BRITAIN Trades union militancy 1915-27 PART 1 Flashcards
How much of the globe’s land had Britain controlled pre-WW1?
1/3
What was Britain’s wealth mainly derived from pre-WW1?
Heavy industry, built on iron production and coal mining
How many British people were killed in WW1?
820,000+
What did the increased demands for labour during the war allow workers to do?
Campaign for improvements
How much of the nation’s workforce did working-class labourers make up?
70%
When was the rise of the trade union movement?
1915-26
How did membership of the trade unions change between 1913-19?
4,189,000 members to 8,081,000 members
Why was the nationalisation of industry a positive for the trade unions?
Brought them into direct contact with the government and allowed for direct negotiations
How many men were there in Britain at the beginning of WW1?
15 million
How many men were recruited for combat in WW1?
4,970,000 for army; 407,000 for navy; 293,000 for air force
What was industrial production like in July 1915?
Mining production had fallen 21.8%; iron and steel production was down 18.8%; shipbuilding fell 16.5%
By when were coal miners demanding a 20% rise in wages to meet growing living expenses?
March 1915
Who was at the forefront of efforts to unite union militancy pre-WW1?
Ernest Bevin; James Henry Thomas
When did Bevin become a trade union official for the Docker’s Union?
1911
When was the NTWF formed?
1910
When was Bevin elected to the executive committee of the NTWF?
1916
What does NTWF stand for?
National Transport Workers’ Federation
Which constituency was Bevin defeated in as the parliamentary candidate for in 1918?
Central Bristol
What was Bevin pivotal in during the war?
Forming NTWF policy
Who was responsible for the NUR and instrumental in its formation?
James Henry Thomas
What does NUR stand for?
National Union of Railwaymen
What had Thomas originally worked for after growing up in poverty?
Great Western Railway (GWR)
What did Thomas become in 1910?
Labour MP for Derby
What did Thomas oversee in 1911?
1911 national rail strike, the first of its kind
When was the NUR created?
1913
What did Thomas serve as in the NUR originally?
Assistant secretary
When did Thomas become general secretary of the NUR?
1916
How did Thomas feel about the WW1?
Supported it
When did Lloyd George’s coalition government form?
Late 1916
How was Thomas able to support Lloyd George’s coalition government?
By cracking down on unofficial strikes and ensuring reasonable industrial harmony
Who did Thomas work with from within parliament to secure improvements to workers’ pay and conditions?
Lloyd George
What did Thomas do after the war?
Worked on the TUC General Council in 1921-24 and 1925-29
What separated Bevin and Thomas?
Thomas got on well with the upper classes- favourite of King George V and a friend of aristocrats/plutocrats
What did both Bevin and Thomas eagerly promote at the beginning of the war?
Formation of the Triple Alliance
What does MFGB stand for?
Miners’ Federation of Great Britain
Which unions formed the Triple Alliance?
MFGB; NTWF; NUR
When was the Triple Alliance formed?
1914
What did Bevin and Thomas believe that the Triple Alliance would allow?
Effective co-ordination of strike action
When did Thomas work on the newly formed parliamentary committee of the TUC?
1917-21
What did the TUC General Council replace?
Parliamentary committee of the TUC
What was the government’s response to fears over insufficient shell and ammunition production?
Munitions of War Act 1915
What did the Munitions of War Act 1915 do?
Brought private companies supplying essential wartime supplies under the authority of the ministry of munitions
What was the ministry of munitions empowered to do by the Munitions of War Act 1915?
Resolve industrial conflicts
How regularly did the ministry of munitions revise national wages during the war?
Every 4 months
When did the ministry of munitions grant a 12.5% bonus to skilled workers in engineering and foundries?
October 1917
What did the 12.5% bonus for skilled workers result in?
Strikes by semi-skilled and unskilled labourers; government forced to extend wartime bonus to all workers
Who did the Munitions of War Act 1915 place constraints on?
Skilled workers in essential industries
How were some workers targeted by the Munitions of War Act 1915?
Skilled workmen could not leave employment without a leaving certificate from their previous employer
What issues did the leaving certificates cause?
Handed employers immense power over their workers; no competition for labour
What did the leaving certificates effectively become?
‘Character notes’
What is dilution?
Practice of employing unskilled or semi-skilled workers as skilled workers
What was another grievance for wartime workers?
Dilution
Where was there particular protest about dilution?
On the Clyde- 14,000 female workers were employed, which caused strikes in May 1917
Which sector did not suffer from dilution?
Coal mining
What was a particular complaint of the coal miners?
Miners recruited for the army were often the older workers
When did the government compromise with the coal miners about the men it would conscript?
April 1916- it required miners for tunnelling operations under the trenches of the Somme battlefield
What was the compromise that the government made with the coal miners about the men it would conscript?
Agreed to take on miners who had entered work since 1914 and were single
Why did strikes break out in March 1915 in South Wales?
Union members concerned that shortage of labour had meant that many new men were employed in mines who were not members of unions
When did the employment of non-union members become so serious that the government had to intervene?
March 1916
How did the government intervene about the issue of the employment of non-union members?
