A Short History of Trade Unions - Part 4: 1890 – 1900
August 2019
This Part covers the period 1890 – 1900 and covers the Manningham Mills strike plus the formation of the Labour Party.
1890 Manningham Mills Strike This industrial dispute began in December 1890 at the premises of Lister & Co., Manningham, Bradford, West Yorkshire, once the largest silk mill in Europe. The mill owner, Samuel Lister, was seeking to cut back his workforce and also insisted that they should accept wage reductions of up to 30%. Not surprisingly, very few workers wanted to accept these cuts and went on strike. They were supported by representatives of the West Riding Association of Power Loom Weavers who organised public demonstrations and the collection of donations for a strike fund. After 19 weeks the strike collapsed and the strikers were forced back to work. Lister had refused to moderate his position and the strike fund could no longer support the workers. The resulting anger led to the formation of the Bradford Labour Union to seek a political solution to the problems of low pay and poor conditions for working men and women. The Bradford Union was at the forefront of radical socialist politics.
1893 Foundation of Independent Labour Party at a TUC meeting in September 1892, a call was issued for a conference of advocates of an independent labour organisation. In recognition of its radicalism, Bradford was chosen to host the conference in January 1893. It proved to be the foundation conference of the Independent Labour Party and West Ham MP Keir Hardie was elected as its first chairman.
1900 – Trade union membership 1.7 million (out of 17 million workers).
1900 The Labour Representation Committee and the Labour Party In 1899, a Doncaster member of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Thomas R. Steels, proposed in his union branch that the Trade Union Congress call a special conference to bring together all left-wing organisations and form them into a single body that would sponsor Parliamentary candidates. The motion was passed at all stages by the TUC, and the proposed conference was held at the Congregational Memorial Hall on Farringdon Street, London on 26 and 27 February 1900.
The meeting was attended by a broad spectrum of working-class and left-wing organisations—trades unions represented about one third of the membership of the TUC delegates. Trade union membership was now 1.7 million out of 17 million workers. After a debate, the 129 delegates passed Keir Hardie's motion to establish "a distinct Labour group in Parliament, who shall have their own whips, and agree upon their policy, which must embrace a readiness to cooperate with any party which for the time being may be engaged in promoting legislation in the direct interests of labour."
This created an association called the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), meant to co-ordinate attempts to support MPs sponsored by trade unions and represent the working-class population. It had no single leader, and in the absence of one, the Independent Labour Party nominee Ramsay MacDonald was elected as Secretary. The October 1900 election came too soon for the new party to campaign effectively. Only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful; Keir Hardie in Merthyr Tydfil and Richard Bell in Derby.
In the 1906 election, the LRC won 29 seats and on 15 February 1906, at their first meeting after the election, the group's Members of Parliament decided to formally adopt the name "The Labour Party". Keir Hardie, who had taken a leading role in getting the party established, was elected as the first Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (in effect, the Leader).
And so a new political force came into being with the start of the 20th century. This force would re-shape society in the UK. Working in conjunction with the unions, it has introduced some of the greatest redistributions of wealth and power so far seen in British history.
Trade Unions are a Force for Good in Society
Wherever trade unions exist you see increases in wages, improved working terms and conditions, extra holiday leave and better safeguards for health and safety. If you are not in a trade union then you should be. Join one that is relevant for your job. There are over 50 trade unions affiliated to the Trade Union Congress (TUC) with a total of about 5.6 million members, and many more unions not affiliated to the TUC. You can join a Unite Community branch if you are not in employment but want to be involved in activism.
Solidarity
Brian Madican
August 2019