This book is a study of the relationship between full-time union officials and shop stewards across the whole of British industry in 1986-87. It is the first major study of union officials for twenty years, and one of the most detailed studies of workplace collective bargaining and union organization following the recession of the early 1980s. In the wake of recession, union decline and industrial restructuring, Britain is said by some commentators to be entering "a new industrial relations." This book provides a unique body of evidence that throws new light on this claim, and casts serious doubt on its validity.