The Phoney Cold War in British Trade Unions

This article examines the Cold War in British trade unions, focusing on the period 1947-9. It considers the pressure to initiate an anti-Communist offensive exerted on the TUC General Council from various sources, including American union leaders and the Labour Party. The response was belated and cautious, and the article enumerates the countervailing pressures on the General Council to moderate their anti-Communism. Though they were committed to supporting the Labour Government, the General Council were unwilling to break with pre-war practices. Instead of opting for confrontation and a resulting split in the trade union movement, they acted to secure the continuation of a united front in which political differences were subordinated by both left and right in the interests of preserving union strength.