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The Labour Exchanges Act 1909 ( 9 Edw. 7. c. 7) was an act of Parliament which saw the state-funded creation of
The Labour Exchanges Act 1909 ( 9 Edw. 7. c. 7) was an act of Parliament which saw the state-funded creation of labour exchange
A public employment service is a government's organization which matches employers to employees.
History
One of the oldest references to a public employment agency was in 1650, when Henry Robinson proposed an "Office of Addresses and Encounters" ...
s, also known as employment exchanges. The stated purpose was to help the unemployed find employment.
Prior to the creation of these government-funded labour exchanges, workers would have to search for jobs themselves; the first labour exchange was established by social reformer and employment campaigner Alsager Hay Hill in London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1871.
The act also wanted to improve the mobility of the workforce, which until then had not been achieved. However, the exchanges were not very effective since only 25% of those listed on the labour exchange workforce found employment through them.
The law was opposed by some trade unions
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
that feared their bargaining power
Bargaining power is the relative ability of parties in a negotiation (such as bargaining, contract writing, or making an agreement) to exert influence over each other in order to achieve favourable terms in an agreement. This power is derived f ...
would be reduced by the law and make it easier to recruit cheap labour from distant parts of the country.
See also
*Liberal welfare reforms
The Liberal welfare reforms (1906–1914) were a series of acts of social legislation passed by the Liberal Party after the 1906 general election. They represent the Liberal Party's transition rejecting the old laissez faire policies and enactin ...
* Labour Bureaux (London) Act 1902
* Employment Agencies Act 1973
* United Kingdom agency worker law
* United Kingdom labour law
United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK have a minimum set of employment rights, from Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equity (legal concept), equity. ...
Notes
United Kingdom labour law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1909 Welfare in the United Kingdom 1909 in labor relations {{UK-statute-stub