{"title":"Brian Towers","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"waterfront-blues-book-brian-towers-9781859361795","title":"Waterfront Blues","description":"This book tells the real story about Liverpool's docklands and the people who lived and worked there. Set against the background of Liverpool's unique urban experience, the author sets out to tell what conditions were actually like in one of the world's largest and most important seaports. Sometimes, this makes for harrowing reading. There was poverty and poor housing. There was massive over-crowding, and the town grew at such a rate that public health in the poorer districts was among the worst in the world. Yet migrants came from near and far in search of work. And the work they found in dockland could be plentiful and relatively well paid. Often the work was brutally hard and exhausting. Cargoes had to be unloaded manually or using modest dockside cranes. Deal porters shouldered long, heavy planks of wood, while 2 cwt (100 kg) sacks were commonly carried by one man half-running along a narrow plank from ship to shore. Only the young, agile and experienced could safely handle such loads or the great barrels of tobacco and bales of cotton. Employment on the docks was far from secure. Until quite recently workers had to stand by twice a day hoping to be picked for that half-day's work. This casual system of hiring brought no security whatever, and dockers were at the whim of the employer as well as at the mercy of trade depressions or even the weather. Not surprisingly there were strikes and industrial disputes, to which the employers' and the government's response was often harsh and uncompromising. At one low point the Royal Navy's HMS Antrim was photographed at anchor in the Mersey 'at readiness' to respond to any trouble from the striking dockers. A series of disputes and generally improving conditions did eventually lead to the abolition of the casual system, but by then the shipping container had led to the closure of many of the docks (the whole South End system closed in 1971), while the creation of a container terminal at Seaforth totally transformed the nature of the port. The traditional docklands and their way of life was gone for ever. Brian Towers was uniquely well placed to write this book. He was a professor of industrial relations whose family roots were as seamen based in Liverpool. His perspectives and insights recreate way of working and life that have now been largely lost.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49533955473681,"sku":"GOR006319032","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/185936179X.jpg?v=1751154979"},{"product_id":"representation-gap-book-brian-towers-9780198293194","title":"The Representation Gap","description":"For up to twenty years after World War II both in Britain and the US boasted 'mature' industrial relations systems supported by their governments and, allowing for some differences in degree, by most employers. Since the early 1980s, these systems have been critically weakened. This comparative industrial relations text explains this development primarily through the withdrawal of public policy support and, mainly in Britain's case, its replacement by government hostility. An important consequence of this is the erosion of the effective defence and representation of employee interests as the managerial prerogative has been allowed, even encouraged, to extend its authority in the workplace. The 'representation gap' has grown so that six out of seven US employees, and two out of three British, are not represented at work, at the same time as there has been increasing discussion of 'team' working etc. This could be a serious negative development for economic performance. A growing body of research is indicating that employers who bargain with trade unions, or enter into partnerships with them, are likely to be more productive than their non-union competitors. More importantly, the size of the representation gap presents a clear denial of the democratic rights of citizens, in their role as employees, with potentially serious implications for social stability both within and beyond the workplace","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49552565895441,"sku":"GOR009366261","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0198293194.jpg?v=1751005032"},{"product_id":"handbook-of-human-resource-management-book-brian-towers-9780631186731","title":"Handbook of Human Resource Management","description":"This is the first detailed appraisal of the practice of HRM in the UK, Europe, North America and Australia. It includes thirteen case studies of HRM in organizations, as well as chapters on:. * Selection. * Performance appraisal. * Employee commitment and involvement. * Performance and reward. * Training. * Flexibility. * Women in the labour force. Divided into three sections, The Handbook of Human Resource Management looks at HRM in an international context and at management policies and techniques. It concludes with a section of case studies including Ford, Sainsbury and Caledonian Paper.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49567800590609,"sku":"GOR009086780","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50406571901201,"sku":"GOR005533227","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0631186735.jpg?v=1750699909"},{"product_id":"industrial-relations-journal-european-annual-review-book-brian-towers-9780631211488","title":"Industrial Relations Journal European Annual Review","description":"Each review, covering the European Union and Central and Eastern Europe, will provide expert commentaries from a team of leading European specialists in industrial relations and employment developments.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49648328376593,"sku":"GOR002798190","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0631211489.jpg?v=1750742206"},{"product_id":"industrial-relations-journal-european-annual-review-book-brian-towers-9780631222453","title":"Industrial Relations Journal European Annual Review","description":"This is the third in a series of detailed annual reviews in the field of European Industrial Relations. Each review, covering the European Union and Central and Eastern Europe, provides expert commentaries from a team of leading European specialists in industrial relations and employment developments.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49659154039057,"sku":"GOR002798191","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0631222456.jpg?v=1751008966"},{"product_id":"employment-relations-in-britain-book-brian-towers-9780631223269","title":"Employment Relations in Britain","description":"This volume brings together contributions from eminent academics and senior ACAS officials to provide a fascinating account of the agency's achievements, failures and remarkable survival during a period of political upheaval and dramatic economic and industrial relations change.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50898161959185,"sku":"GOR005169504","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52140790350097,"sku":"NLS9780631223269","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0631223266.jpg?v=1756348895"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/fr-fr\/collections\/auteur-livres-de-brian-towers.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}