Premium
Political Unionism and the Collective Objective in Economies of British Colonial Origin: The Cases of Jamaica and Trinidad
Author(s) -
Johnson Caswell L.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1975.tb01198.x
Subject(s) - politics , colonialism , political economy , economics , face (sociological concept) , control (management) , distribution (mathematics) , political science , economy , economic system , sociology , law , management , social science , mathematical analysis , mathematics
A bstract .Developing countries face an inconsistency between the need for more equitable distribution of income and wealth between classes and groups and the goals of an industrial relations system in which the trade unions have a systematic commitment to allied political parties to support them in exchange for some control over economic and social policy , or where unions compete with parties for popular support of certain social and political goals. This is designated as 'political unionism' in contradistinction to 'business unionism' where unions support any party whose overall strategy and objectives are most compatible. The analysis shows that ‘political unionism’ led, in Jamaica and in Trinidad and Tabago , to lags in growth which make industrial relations reform a necessity of an effective program of social change.