b) TRADE UNIONS - in Glasgow Flashcards
MANNY SHINWELL 1884-1986
Party politics
Became an early member of the Independent Labour Party.
Stood unsuccessfully as the ILP candidate for West Lothian in 1918.
He became a Labour MP in the 1922 election.
In Ramsey Macdonald’s 1924 Labour government saw Shinwell appointed to parliamentary secretary to the mines department.
MANNY SHINWELL 1884-1986
Trade Union involvement - BSU
WWI - local sec of the Glasgow branch of the British Seafarer’s Union, representing seamen and dock workers.
Key figure in 40-hours movement in 1919 because he secured support of the seafarers for the strike.
He was found guilty of incitement to riot and so he served 5 months in prison.
JAMES MAXTON 1885-1946
Party politics
Joined the ILP in 1904
1913-19 saw him become the chairman of the Scottish Labour Party - he opposed war and made many speeches condemning the conflict.
1918 - defeated in election of MP but was successful, alongside Manny Shinwell in 1922.
JAMES MAXTON 1885-1946
Trade union involvement - Clyde Workers’ Committee + arrest
Formed as opposition against the Munitions Act 1915 which was critical of the war.
Initially came together in October 1915 and he was profound in organising this.
He was arrested for sedition and served a year in prison.
JAMES MAXTON 1885-1946
Munitions Act strikes and the controversy around leaving certificates
Fairfield Yard strike on the Clyde in Aug 1915 - provoked by two two fairfield ship-builders dismissed and then given negative remarks on their leaving certificates.
This caused a strike which led to the govt introducing the Munitions of War Amendment Act Jan 1916 which led to the 1917 legislation abolishing leaving certificates altogether.
GLASGOW RENT STRIKE 1915
Causes
Influx of workers to the city to sustain wartime production = shortage of sufficient housing.
Property owners/landlords took this opportunity to raise rents.
GLASGOW RENT STRIKE 1915
Actions
Govan was a city district and centre of ship-building - housewives protested against the increase in rents.
They were led by Barbour and Helen Crawfurd and other women - the Glasgow Women’s Housing Association led the rent strike.
‘Mrs Barbour’s Army’
protesters led by Mary Barbour block bailiffs + picket landlords houses- 25,000 by Nov.
Scared govt as threatened munitions supplies.
GLASGOW RENT STRIKE 1915
Consequences
Nov 25th 1915 - Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act, in response to the rent strikes.
This limited rent and mortgage rates to levels to pre-war levels in (Aug 1914)
This had been intrdouced because there was growing support for the rent strike e.g., Maxton calling the Clydeside Workers’ Committee for a general strike in support of the rent strikes.
GLASGOW RENT STRIKE 1915
Impact
The government was very fearful over the trade union militancy.
This can be seen when Lloyd George telephoned a landlord attempting to prosecute 18 protestors who refused to pay rent - he urged the prosecution to be delayed for the sake of protecting production of war supplies.
Rent Restrictions Act was a huge triumph - it was a trade union success!
40-HOUR STRIKE
Causes
Local general strike called throughout Glasgow by the Joint Strike Committee, in protest for a 40-hour work week.
Millions of men conscripted into the army were being rapidly demobilised and there were more people looking for jobs.
Joint Strike Committee argued that if you reduced the hours employees worked, then more jobs could be created.
Reduction of work hours from 53-47 in early 1919 by shipbuilders and engineers on the Clyde in Belfast = encouraged the trade unions more.
40-HOUR STRIKE
Actions
Clyde felt dramatic impacts = Glasgow authorities overreacted and the government became convinced that a revolution was unfolding.
Threat was not that serious - people were throwing lemonade bottles; they were not prepared rioters/protesters.
Dispatched troops and tanks to the city and a riot broke out in St George’s Square when police tried to disperse protestors.
A red flag was raised in the protest which made the govt even more apprehensive.
40-HOUR STRIKE
Consequences
The unrest was widespread = even the London Underground went on strike.
Between Feb and March 1919, Britain was on the brink of revolution.
RED CLYDESIDE
Glasgow’s relation to the heavy industry?
Glasgow was the centre of industrial unrest because it was at the heart of British heavy industry - it was home to 370,000 shipbuilders, coal miners, iron markers, and engineers.
RED CLYDESIDE
What is the Clyde?
There is a river called the Clyde in Glasgow - shipywards and workshops worked alongside the banks of this river.
Industrialisation and socialist agitation exacerbated fears of a revolution similar to the Russian revolution.
RED CLYDESIDE
How Labour benefitted off of the Red Clydeside
Between 1919-1921, the war and the 1919 40 hours movement encouraged the Clyde area to support Labour and in the 1922 election, they won 10 seats.
