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History A Level - Political Reform > Trade Unions > Flashcards

Trade Unions Flashcards

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1
Q

How were workers impacted by WW1?

A
  • Increase of hours, restriction of movement between jobs and an influx of unskilled workers (women) in order to satisfy the wartime demand
  • There were some who striked due to this
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2
Q

What were the effects of WW1 on workers in England?

A
  • Loss of 800,000 mainly working-class men in War led to the belief that they were entitled to improved wages and conditions due to the sacrifice of life
  • Industrial unrest continued, labour unions represented 70% of the workforce
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3
Q

Why did the war result in the growth in Trade Union power?

A
  • Growth in membership between 1914 and 1919 = 4.2 million to over 8 million
  • Nationalisation of key industries eg coal and railways meant negotiations were with government who needed output to remain high
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4
Q

Who was Ernest Bevin?

A
  • Founder and leader of the Transport & General Workers Union (TGWU) in 1922
  • Coordinated activity of unions during the general strikes
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5
Q

Who was James Henry Thomas?

A
  • Helped from National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) and a Labour MP from 1910 till 1936
  • Reluctant to lead the NUR into general strike
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6
Q

What groups were Manny Shinwell and James Maxton involved in?

A

Red Clydeside and the Independent Labour Party (elected as MPS in 1922)

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7
Q

What evidence is there that Trade Unions influence grew between 1915 and 1919?

A
  • Bevin and Thomas got unions working together in order to gain greater influence. Formed Triple Alliance at the start of the war - railway, mining and transport unions
  • Thomas worked with Llyod George demanding better pay and doing this through cracking down on unofficial strikes
  • Able to exert pressure on government to only take relatively inexperienced miners to tunnel during the Somme
  • Glasgow Rent Strike
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8
Q

What evidence is there that Trade Unions were not able to gain as much influence as desired between 1915 and 1919?

A
  • Munitions of War Act 1915: government now in control of industrial disputes. Introduced leaving certificates to stop workers moving to less skilled but better-paying jobs
  • Dilution of the workforce caused grievances for workers (unskilled workers incl. women being used for skilled tasks - eg 14,000 in Clydside)
  • Despite government deploying less experienced miners to the Somme they were replaced by men who usually weren’t usually parts of unions - by 1916 this dispute got to the point where the government made miners have to belong to unions during the war
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9
Q

Describe Glasgow prior to the rent strike in 1915

A
  • Heart of British heavy industry - 370,000 shipbuilders, miners and engineers
  • Provided 90% of amour plating needed for tanks
  • Strikes in August 1915 over leaving certificates (a dispute won by workers) brought it the reputations of Red Clydeside (in light of Russian revolution)
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10
Q

What happened during the Glasgow Rent Strike?

A
  • Profiteering by landlords (increase in workers to city led to them increasing rents to make money) led to a strikes
  • Led by Glasgow Women’s Housing Association, soon working men joined the protest (known as Mrs Barbour’s Army)
  • Maxton threatened to call a general strike in Glasgow
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11
Q

What was the result of the Glasgow Rent Strike?

A
  • November 1915 the government limited rent and mortgage prices to pre-war levels
  • SIgnificant victory - showed that unions were able to pressurise the government into gaining demands through militant industrial protest
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12
Q

What happened to Glasgow after the war?

A
  • Became reputable for successful militant protest

* Earned the reputation of Red Clydeside and a centre of socialism and an emblem of unions growing influence

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13
Q

Why did the local trade unions in Glasgow decided to strike in January 1919?

A
  • To campaign for a 40 hour week

* believed that reducing hours would create more jobs for those who were returning from the war and looking for work

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14
Q

What happened with the 40 Hour Strike?

A
  • Spread to Belfast Unions
  • 50,000 men were striking
  • Tanks and troops were deployed to Glasgow and a riot broke out in George Square
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15
Q

What was the result of the 40 Hour Strike?

A
  • The red flag was raised in Glasgow, unrest spread to London where underground workers went on strike too
  • Between February and March, it appeared that there was a threat of socialist revolution
  • During this period 10/15 parliamentary seats in Glasgow went to the Labour Party
  • It was eventually suppressed by military
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16
Q

What happened to British industry after the war?

A
  • Government were keen to return it to private ownership

* It began to be uncompetitive due to the higher wages and shorter hours created during wartime

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17
Q

What happened in March 1919?

A
  • Thomas negotiated that railway wages would not be severely reduced and that wartime bonuses would continue into peacetime
  • Govt. said no but panicked at threat of strikes and deployed troops to major train stations in London
  • A strike was not called due to not support from miners (due to securing hours cut from 8 to 7 and wage increase of 20%) or transport unions
18
Q

How did the government begin to effectively prepare for another strike between 1919 and 1924

A
  • Established Sankey Royal Commission in 1919
  • Set up the Industrial Unrest committee in February 1919 that became Supply and Transport Committee (STC) - recruited volunteers and stockpiled coal in case of strike
  • Passed the Emergency Powers Act 1920 allowing them to declare a state of emergency at times of severe industrial unrest
19
Q

WHy did Lloyd George establish the Sankey Royal Commission?

A

He wanted to avoid industrial disputes but also wanted to cut miner’s wages to make coal more competitive

20
Q

What was the result of the Sankey Commission

A
  • Stopped the threat of strikes between 1919-21
  • In 1921 government ignored the advice of the commission to keep coal nationalised, returned it to private ownership - miners pay fell 30% as the cost of living increase
21
Q

Why did Black Friday 1921 occur?

