In late 1978 the Callaghan government was faced by serious strikes, called mainly by public sector unions. Some of these spilled over into 1979. What name was given to the whole period?

The world of employment and industrial relations was a volatile one between 1951 and 1979. Britain was heavily unionised during the period, and trade unions accordingly wielded considerable power. By the 1960s, however, relations between unions and governments deteriorated - even between the unions and their traditional allies, the Labour party. When a new Tory administration emerged in 1979, this tension was likely to come to a head.