Page 181 - An Introduction to Political Communication Second Edition

AN INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

‘going over the heads’ of union negotiators, communicating directly
with the workforce and seeking to persuade them of the correctness
of management’s policies. Edwardes also applied public relations
techniques, pursued through the media, to the mobilisation of public
support.
For example, announcements of important management decisions
would be timed to accommodate main news programmes, particularly
the popular early evening bulletins with the largest audiences (basic
public relations, of course, but innovative in the context of industrial
disputes). News reports would be closely monitored by British
Leyland’s PR staff, and any perceived mistakes or inaccuracies in
coverage immediately relayed to the media organisation concerned,
for correction at the next available opportunity. Edwardes insisted
on going ‘live’ when he appeared in broadcast interviews, thus
preventing the possibility of his views being edited to his disadvantage.
To protect his authority and status, he never appeared in debates
with union leaders on television.
BL under Edwardes pioneered the practice of producing company
newspapers which were delivered free of charge to the workforce.
This allowed management to bypass the leadership of the union by
disseminating its message directly into workers’ homes. Management
offers on pay, conditions, or other points of dispute could be made
‘unmediated’ by union leaders’ objections and counter arguments.
BL management also introduced the practice of carrying out surveys
of workers’ opinions, the findings of which would then be
incorporated into negotiating tactics. By the use of such methods
Edwardes secured from the BL workforce a vote of 7 to 1 in favour
of his recovery plan, despite the vociferous objections of the union.
Where British Leyland had led, other managements followed,
compelling union negotiators to accept that they, too, would have to
embrace communication techniques which involved co-operation
with, rather than huffy dismissal of, the ‘capitalist media’. This would
require an appreciation of the media’s demands and news-values,
and attention to the presentation, as well as the substance of a
negotiating position.
During the rail strike of 1982 the National Union of Railway-
workers did precisely this, making the dispute, in Jones’s view, the
first in which ‘a substantial attempt at negotiating through the news
media was made’ (1986, p.4). In the 1984–5 miners’ strike,
notwithstanding the bitterness and violence which accompanied the
dispute. National Union of Mineworkers’ leaders, and Arthur Scargill
in particular, pursued a determinedly pro-active communication

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