Jonathan S. Kitchen – författare

Economically and politically, North Sea oil very quickly became of vital importance to Britain. But very little serious attention was paid to the problems of the men working out on the rigs, and certainly none to their legal problems: they had been working in a kind of legal ‘no man’s land’. This informative and critical book, first published in 1977, represents a new and exciting approach to labour law looks closely at the way in which the law applies to workers out on the rigs and at the way it regulates the various aspects of their employment. More than that, it looks at the context in which the law is applied, a dynamic industry operating within severe physical, economic and political constraints, showing not only how the law came to be shaped, but also how its provisions are but one example of the employment process and which mirror changing moods and standards.

Economically and politically, North Sea oil very quickly became of vital importance to Britain. But very little serious attention was paid to the problems of the men working out on the rigs, and certainly none to their legal problems: they had been working in a kind of legal ‘no man’s land’. This informative and critical book, first published in 1977, represents a new and exciting approach to labour law looks closely at the way in which the law applies to workers out on the rigs and at the way it regulates the various aspects of their employment. More than that, it looks at the context in which the law is applied, a dynamic industry operating within severe physical, economic and political constraints, showing not only how the law came to be shaped, but also how its provisions are but one example of the employment process and which mirror changing moods and standards.

This book, first published in 1980, covers the employment of merchant seamen, principally from the perspective of a labour lawyer, but including a great deal of material not normally found in books on labour law. It also shows how the law is but one kind of rule; that the collective organisations of works and employers create and enforce rules of industrial practice that have just as important an effect on the lives of those they cover.