Trade Unionism, Social Justice, and Religious Discrimination in Northern Ireland

Abstract

This article examines the actions of trade union leaders in response to religious discrimination in employment in Northern Ireland, and their influence on British Government policy-making on this question. The main finding is that despite the risk of alienating many members, the trade union movement persisted in seeking radical remedies for discrimination during the 1980s, and was influential in the shaping of anti-discrimination legislation enacted in 1989. The author finds points of similarity between this history and the AFL-CIO leadership's civil rights stand in the 1960s, and sees these examples as evidence that egalitarian values have played, and continue to play, an important role in shaping union purpose and action.