Made employers make trade union membership a condition of employment for all miners for duration of war
Where was the centre of industrial unrest during the war and the heart of British heavy industry?
Glasgow; shipyards and workshops on the river Clyde
How much of the workforce did Glasgow compose?
35%
What was the area along the river Clyde referred to as?
‘Red Clydeside’
What was Manny Shinwell an early member of?
ILP
What did Manny Shinwell join in 1906?
Glasgow Trades Council as a delegate of the union
When was Manny Shinwell prominent in Clydeside?
During the national dock strikes of 1911
What job did Bevin do originally?
Van driving
What job did Thomas do originally?
Engine driving
What job did Shinwell do originally?
Worked in a clothing workshop
What did Shinwell do during the war?
Worked as a local secretary of the Glasgow branch of the British Seafarer’s Union
What did Shinwell earn his fame for?
Militancy against the police
What did Shinwell do unsuccessfully in 1918?
Stood as the Labour candidate for West Lothian
What was Shinwell’s significance during the 40-hour strike 1919?
Key figure in securing the support of the seafarers for the strike
When did Shinwell become a Labour MP?
1922
What was Shinwell appointed as in Ramsay Macdonald’s 1924 Labour government?
Parliamentary secretary to the mines department
How long did Shinwell spend in prison after being found guilty of incitement to riot?
5 months
Why was Shinwell found guilty of incitement to riot?
40-hour strike 1919
What job did James Maxton do originally?
Teaching
What were Maxton’s beginnings?
Born in Glasgow into a Conservative family
Why did Maxton turn to socialism?
Shocked by poverty of his Glaswegian students
When did Maxton join the ILP?
1904
When was Maxton chairman of the Scottish Labour Party?
1913-19
How did Maxton feel about the war?
Opposed it and made regular speeches condemning the conflict
Why did Maxton become involved in union militancy?
Refused to be conscripted into the army; was sent to work on barges instead
What did Maxton become part of during the war?
Clyde Workers’ Committee
What was the Clyde Workers’ Committee formed to campaign against?
Munitions of War Act 1915
When did the Clyde Workers’ Committee originally come together?
October 1915
When was Maxton arrested, serving a year in prison?
1916
What happened to Maxton in 1918?
Elected to the National Council of the Labour Party
When were the leaving certificates abolished?
1917
What was the Munitions of War Amendment Act of January 1916 introduced in response to?
August 1915 Fairfield Yard strikes about leaving certificates
When was the Glasgow Rent strike?
1915
When did the Glasgow Rent strike continue until?
May 1916
How did the Glasgow Rent strike start?
Housewives in Govan, the city centre, protested by refusing to pay rent
Who led the Glasgow Women’s Housing Association?
Mary Barbour; Helen Crawford; Agnes Dollan
When was the Glasgow Women’s Housing Association formed?
1914
Why were people unhappy before the Glasgow Rent strikes?
Discontent grew out of the desire for all society to share the sacrifices war entailed
What specifically led to the Glasgow Rent strikes?
Influx of workers to the city to sustain increased wartime production caused housing shortages; property owners took this opportunity to dramatically increase rents
What legislation did the government pass in response to the Glasgow Rent strikes?
Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act
What did the Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act do?
Limited rent and mortgage rents to the levels at which they had been pre-war
When did the government introduce the Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act?
25 November 1915
What had caused the government to pass the Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act?
Under Maxton, the Clydeside Workers’ Committee threatened to call a general strike in support of the rent strikes
When did the shipbuilders come out in support of the women protesting in the Glasgow Rent strike?
17 November 1915
Why was the Glasgow Rent strike significant?
Showed the extent of influence the labouring classes had attained under wartime conditions
When did the government become increasingly worried that a socialist revolution might develop in Glasgow?
1915-19
When was the 40-hour strike?
January 1919
What organised the 40-hour strike?
Joint Strike Committee
What was the 40-hour strike in protest of?
A 40-hour week to combat huge surplus of labour post-WW1
Where had workers secured a reduction in working hours in early 1919?
Clydeside; Belfast
What reduction in working hours had workers secured in early 1919?
From 53 per week to 47
Where was the most intense strike action during the 40-hour strike?
Belfast
Where did a riot break out in Glasgow, as the authorities overreacted to the strike action?
George Square
What did the 1919 general strike mark?
Change in attitude- trade union-organised industrial workers realised the potential for militant protest to influence government policy
How was the 1919 general strike action represented in London?
London Underground went on stike
When did it genuinely seem as if Britain was on the brink of a revolution?
February-March 1919
What specifically sparked the government’s fears of a socialist revolution in the 40-hour strike?
Raising of the red flag on the municipal flagpole
How did fears of socialist agitation affect the influence of the trade unions?
Increased it
Who remarked that the trade unions were an important tool in preventing post-war discontent from spiralling out of control?
Winston Churchill
Why did unions benefit from fears of a revolution?
Government hoped that they would control industrial unrest
When did Glasgow become a centre of Labour support?
1919-22
When was Clydeside at the forefront of the labour movement’s increasing influence?
1915-19