A
  • Miners expected from the other members of the triple alliance to come out and strike with them
  • NTWF (transport) were more worried about their own jobs and the NUR (railway) agreed with them
22
Q

Name the two key consequences of Black Friday

A
  • Showed that the unions were not in a close enough coalition as they thought
  • Employers in all industries forced down wages
23
Q

What happened to industrial unrest between 1921 and 1923?

A

Increase in strikes - 85.8 million working days lost to disputes compared to 10.7 million prior to 1921

24
Q

What action did trade unions take between 1919 and 1922?

A
  • August 1920 saw establishment of Council of Action by Labour Party and trade unions - use strikes to prevent manufacture/exports of munitions to Poland to fight Soviet Russia
  • Local Councils of Action formed
  • 1921 saw formation of General Council of the TUC to create tighter alliance than that prior to Black Friday by 1924 got support of railwaymen and miners
25
Q

What new unions formed from 1922?

A
  • TGWU (transport and General Workers’ Union) replaced the NTFW
  • Amalgamated Society of Engineers formed to represent iron-founders, builders, carpenters and skilled engineers with 1 shilling a week fees
26
Q

Give the context of the General Strike in 1926

A
  • Stagnation of British trade, failure to increase competitiveness - Germany and USA doing much better
  • Wages but by £12 million weekly, domestic demand reduced and unemployment increased (1 million by 1925)
  • Attempt to reintroduce the Gold Standard made economic expansion harder and exports too expensive leading to further wage cuts
  • Despite this TUC convinced wage reversal was not going to take place due to textile workers wages remaining constant despite 10% cut to their industry
27
Q

What caused the General Strike?

A

Coal conflict of July 1925 then break down in negotiations

28
Q

What happened during the coal conflict in 1925?

A
  • June 1925 mine owners tried to abolish 1924 wage agreement - wanted to cut wages 13% and increase hours from 7 to 8
  • TUC ordered an embargo to halt coal imports
  • Baldwin backed down and gave a 9-month govt. subsidy of £23 million - this became known as Red Friday
29
Q

How did the government use the 9 months granted to them by the subsidy?

A
  • Stockpiled resources (coal)
  • Economic League and OMS recruited middle and upper-class volunteers to work if a strike occurred
  • By February 1926 they were prepared for a strike and deployed troops to sensitive areas
30
Q

How did the trade unions use the 9 months granted to them by the subsidy?

A
  • Inactive

* Temporarily refused to grant all out strike power to the General Council due to lack of trust over Black Friday

31
Q

Why did the General Strike start

A
  • Impasse between miners’ unions and mine owners - Samuel’s Commission recommended temp. 13.5% wage cuts, end of subsidy, amalgamation of smaller mines, national wage agreements and sharing of profits between miners and coal mine owners
  • Neither wanted to accept agreements resulted in lock-out on April 29th 1926 as miners didn’t want to accpet 10-20% wage cuts
  • OMS recruiting posters also exacerbated tensions
32
Q

When did the TUC declare a general strike

A
  • Voted on it 1st May

* Called on the 3rd of May

33
Q

How did the government respond to the general strike?

A
  • Volunteers mobilised (300,000 existed but many not used)
  • Underground ran by 2000 Cambridge University undergraduates, 460 worked on docks
  • Reserve policemen drawn from former soldier and territorial army
34
Q

How successful were the government’s preparations for the strike?

A

• Volunteers successfully ran power stations, dockyards and food supplies flowing (especially in Liverpool which was responsible for 1/5 of nations imports - 25/92 ships left and 50 new ones arrives)
• no breakdown in order
• Propaganda meant that violence and thus the need to use the army was limited
BUT
• Railways did struggle
• Miners clashed with police in Glasgow, some disruption in Plymouth and London
• Use of upper-class volunteers worsened class tensions

35
Q

How did the government use the media to undermine the strikes?

A
  • British Gazette edited by Churchill to spread fear of revolution limiting the violence of the TUC and their own need to use the military
  • For fear of a government take over BBC didn’t publish any content that damaged the government
  • Churchill requisitioned all of the British Worker’s newspaper paper
36
Q

Describe the strength of support for the strike between 3rd May - 12th May 1926?

A
  • 1 million miners supported by 1.75 million workers mainly from the transport, power station. printing and iron/steel industry
  • Credit due to Bevin’s influence as leader of TGWU
  • Strong responses in Bradford, Leeds as well as some more rural areas such as Torquay
  • Those who refused to strike were branded blacklegs
37
Q

Why did the TUC end the General Strike?

A

They did not want the events to go beyond an industrial dispute so the Grand Council became increasingly willing to cut a deal

38
Q

How were the TUC given the ability to end the strike?

A
  • Herbert Samuel. head of coal commission tried to settle dispute
  • Proposed that industry should be reorganised, miners wages cut for a year
  • Miners union MFGB refused to accept wages cuts
  • May 11th Samuel proposal rejected and on the 12th TUC Grand Council told Baldwin they were ending the strike
39
Q

What was the result of the General Strike for workers?

A
  • Many employers made union membership a barrier to employment
  • In Glasgow 368/5000 tram-workers suspended
  • Wages cut
  • Coal Miners locked out till November 1926 forced back by hunger, in Yorkshire forced to accept new 7.5hr day and in Wales and North East wages were cut
40
Q

What happened to the trade union movement after the General strike?

A
  • Became divided due to lack of unity and protection
  • Membership declined from 5.2 million to 4.4 million
  • Had to acknowledge capitalism wasnt at an end

History A Level - Political Reform (7 decks)

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