour and Wilson returned, but [[hung parliament|without a majority]]. They were able to pass the [[Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974]], which repealed the Heath government's Industrial Relations Act.<ref name="López 39" />

In [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|October]] Wilson won a majority of three seats; still they needed a coalition with the [[Liberal Party (United Kingdom)|Liberal Party]] to have a majority on many issues. Callaghan, now [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]], attended an informal meeting at Chequers alongside his fellow Cabinet members, where he speculated about the possibility of "...[a] breakdown of democracy", joking with them that "[i]f I were a young man, I would emigrate."<ref name="beckett2010">{{cite book |url={{GBurl|-NURERF4hb8C|page=175}} |title=When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the Seventies | publisher=Faber & Faber |last=Beckett |first=Andy |year=2010 |page=175 |isbn=978-0-571-22137-0}}</ref>