CHAPTER VII.

of Trade Unions.

THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT.

Various aspects of trade unionism are discussed in different parts of this book, and the following Early Growth pages attempt to indicate only the salient features of the movement* In order to comprehend the functions and methods of the trade union and the place it occupies in the labour movement, it is necessary to have some knowledge of its development, for in no other branch of Social Economics is a historical survey more indispensable to a proper understanding of the subject.

Trade unionism of a kind may be traced back long before the Industrial Revolution. Though the modern union has no direct link with the early gilds, it bears a certain resemblance to the journeymen's fraternities which were an offshoot of the gilds. But it was not until the industrial changes of the eighteenth century that the need for workmen's combination became pronounced and

* Space does not permit of more than a short sketch of the trade union movement. The most comprehensive statement of its origin and development is contained in S. & B. Webb's, History of Trade Unionism (1920 Edition). The same authors' Industrial Democracy (1920) is an admirable inquiry into the principles and methods of trade unionism. G. D. H. Cole's Organised Labour (1924) gives an up-to-date account and a useful analysis of the movement.

that any large organisation was possible. The Industrial Revolution substituted the machine tender for the skilled craftsman, and with the competition of the machine on the one hand and the unskilled and semi-skilled worker on the other the average wage fell very low. Working conditions degenerated to a state rarely found in the earlier domestic system of production. The fact, however, that the workers were now collected in large numbers in the towns and factories made expression of discontent and schemes for reform more possible than when the workers were scattered over the country and working in their own homes. "Correspondence societies" and other forms of workers' combination sprang up in most industrial districts, and began to press for better treatment by the new capitalist employers.

Parliament at the time was hostile to these unions, and several Acts were passed making combination illegal in particular trades. This legislation was followed by the general Combination Acts of 1799-1800, which forbade the establishment of unions in any trade. Workers who joined the unions were to be severely punished. Technically, combination of employers against the workers was also forbidden, but very little action was taken to enforce this prohibition, whereas the penalties against the workmen were rigidly enforced. Several trade unions, despite the illegality, helped to conduct the agitation for the repeal of the repressive legislation. These endeavours, together with political strategy, secured the repeal of the Combination Acts in 1824-25. Theoretically the unions were permitted, but they were still liable to prosecution for conspiracy in the event of strike action. The number of unions and members quickly increased, and the early 'thirties witnessed experiments in trades unionism, which differed from ordinary trade unionism in that attempts were made

to bring the workers in all industries into a single national organisation, instead of combining them in separate unions for particular crafts or industries.

The Grand National Consolidated Trades Union, formed in 1834 under the influence of Robert Owen and his followers, comprised nearly a million workers of both sexes in most of the trades of the country. It was expected that "direct" strike action would bring about the desired changes in society. The union came to naught, however, and the workers concentrated their attention on Chartism, which was political rather than industrial in character. The Reform Act of 1832 had enfranchised the middle classes but not the mass of wage-earners, and the latter saw in the "Six Points" of the Workers' Charter (vote by ballot, payment of members, etc.) an opportunity for expressing their grievances and demanding redress. The Chartist movement failed to secure any immediate and tangible benefit, and the workers, disheartened for the time with revolutionary policy on the one hand and political action on the other, turned their activities to less ambitious and more cautious and opportunist methods. The "slow but sure" policy, which was predominant for the next twenty years, found its first Consolidation, expression in the Amalgamated Society of Engineers which was established in 1850. This union was on a national basis; it established a thorough apprenticeship scheme, and laid stress on the friendly benefit side of trade union function. Only skilled engineers could join this union, owing to the policy of the leaders and to the high contributions that had to be paid. The A.S.E. provided the "new model " for subsequent unions, notably the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters. Caution was the watchword of the leaders, many of whom had suffered in the revolutionary period of the "hungry 'forties," and who

The Period of

preferred to build up the new organisations on firmer grounds. Elaborate machinery for conciliation and arbitration was set up in many industries, and only in extreme instances was there resort to strike action. Apart from the leader's distrust in militant methods, a partial reason for the comparative unimportance of strikes during this period was the vague idea prevalent at the time, and one which was encouraged by the orthodox economists, that an increase in the wages of one class of labour would most probably be at the expense of another class. The theory of a "wages fund" (the fallacy of which was examined in Chapter III.) was employed as an argument against trade unionism even by some of the professed friends of labour, and it is not surprising that some trade unionists themselves were imbued with the idea.

All this conspired to make the new trade unions distinctly conservative in policy and methods. The leaders were, on the whole, content to leave the control of industry in the hands of the capitalist, and concentrated most of their energy on less vital matters, such as the provision of friendly benefits and the accumulation of large reserve funds. Certain critics at the present time are prone to condemn the trade unionist policy of the third quarter of the nineteenth century, but there is no doubt that it secured the foundation and structure of the movement, without which later developments would have been impossible.

About this time permanent Trades Councils came into existence. The national unions usually had officials in different areas, and it was only natural that the local leaders of the several unions should meet together to discuss labour questions affecting their district. Trades Councils developed from meetings such as these and also from local strike committees. The Trades Council performs a useful service in co-ordinating local activities, and in fostering

unity among local trade union interests, and deserves a greater measure of recognition, encouragement and material support from the unions that it at present receives. The Trades Union Congress, which was established in 1868, provided a similar central body for the unions as a whole, and came to play a large part in formulating general policy. It has no executive powers, but the annual meetings serve to impress on the several unions the need for common action, and also to focus attention on important issues that might possibly be overlooked by individual unions.

The struggle for fuller legal recognition came to a head in this period. The end of the 'sixties saw trade unionism threatened from more than one direction. Employers were combining in systematic attempts to break the trade unions, their method being to declare a general lock-out of all the men in a particular industry, even though the original dispute was between an individual firm and its employees. Secondly, there had been a certain amount of sabotage in Sheffield and a few other places, and this was taken as a pretext to attack trade unions in general. Thirdly, a legal decision in 1867 (Hornby v. Close) declared trade union property to be outside the protection provided by criminal law.

A Royal Commission was appointed to investigate the situation, and the Trade Union Act of 1871 was the outcome. Unions were given legal security for their funds, but were left free to conduct their ordinary friendly benefit functions without interference. At the same time, however, the Criminal Law Amendment Act was passed which reaffirmed judicial decisions on the subject of conspiracy and picketing, and made the legality of a peaceful strike very doubtful. The resulting agitation succeeded in 1875 in getting this Act repealed; peaceful picketing was declared legal and it was further laid down that an agreement by