Trade Unions Flashcards
How were workers impacted by WW1?
- 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
What were the effects of WW1 on workers in England?
- 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
Why did the war result in the growth in Trade Union power?
- 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
Who was Ernest Bevin?
- Founder and leader of the Transport & General Workers Union (TGWU) in 1922
- Coordinated activity of unions during the general strikes
Who was James Henry Thomas?
- Helped from National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) and a Labour MP from 1910 till 1936
- Reluctant to lead the NUR into general strike
What groups were Manny Shinwell and James Maxton involved in?
Red Clydeside and the Independent Labour Party (elected as MPS in 1922)
What evidence is there that Trade Unions influence grew between 1915 and 1919?
- 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
What evidence is there that Trade Unions were not able to gain as much influence as desired between 1915 and 1919?
- 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
Describe Glasgow prior to the rent strike in 1915
- 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)
What happened during the Glasgow Rent Strike?
- 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
What was the result of the Glasgow Rent Strike?
- 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
What happened to Glasgow after the war?
- Became reputable for successful militant protest
* Earned the reputation of Red Clydeside and a centre of socialism and an emblem of unions growing influence
Why did the local trade unions in Glasgow decided to strike in January 1919?
- 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
What happened with the 40 Hour Strike?
- Spread to Belfast Unions
- 50,000 men were striking
- Tanks and troops were deployed to Glasgow and a riot broke out in George Square
What was the result of the 40 Hour Strike?
- 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
What happened to British industry after the war?
- 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
What happened in March 1919?
- 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
How did the government begin to effectively prepare for another strike between 1919 and 1924
- 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
WHy did Lloyd George establish the Sankey Royal Commission?
He wanted to avoid industrial disputes but also wanted to cut miner’s wages to make coal more competitive
What was the result of the Sankey Commission
- 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
Why did Black Friday 1921 occur?
- 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
Name the two key consequences of Black Friday
- Showed that the unions were not in a close enough coalition as they thought
- Employers in all industries forced down wages
What happened to industrial unrest between 1921 and 1923?
Increase in strikes - 85.8 million working days lost to disputes compared to 10.7 million prior to 1921
What action did trade unions take between 1919 and 1922?
- 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
What new unions formed from 1922?
- 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
Give the context of the General Strike in 1926
- 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
What caused the General Strike?
Coal conflict of July 1925 then break down in negotiations
What happened during the coal conflict in 1925?
- 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
How did the government use the 9 months granted to them by the subsidy?
- 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
How did the trade unions use the 9 months granted to them by the subsidy?
- Inactive
* Temporarily refused to grant all out strike power to the General Council due to lack of trust over Black Friday
Why did the General Strike start
- 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
When did the TUC declare a general strike
- Voted on it 1st May
* Called on the 3rd of May
How did the government respond to the general strike?
- 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
How successful were the government’s preparations for the strike?
• 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
How did the government use the media to undermine the strikes?
- 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
Describe the strength of support for the strike between 3rd May - 12th May 1926?
- 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
Why did the TUC end the General Strike?
They did not want the events to go beyond an industrial dispute so the Grand Council became increasingly willing to cut a deal
How were the TUC given the ability to end the strike?
- 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
What was the result of the General Strike for workers?
- 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
What happened to the trade union movement after the General strike?
- 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
