Unionism and Cooperation 2 Flashcards
What were the Sheffield Outrages and when did they occur?
A series of violent actions in 1866 undertaken by the Saw Grinders Union to stop employers undercutting their work
Why did Britain’s position as ‘the workshop of the world’ create the conditions for an expansion in New Model Unionism?
Growth of technical industries that needed skilled labour coupled with ‘victorian values’ of respectability and less violent action gave ASE and ASCJ more leverage with government and the public.
Why did the Liberal Party support the New Model Unions?
Because they could tap into their large support base for their own ends/political power.
Why was New Model Unionism not a success for working-class unity?
Because it divided skilled and unskilled workers.
Which organisation was founded in 1868 to act as a central body for trades unions in Britain?
Trades Union Congress
Where was Robert Owen’s model factory?
New Lanark, Scotland
What did Robert Owen use for the first time in 1794?
Sea Island Cotton
What famous ‘ism’ did Owen first use to describe his belief system?
Utopian Socialism
Who visited Owen’s model town in 1816?
(future) Nicholas I of Russia
Name 3 practical steps Owen took to improve the lives of his workers?
education, reduced hours of work, cooperative shop, housing, temperance, fines, infant school, expanded curriculum, productivity features, no punishments.
What act of parliament did Owen contribute to?
1819 Factory Act
What did Owen set up at Gray’s Inn Road, London for the benefit of workers?
A labour exchange
What did the London Co-operative Society, started by Owen in 1824 aim to do?
Sold goods at fair prices and shared profits with members.
What % of the population was in a Friendly Society by 1803?
8%
How did friendly societies mirror social attitudes by the mid 1800s?
Victorian ‘self-help’ ideas
Where is Robert Owen from?
Wales
What did Robert Owen do at 19?
Manager of his first spinning mill
What did Robert Owen do in 1794?
Set up his own factory and used American sea island cotton
What did Owen produce with his ideas?
A new view of society
How many habitants were at New Lanark and how many were young children from poorhouses?
2000 inhabitants, 500 young children
What did Owen improve and encourage?
Improved housing and encourage clean habits
What did Owen open in 1816?
First infant school in GB which emphasised character development
What did Owen reduce and do to improve the factories?
. Reduced the working hours
. Made the factories light and airy
. Built new cottages, parks and gardens
. Introduced a diver curriculum
. Introduced a scheme which gave workers goods at a cost price
What did Owen set up and what did it do?
A ‘labour exchange’ in Gary’s Inn Road London for the benefit of workers
What society did Owen set up and when?
1824 - London Co-operative society - sold goods at reasonable prices and gave profits back to all who bought goods there
Where did Owen go in 1824 and what did he do?
USA to set up an experimental co-operative village at New Harmony in Indiana
What union did Owen set up in 1834?
Grand National Consolidated Trades Union
Mutualism
Idea that well being is dependant upon people offering mutual support rather than seeking to gain advantage by competing against each other
Cooperative movement
Organisation whose primary aim is to promote the welfare of its members by working together
Dividend
A proportion of the profit generated by a company paid to those who have a financial interest in that company
Cooperative economics
Field of study which relates social equality principles implicitly within co-operation thinking to economic practices
Friendly society
Organisation of members who come together to provide benefits and assistance to each other in the form of sick pay, saving schemes, pensions
Friendly societies act date and what did it do?
1793 - regulated the activities of the emerging groups to keep abreast ant potential threat to an outbreak of war - more transparency
Why was the friendly society act good for workers?
They rapidly grew, legal recognition and legal fund protection, workers could form own organisation for mutual benefits
By 1803 what % of England’s population were members of friendly societies?
8%
By 1815 what fraction of the population could receive insurance cover from friendly societies?
1/3
How were the poorest workers excluded from friendly societies?
Regular demand for money
What happened if someone fell behind on their subscriptions for a friendly society?
Expelled from the society
Why did friendly societies rapidly grow?
Due to industrialisation
Benefits of joining a friendly society?
. Protection against change
. Hospitality would be extended to members by other societies in the area
. Undertake union activities including collecting strike funds
Friendly society ratio to trade unions by 1870
Friendly societies more popular at 4 to 1
New friendly societies act
Protect the funds as a counter balance to the growing threat of trade unions
Why did people join friendly societies?
. Support
. Like minded people
. Welfare
. Sick pay
. Mutual benefit
How many cooperative shops were there by 1832?
