Local Industrial Politics : Spatial Subsystems in British Engineering

A fast‐emerging theme in industrial relations research is that industrial relations systems in West European countries are undergoing decentralization, and that the most effective way for unions to meet this challenge is to “go local” themselves. Argues that the significance and implications of decentralization in industrial relations, and the scope and nature of union response, cannot be fully comprehended without according explicit attention to the different local contexts within which these processes are taking place. Uses developments in the British engineering sector to illustrate this argument. Firm‐based surveys and interviews with managers, local union officials and employer association representatives in two case study areas highlight the importance of local workplace cultures and institutional traditions in shaping the contemporary restructuring of industrial politics.