During the 1980s, British trade unionism confronted its greatest challenge, and suffered its greatest reverses, since the inter-war period. After a decade of rapid growth, the unions experienced a steep decline in membership, and a virtual marginalization in national political affairs. This book addresses a number of fundamental questions raised by the record of these years, including the reasons for membership loss and the steps the unions took in reaction to the membership problem. It also looks at whether this period can be seen as making a fundamental break with the past, or whether the past decade has been but a temporary recession and the future can still see a revived movement.