Managers as Union Activists

“Managerial unionism” commented one writer recently “consititutes an emergent industrial relations phenomenon of major significance”. Long established in the public sector the movement of junior and middle managers into trade unions is indeed becoming increasingly evident throughout private industry. Rising job insecurity, dissatisfaction with salary levels and a decline in the individual treatment of managers by employers are some of the factors encouraging this development. New unions have been created and existing ones adapted to meet the demand. There are now more than a dozen unions catering exclusively for managerial and executive grades, as well as the more general white‐collar unions which recruit managers, notably Clive Jenkins' Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs.