The Rise and Demise of the Institute for Workers’ Control, 1964–1985

The Institute for Workers’ Control (IWC) bridged industrial relations and politics in Britain during the 1960s and 1970s. Formally founded in 1968, principally at the initiative of Ken Coates and Tony Topham, the IWC brought together a diverse group, including trade-unionists, academics, and political activists. Initially assembled in 1964 to unpack the slogan ‘nationalization under workers’ control’ in anticipation of a radical Labour government, it increasingly became a forum for the growing shop stewards’ movement, formulating and honing ‘alternative’ plans for industry and the economy. It helped to develop ‘new forms of industrial action’ used to challenge industrial rationalization and redundancies. While supporting occupations and workers’ co-operatives, and associated with Tony Benn, the IWC’s ‘adult education’ roots and approach gave space for initiatives, strategies, and tactics to emerge from organized workers themselves. The IWC promoted workers’ control through publications, conferences, and seminars, which provided a platform for discussing and developing alternative industrial strategies. The article examines the IWC’s different phases: founding, with arguments around purpose; heyday with the occupations and co-operatives; then the focus on workers’ alternative plans and the alternative economic strategy, through to its increasing alliance with the Labour left and eventual decline in the early Thatcher era.