The World of Labour: A Discussion of the Present and Future of Trade Unionism

Cole saw the trade unions as being critical to progress, but to realise their role they needed to change and the issue of trade union structure therefore became fundamental. He considered in this volume that trade union structure was a central problem of the labour movement – he described British trade unionism as a movement bereft of ideas and policy. He discusses the evolution in the trade unions to cover not only wages and working conditions but the organisation and control of industry.