In recent years, there has been an acute crisis of worker representation in the finance sector in Britain. Labour union and staff association membership and density has fallen, collective organisation has experienced dislocation and disorganisation and worker self-confidence has been sapped. Prior to this, there was a sense of an identifiable trajectory towards greater 'unionateness' by labour unions and staff associations, with the sector moving towards growing self-identification of employees as 'workers' and the use of traditional tools of collective bargaining such as threats of strikes and strikes themselves. This study documents and explains these changes in wider historical terms, providing invaluable reading for those interested in the future of both the labour movement and the finance sector.

Dr Gregor Gall is based in the Business School at the University of Hertfordshire, UK.