In the preface to the first edition (McGraw-Hill 1986) some background was provided to the turbulent years during which the material for this book was conceived and developed. The first ideas were put together during the three weeks of the now famous Volkswagen strike of 1980 and were initially produced as a core course in industrial relations. This was written with the expectation that industrial relations would become an increasingly pressing issue in South Africa as a whole, and not only in the Eastern Cape where it featured so prominently during those early years after Wiehahn. The original objective the course was to create awareness and knowledge of industrial relations issues across the spectrum of participants in the process.