ANGRY pickets standing outside factory gates, rubbish lying uncollected for weeks, trades unionists turning up at Downing Street for beer and sandwiches - once a nightly ritual on the news, for a whole generation these scenes are familiar only through nostalgia TV, as dated as kipper ties and glam rock.

But, just like flares before it, it seems that industrial unrest is making a comeback. Train operator Arriva saw one 48-hour stoppage last week, with another promised for next week, in a dispute over pay. Benefits Agency staff walked out yesterday over plans to remove security screens. And workers at the Caterpillar plant in Peterlee this month staged the first strikes in the factory's 27-year history over terms and conditions.

After a lengthy period of relative calm, a surge in the number of industrial disputes has come very much against the tide, according to John Stirling, principal lecturer in industrial relations at Northumbria University.

"Since 1979, the number of working days lost due to disputes has declined dramatically, in Britain and much of the rest of Europe," he says. "One reason for that has been a rapid decline in trades union membership, and that has probably contributed to a change in approach from the trades unions, and a move towards partnerships rather than a confrontational style."

According to the TUC, union membership has fallen from 12.6m in 1979, to 6.8m now, although the last three years have seen a small increase from the low of 6.6m. But the number of trades unionists is not the only factor, says Mr Stirling.

"There has been a decline in the old industries, and changes in the law have been a factor. People now realise there are legal balloting procedures to go through, so we don't see the old style of dispute, where people walk out the gate. Now they think more carefully before they take industrial action.

"And the trades union membership is now consolidated in the old public sector. I think what is happening is a degree of anger and frustration from the employees, in terms of what has been happening to those public services. They feel they haven't been supported by both parties in government over the last few years.

'I think these disputes are more than just the latest row over pay - they reflect a feeling of anger at a lack of investment. In the long-term, we might see more of these disputes, part of an underlying dissatisfaction of working in the public sector.

"Employees see lots of jobs disappearing, through private companies coming in, and the unions want to see a future for their members in that sector."

But fears of a rise in trades union militancy is not a preoccupation of most businesses in the region, according to Rachel Spence, head of policy at the North-East Chamber of Commerce.

"Industrial action is at an all-time low, it is just that the strikes we have got are getting more attention and it is a hot political issue at the moment," she says. "It doesn't do the image of the region or the country any good as far as inward investment goes, and if we want to promote our region we're going to have to find a better way of solving our disputes."

She says a combination of changes in employment law and a greater willingness to go to arbitration, as well as an increase in the number of foreign-owned factories, has created a different work ethos to the one which prevailed in the 1970s.

"The 1984 miners' strike was probably the watershed, and since then we have seen a decline in strikes. There is a different approach to industrial disputes now, and we don't seem to have a lot of companies worried about strike action."

But, while some trades unionists might have revelled in strikes as a demonstration of industrial muscle, today's equivalents are more likely to champion partnership instead of pickets. Paul Nowak, North-East regional TUC secretary, says there is little sign of a return to industrial strife.

"I don't think this is part of a trend. The trend is towards much more of a consensual form of industrial relations," he says. "Trades union membership has stabilised, despite heavy job losses in manufacturing and engineering, and most employees are waking up to the fact that trades unions are part of the solution."

Figures released last week showed that trades unions signed 470 deals with employers last year, up from 159 in 2000, with only 20 forced on employers through arbitration, and a third of the total a result of an approach from the employer.

Many of these agreements cover training or consultation procedures, a sign of the changing role of trades unions, according to Mr Nowak. "We have moved away from being about terms and conditions - trades unions have adopted much more of a positive agenda," he says. "We're much more responsive to the needs of our members. If you look at what people want out of trades union membership, pay and working conditions come into it, but it is also things like job security, being treated with respect by an employer and working hours.

"We're trying, where possible, to work with employers. When people take industrial action, it is very much a last resort. It isn't about unions flexing their muscles, they aren't some raging hot-heads, who have been waiting for the opportunity to give their employer a bloody nose.

"The partnership approach is the way forward. There is more of an understanding that what is good for business can often be good for employees as well. There isn't always a conflict of interest."

And this approach is putting British trades unions more on a par with their continental counterparts, according to Professor Stephen Procter, who holds the Alcan chair of management at Newcastle School of Management, part of Newcastle University. "Some trades unions have continued in the traditional role of representing the workforce in negotiations over pay and conditions," he says. "But others would see themselves much more in the role of partners with management.

"They might see themselves as serving their members in other ways, becoming more like the AA, as an organisation which offers services to its members. To some extent, they are being driven by external changes, and we have seen the Government trying to distance itself from the trades unions."

But, despite the fall in membership and the sharp decline in influence, which once saw trades unions become almost partners in government, the evidence suggests there is still a role for the forces of organised labour. "Research tends to suggest that people still feel there are strong reasons to be members of trades unions," says Prof Procter. "And the prime reason is there is a fundamental imbalance between the management and the workers, and the trades unions provide a means of redressing that. A lot of managers would also prefer to work through trades unions, and a cynical view is that management would not have to exercise any discipline, because that is done through the trades union.

"Management and workforce both have an interest in the well-being of their organisation, and there has always been that aspect of them working together, as well as the tension of being in opposition. It is almost like a marriage - there is a common interest but also a conflict of interest all the time."