4 - Unionism and cooperation Flashcards
Examples of Earlier Trade unions success
London Printers
- 1793 petitioned their masters for an incraese in wages
- They had 539 signatures
- Successfully negotiatedd an increase in wages
Grand National success
The Combination Act was repealed in 1824
Had over 1 million members
Beginning of the move away from local trade societies
Grand National Failures
Fell in 1834
Due to a lack of effective management
As only 16,000 out of their 1 million members paid their fees
Government’s response to trade unions
The Combinations Act
Harsher punishments were favoured under the 1797 Unlawful Oaths Act (naval law)
Repealed in 1824
The Masters and Servants Act 1823
Reformed in 1867 — although still severe – repealed in 1875
In 1834, under the M&S A 10,246 working men were imprisoned
Tolpuddle Martyrs facts
Government made a statement by giving them harsh punishments
Willaim Lovett’s (CHARTISTS) reduced their sentence through a campaign
Sentenced under the 1797 Unlawful Oaths Act in 1834
They got 7 years transportation to Australia.
Petitions for their release had 200,000 signatures
They were issued a free pardon in March 1836
New Model Unionsm facts
The Amalgamated Sociey for Engineers [founded in 1851] donated £3,000 to teh builders strike fund
–> well organised – collected so much money that they helped other unions
Alexander Mcdonald in 1855 formed a unified Scottish coal and ironstone miners’ association which achieved the Miners Regulation Act 1860 = protection of fair wages
–> Mcdonald was elected to the first parlaimentary committee of the Trades Union Congress in 1871
Became an MP in 1874
TUC facts
formed in 1868
Forerunner was the London Trades Council [trades councils = the inbetween phase between New Model Unionism and the TUC as they were a collection of local unions]
Its parlaimentary committee was led by Mcdonald (MINERS)
New Lanark facts
Jeremy Bentham invested in Robert Owen’s mill and received 5% on his investment
–> Bentham criticised the Poor Laws in his essay ‘Observations on the Poor Bill’
However, no one listened to Owen so he moved to America in 1824
–> despite the Tsar of Russia visiting in 1816 = people listening?
He had free education and built houses for workers
No children under 10 could work
The Mill was closed for 4 months following the US’s ban on cotton, but he continued to pay his workers
In 1834, he boasted that he maintained an annual wage of £300,000 which silenced his critics.
Co-operative and the Rochdale Pioneers facts
1844 = first co-op shop opened in Rochdale by 28 men
Who formed the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers
By 1870, their shop had 5,560 members
By the 1870s there were over 1,000s shops across the country
However, they faced opposition becuase they were viewed as radical: traditional shop owners charged them excessive rent
Friendly Societies
The governmnet did not stop FS but controlled them – they did one less job for the governmnet
= Proto-welfare state
The FS Act in 1793 meant that FS’s had to register with a local Justice of Peace
By 1815, FSs insured 1/3 of the population
The first mutual savings bank, founded in Scotlandin 1810, was called the “Savings and Friendly Society”.
—- by 1818 there were 465 savings banks in Britain
Self help
In 1859, Samuel Smiles published his book Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct = sold 250,000 copies – although the working class could not read
He joined several cooperative ventures = By the 1870s there were over 1,000s shops across the country.
+ Editor of Leeds Times a radical newspaper from 1839-42