500
Cooperative shops
Shops that shared their profits with their customers in the form of dividends. Profits back to the people. Food at market price.
Labour exchange
A ‘shop’ where people could exchange goods they had produced for credit notes to the value of how money hours it took to make that product
Give 2 examples of a labour exchange and dates
. London 1832
. Birmingham 1833
Cooperative community
A community where workers would jointly own the means of production, would produce the goods, fix the prices according to the relative quantity of labour in each product
Negatives of a co-op
. Required an upfront payment
. Workers only benefitted if they spent money there
. Loss of independence
Benefits of co-op
Access to cheaper products and profits were given back to them
Negatives of Labour Exchange shop
. Shop choice limited
. Token not as protected as money
. Not always accurate - overestimated how long they worked
Positives of Labour Exchange shop
. No tax paid
. Hard work rewarded
Co-op community positives
More powerful
Co-op community negatives
. Don’t control your money
. Loss of independence
. Only buy community products
Friendly society positives
. Give assurance
. Provide a safety net to workers
. More respectable by employers
Friendly society negatives
. Lack of incentive to work
. No benefit for long term membership
. No benefits when subscription not paid which is when you need benefit the most
Aims of the Rochdale Pioneers
Raising workmen from the fear of pauperism, danger of crime, ill paid labour or uncertain employment
What did the Rochdale pioneers want to show the world?
The working class are able and determined to follow the advice of Robert Peel and manage their own affairs
Why was it difficult for co-operative shops to exist in a capitalist economy?
. Traditional business was opposed to the new shops
. Lack of business acumen
. Excessive rent by greedy suspicious landlords
. Difficult to get goods at a reasonable price
What type of approach did the Rochdale pioneers adopt?
Professional approach to their business idea
Give examples of the Rochdale’s professional approach
. Full weights of measures
. No credit to customers
. Market value prices adhered to
. Profits divided on pro rata basis
How were co-operative shops a step forwards?
. Women could become members
. ‘One member one vote’
. % of profit on education
. Management in elected leaders hands
What did the Rochdale pioneers place an emphasis on?
Principal of democracy to manage and grow their business
What was the curriculum like at Owen’s infant school?
Diverse
Robert Owen and Rochdale Pioneers similarities
. Education
. Gave back to community
. Fair price
. Elements of capitalism - subscription fees
When did the co-operative society begin?
1848
Why did the co-operative society begin?
Reaction to the failure of the Truck Acts
What were the Truck Acts?
An attempt by the Whig government to control the practice of paying workers in anything other than money
How did the Rochdale pioneers open a shop in 1844?
7 Rochdale weavers pooled their savings
What happened with the shop in 1850?
Idea of the shop was so popular that there were 100 such shops successfully operating
What did all the shops started by the Rochdale pioneers do in 1863?
Joined to form the co-operative wholesale society
What did the co-operative wholesale society have by 1873?
It’s own factories
What did the co-operative wholesale society have by 1900?
Over 2,000,000 members
What where the 1840s like economically?
Economically depressed
How many co-operative shops were trading by 1863?
332
How many co-operative shops were created after reading about the Pioneers shop in Rochdale
251
In 1856 what did a fellow co-operative society ask Rochdale?
To provide a wholesale service to supply services across the region
What id the Rochdale shop do after it was asked to supply services across the region?
Expand its business to accommodate this request and it set up a co-operative of co-operative societies
What could the co-operative wholesale society establish by 1868?
Overseas trading as far as Australia and South America
Similarities between unionism and co-operation (5 points)
. Membership fee
. Benefits members
. High membership
. Makes working lives better
. Different union/co-ops around the country
Differences between unionism and co-operation (6 points)
. Co-op shops shared profits with customers
. Unions gave job security negotiating better pay and hours
. Combination acts targeted unions
. Co-op more democratic - women vote
. Union cheaper
. Co-op more respectable
Why were trade unions unsuccessful in the short term?
. Lack of funds
. Lack of organisation
. Lack of responsibility
What happened to co-operative society growth?
Plateaued unlike trade unions which grew following new model unionism
Achievements for working men and women by 1875?
. Self help
. Women did not have the vote
. Some WC men had vote
. ASE
. Secret ballot
. Trade unions
. Co-operatives
. 1832 + 1867 reform bill
. Factory acts
. Public health acts
When was there no property qualifications to become an MP?
1858
When were railways invented?
1829
How much was given to the Board of Workers in 1858 and why?
£3,000,000 to create a sewage system in London
