Quotes from book
Industrial Democracy

Name: Industrial Democracy
Author: Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield

Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield

Industrial Democracy is a book written by British socialist reformers Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb, concerning the organisation of trade unions and collective bargaining. The book introduced the term industrial democracy to the social sciences, which has since gained a different meaning in modern industrial relations.Industrial Democracy was published in 1897, three years after the Webbs published History of Trade Unionism, an account of the roots and development of the British trade union movement.

“The capitalist is very fond of declaring that labour is a commodity, and the wage contract a bargain of purchase and sale like any other. But he instinctively expects his wage-earners to render him, not only obedience, but also personal deference. If the wage contract is a bargain of purchase and sale like any other, why is the workman expected to toff his hat to his employer, and to say ‘sir’ to him without reciprocity?”

Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield book Industrial Democracy

Industrial Democracy, written with Beatrice Webb (1902) 842