
Post Office Workers
A Trade Union and Social History
Alan Clinton(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 31. March 2026
Book
Hardback
750 pages
978-1-041-25418-8 (ISBN)
Description
Originally published in 1984, this book provides the first full account of the lives and aspirations of those who have worked in Britain to deliver mail, convey telegrams and transmit telephone conversations from the beginnings of such activities to the middle of the 20th century. For many years the British Post Office was the prototype public enterprise and the largest employer of labour in the world. Although the book centres on the trade union activities of Post Office workers, it places them fully in the context of the social, economic and technological progress of the 19th and 20th centuries. Wages and conditions in the Post Office became a matter for political debate, especially after trade unions were 'recognised' in 1906. There is much in this book about the particular character of trade union organisation in the Post Office and there is a full account of the special contribution of the Union of Post Office Workers/Union of Communication Workers and their predecessors to the trade union and labour movement as a whole. The later chapters cover a period of huge organisational and technological change. This is a major study of a facet of UK national life which remains a classic book in the area.
Reviews / Votes
'His massively comprehensive Post Office Workers: A Trade Union And Social History became a model for the understanding of public sector unions.' Alice Amsden, Obituary, The GuardianMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
1550 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-041-25418-8 (9781041254188)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/2026
Routledge
€73.99
Available for download

E-Book
03/2026
Routledge
€73.99
Available for download
Content
1.Introduction: Post Office Workers and their Unions 2. 'A Powerful Engine of Civilisation': The Post Office Before 1920 3. Post Office Workers in the Age of Expansion 4. Public Servants and Trade Unionists: 1840-1920 5. Sabbatarians and Sinners: 1840-1870 6. Founding the Associations: 1870-1891 7. The Inquiries and After 1895-1919 8. From Associations to Union, 1891-1920 9. From Service to Business: The Post Office Since 1920 10. The State of the Union 11. The UPW and its World 12. Bargaining under Whitleyism, in Depression and War: 1920-45 13. Bargaining in the Great Boom and After: 1945-71 14. From Post Office to Communication Worker