The Development of Trade Unionism

Question 1

What had there been to control prices and wages since medieval times?

Answer 1

Workers’ guilds.

Question 2

What made work fair and conditions goods before the Industrial Revolution?

Answer 2

Most business owners worked with their employees in small workshops.

Question 3

What 2 ways were workers’ wages corrupted after the Industrial Revolution?

Answer 3

-Wage competition was a massive problem, with huge increases in the working population
-If someone complained about their wages or working conditions they would simply be invited to leave, or someone else would be ready to take their job, often for a lower wage.

Question 4

Name 2 opposition groups to new technology:

Answer 4

-The Luddites
-The Swing Rioters

Question 5

What did Luddites do?

Answer 5

They would deliberately break machinery in the hope that factory owners would turn away from technology.

Question 6

What were the Swing Rioters angered by?

Answer 6

The depression in agriculture after the Napoleonic wars, and by the new threshing machines that took their jobs.

Question 7

What did Swing Rioters do?

Answer 7

They set fire to farms and damaged machines.

Question 8

What did combination acts do?

Answer 8

They put restrictions on groups of workers combining to form trade unions.

Question 9

What caused the Combination Act of 1825 to be passed?

Answer 9

A wave of strikes in 1824.

Question 10

What did the Combination Act of 1825 mean?

Answer 10

It defined the rights of trade unions as meetings to discuss wages and conditions, anything outside of this was illegal.

Question 11

The Combination Act of 1825 stopped what 2 things?

Answer 11

-The perceived threat of intimidation by groups of workers
-It stopped workers picketing

Question 12

What were the 2 results of the Combination Act of 1825?

Answer 12

-There was the problem that it was not clear about exactly what intimidation meant
-Trade unions had been weakened

Question 13

What union did Robert Owen set up?

Answer 13

He set up the Grand National Consolidated Trade Union (GNCTU)

Question 14

When did Robert Owen set up the GNCTU?

Answer 14

1834

Question 15

What did the GNCTU do?

Answer 15

It saw the workers buying goods in bulk to sell on in their cooperative member shops. The profit from these shops was then shared among the working members.

Question 16

How many members did the GNCTU have within a week of it being set up?

Answer 16

Half a million.

Question 17

Who was worried by the rapid growth of the GNCTU?

Answer 17

The government.

Question 18

Why was the success of the GNCTU short lived?

Answer 18

Factory workers had different grievances from mine workers, and conflicts between the two groups had weakened the union.

Question 19

When was the GNCTU’s fate sealed and why?

Answer 19

In 1834, when 6 farm labourers were arrested for swearing an oath to protect their income.

Question 20

Which group took strike action in 1837?

Answer 20

The Scottish Friendly Association of Cotton Spinners

Question 20

What tactics did the Scottish spinners use?

Answer 20

They would refuse to work until their demands were met. They used violent methods, such as harassing people who were willing to work for less, and in extreme cases shooting themselves.

Question 21

What happened to the spinners in the end?

Answer 21

They ran out of funds and their leaders were arrested. The strike ended in disaster.

Question 22

What new type of union was set up?

Answer 22

The Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE)

Question 23

When was the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE) set up?

Answer 23

1851

Question 24

What was the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE)?

Answer 24

A union of highly skilled men who could afford to pay weekly subscriptions.

Question 25

What did the weekly subscriptions in the ASE ensure?

Answer 25

That they received sick pay and other benefits.

Question 26

What would happen if a member of the ASE threatened to strike?

Answer 26

The employer would suffer, as they could not replace them.

Question 27

What did the ASE spark a wave of?

Answer 27

New Model Unions

Question 28

Give 2 groups and the year they became New Model Unions:

Answer 28

-Carpenters in 1860
-Tailors in 1866

Question 29

Give a fact which proves the success of New Model Unions:

Answer 29

The ASE had 33,000 members by 1868.

Question 30

Why were New Model Unions seen as ‘new model’?

Answer 30

As they accepted the structure that they worked in, and did not want to destroy it. Rather, they wanted to negotiate improvement from within.

Question 31

How had New Model Unions helped trade unionism?

Answer 31

Trade unionism gained support from the government.

Question 32

Show how trade unionism had increased their rights:

Answer 32

By the 1870s, trade unions had legal status and members could picket for their rights.

Question 33

Who had the success of New Model Unions only benefitted?

Answer 33

The more affluent skilled workers.

Question 34

What are the 2 most high-profile cases of unhappy, unskilled workers who organised themselves into action?

Answer 34

-The match girls’ strike of 1888
-The dockers’ strike of 1889

Question 35

Explain how trade unionism gained support and improved the lives of members by creating a political voice:

Answer 35

There was the creation of the Independent Labour Party, which in the 20th century became the Labour Party which we still have today.