7C. Trade Unions Flashcards
What problems did unskilled Irish workers face at the start of the 20th Century in terms of their work?
- Low wages → average ~10s 9d a week
- No fixed employment contracts → first fired in recessions*
- Exorbitant hours → Belfast dockers 75 hours a week
- Work was often dangerous / unsanitary
- No unions / organisation / representation for workers
*1908-9 → Unemployment in Belfast’s shipyards reached 20%
What problems did unskilled Irish workers face at the start of the 20th Century with their families?
- Wages too low to service rents / expenses = 22s a week for basic family care → shortfall met by wives / child labour
- Short life expectancy - 49 years
- High infant mortality rate - Belfast 153 / 1000, Dublin 163 / 1000
- Dublin death rate 22.3 / 1000, London 15.6 / 1000
- Poor living conditions in tenements, a contemporary study by T.J. Stafford* concluded that half of Dublin’s population lived in poverty
*Medical Commissioner of Health for the Local Government Board
Why was Dublin so susceptible to urban poverty?
Despite not being as industrially successful as Belfast, Dublin’s two major businesses – the Guinness brewery and Jacob’s Biscuits – as well as its significant port attracted people to the city.
However, the city was unable to improve the facilities to suit the influx of new residence.
- Housing stock characterised by substandard accommodation and poor sanitation.
What were Jim Larkin’s goals for the 1907 Belfast Strike?
- Minimum wage of 27 shillings / week
- Maximum 60 hours per working week
This was first launched against the Belfast Steamship company in May 1907, but expanded to all Belfast companies by June.
Who organised the 1907 Belfast Strike?
The 1907 Belfast Strike was organised by the National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL), founded in Glasgow in 1889, which began recruiting in Belfast from January 1907.
The driving force behind this recruitment process and organisation was Jim Larkin, who moved to Ireland in 1905 as a full-time organiser for the NUDL
How successful was the 1907 Belfast Strike by June?
- Smaller companies agreed to the strikers’ demands
- Some skilled workers went on secondary strike action, making it more difficult for companies to patch over the strike by importing ‘blackleg’ labour
However:
- Larger companies refused to consider the workers’ demands
How did the 1907 Belfast Strike escalate in mid-July?
In mid-July, a low-ranking police officer William Barrett refused to ride in a vehicle transporting blackleg labour
This precipitated a mutiny in the Royal Irish Constabulary as 300 police officers also refused to protect the employers’ blackleg workers → troops had to be drafted in to protect them
This escalated further when, on 10th August, a massive meeting attended by 10,000 Protestant and Catholic workers resulted in a clash with troops causing the deaths of two bystanders.
What was the significance of the 1907 Belfast Strike?
- First time unskilled workers in Ireland had been able to organise for their own benefit – broader masses of unskilled workers assert themselves.
- Provided evidence of wider worker solidarity between skilled and unskilled workers – ‘sympathy’ strikes increased potency of working-class action.
- United 3100 Irish dockers, both Catholic and Protestant, against employers → sympathy ignored religious background.
Why did the 1907 Belfast Strike fail?
The National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL) leader James Sexton and the leaders of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) Allen Gee and Isaac Mitchel sought to bring the strike to a close due to personal interests:
- Their roles offered middle-class careers that presented an opportunity for advancement
- They saw themselves as the arbitrator between the employee and employer
They therefore allowed a dealing which saw carters persuaded back to work after promises of a wage increase but no union recognition, leaving the dockers isolated and eventually defeated.
Why did Larkin fall foul of British Trade Union leaders by 1910?
As a syndicalist, Larkin was motivated by militant, collective action to achieve a better deal for workers as part of his pursuit of socialism.
- This conflicted with the conservatism of the British trade union officials who envisioned a more collaborative approach with employers.
- Secondly, the British Trade Union agenda was to unionise Irish labour to strengthen their own bargaining hand, which Larkin threatened.
How did NUDL and James Sexton seek to get rid of Larkin in 1908-1910?
After travelling to Cork in 1908 to arrange further union membership, Larkin was formally asked to leave Ireland by his NUDL bosses.
When he refused, Sexton supported a charge of conspiracy to defraud, brought up against Larkin by the city employer’s federation in 1909.
On the evidence given by Sexton, Larkin was found guilty in June 1910 and received a 1-year prison sentence
Why was ITGWU significant?
The ITGWU had a much larger membership due to its promotion as a general union rather than a specific trades union.
- By early 1911 the union had a membership of 5,000 increasing to 18,000 by the end of the year.
This gave the union a broader support base which allowed it to greater push for and protect workers rights and signalled the birth of more militant intention to address the issue of working conditions in Ireland.
- Established a weekly newspaper in May 1911 called the Irish Worker to reach out to the broader working classes.
- First issue sold 5,000 copies, increased to 20,000 a week
The union also openly embraced the more radical agenda of syndicalism.
What was Jim Larkin’s overall contribution to Irish Trade Unionism?
- Larkin managed to unionise the previously unheard unskilled labour force in Ireland as well as promote solidarity within them and with skilled workers through the ITGWU.
- He promoted a greater militancy within the working classes and created a more assertive attitude towards achieving better conditions.
- He had exceptional skill and energy as an organiser and public speaker, which he effectively used to rally to his cause.
Which strike action did Larkin create in Dublin in 1908?
In 1908, he orchestrated a carter’s strike with the intention of having the NUDL recognised and wages increased.
This brough shipping in Dublin to a halt, with dockers and brewers take sympathy strike action.
3,000 people in total went on a strike that lasted a year.
What were the results of the 1908 Dublin Carter’s strike?
Although basic wages remained the same, the strikes did force some concessions:
- Rate of overtime increased
- Black shilling for brewers was removed
- Two weeks’ notice would now be required for dismissal
Black shilling = money was deliberately held back each week by employers and only given out at the end of the year if their conduct had been satisfactory)
What was Connolly’s contribution to Irish Trade Unionism?
Connoly quickly became involved in the ITGWU and became Larkin’s right-hand man the following year.
- He was successful in winning a pay rise for seamen and firemen through strike action and established the Irish Textile Workers Union in 1911 for female linen workers.
- He organised the Irish Labour Party in 1912 to represent the working-class people of Ireland specifically (in contrast to the middle-class Irish Party)
- He gave greater political understanding / socialist theory to Larkin’s militancy.
Who was William Martin Murphy?
A former Home Rule MP (lost to a Parnellite in 1892) and Catholic Ireland’s wealthiest businessman:
- Made his $ in the railway transport business, effectively controlling United Tramway Company and Clery’s department store.
- Ran two newspapers - Irish Catholic and Irish Independent
- Generally known as one of the better employers in the city, paying fairer wages and tolerating the deferential and moderate trade unions of the skilled workers.
- Strictly opposed to any militancy such as that of Larkin & Connolly.
What role did Murphy play in antagonising the Irish Trade Union movement?
- He defeated strike action in 1911 by the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants through threat with a lockout
- Attempted to suffocate the ITGWU through founding the Dublin Employers’ Federation in 1911 with the intention of achieving a blanket decision within Dublin’s employers not to hire from the ITGWU, a policy that he also followed.
July 1913 - Sacked all ITGWU members from his Irish Independent despatch department (40 men, 20 boys)
- This resulted in boycotting of the newspaper and began the General Strike 1913-14
