3.7 Improving working and living conditions: trades union militancy in Ireland 1907-14 Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in 3.7 Improving working and living conditions: trades union militancy in Ireland 1907-14 Deck (20)
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1
Q

Working and living conditions for unskilled urban workers

A
  • slum areas
    = Dublin
    = home for multiple families
    = 1914 - collapse of slum building in church street, 7 dead
  • study, 1/2 Dublin population in pov
  • malnurishment and poor sanitation
  • mortality rates 1905
    = Dublin, 22.3/1000
    = Glasgow, 17/1000
    = London, 6/1000
  • absence of comprehensive unionisation for all workers
    = long hours, minimum pay
  • Belfast population, 349,00 workers
  • Dublin population
    = start of c19th - 180,000
    = 1900 - 290,000
  • Dublin
    = 2 main businesses (Guiness Brewery & Jacob’s biscuits) = port
    = couldn’t improve facilities
  • work dangerous and unsanitary
  • av. lwvwl for unskilled workers = 10 shillings and 9p a week
  • usually dockers or carters
  • 1914 - average weekly rent in Ireland was 4 shillings, 4lb loaf of bread = 6-
  • Belfast Dockers - 75hrs a week
  • basic standard income for family = 22 shillings and 5p per week
  • Depression, 1908-09
    = unemployment in Belfast’s shipyards = 20%
  • shortfall in income made up by wife and children (e.g. domestic servants or linen mills)
  • 1901, legal age of children working raised to 12
    = school leaving certificates were proof, many forfed
    poor diet = undernourished
    =1900-02
  • 49.3 years males
  • 49.6 years fmales
  • high mortality ralte in infants (Dublin 169/1000 births)
2
Q

Significance of the founding National Union of Cock Labourers 1907 and the Irish Transport and General Worker’s Union of 1909

A
  • instability of the unskilled workers to take effective action to improve their positions
  • living conditions = direct example of poor wages
  • changing level of wages very difficult since casual unskilled workers didn’t enjoy the dame degree of protection as their skilled permanent collegues, who relied upon their expertise when it came to negotiations
  • after 1907 - unskilled workers had the chance to help themselves with the organisation of Irish Dockers into the National Union of Dock Labourers
3
Q

The Nation Union of Dock Labourers and the Belfast Strike

1907

A
  • founded in Glasgow, 1889 - relocated to Liverpool
  • vehicle for achieving better conditions for the less skilled workers on the docks who had had no representation
  • Ja 1907 - union began to recruit in earnest in the ports of Ireland, Belfast
  • driving force behind this recruitment process came from Jim Larkin
    = originally Liverpool based docker
    = experiences encouraged him to join union and actively organise on its behalf
    = lost a job in England after taking part in strike in 1905
    = moved to Ireland as a full time organiser of NUDL
  • Larkin unionised Belfast’s 3,100 dockers
  • May 1907 - coordinated a strike afainst the Belfast Steamship Company, to secure union recognitiom, shorter working hours and better wages
    = wanted a min. wage of 27 shillings for a 60hr week
    = June, presented to all companies in Belfast
    = larger companies refused to consider demands
    = strike grew broader - drew support from the carters afer July and some skilled workers from the shipyards (came out on a secondary strike action)
    = significance of broadening - traditional means in which employers would break strike action became increasingly impractical
  • usually would import blackleg labour in the place of the employed worker
  • but there was no one willing to transport goods elsewhere
    = strike further esculated in mid-July
  • low ranking sympathetic officier - William Barrett - refised to ride in vehicle transporting blackleg labourer to the docks
    + precipitated a mutiny in the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)
    + 300 other police constables refused to protect the employers’ blackleg workers
    + troops drafted in to carry out protective duties
    = strike = climax on 10th Aug
  • mass meeting attended by 10,000 Protestant and Catholic workers
    + clash with troops and caused 2 deaths
    = strike ended when the NUDL leader James Sexton and the leaders of the General Federation of Trade Unionists (GFTU), Aleen Gee and Isaac Mitchell sought to find a deal for the different striking groups - also favourable to employers
    = motivation for end = based on positions they held
  • as trade union officials, assumed personal interests as their roles offered middle class careers = opportunity for advancement
  • in interest of promoting these opportunities, Sexton and others saw themselves as arbitrators between employer and employee
    + outcome - carters persuaded back to work after promises of wage increase, no union recognition
    + left dockers isolated and eventually defeated - end of Aug
4
Q

Significance of the Belfast strike

A
  • first time unskilled labourers were able to organise for their own denefot
  • trade unionism in Ireland before c20th - primarlily conservative movement dominated by the skilled professions
    = 1907 - opportunity for the broader masses of unskilled workers to assert themselves
  • dock strike = widespreak worker solidarity across employment barrier
    = although started by unskilled drs, other professions quickly joined I support
  • secondary or ‘sympathy’ strikes increased the potency of the working-class industrial action, showed how much could be achieved
  • strike defeated ONLY because of efforts of the unions themselves
    = only achieved by dividing worker’s ranks
    = provided a positive experience from the point of view for further action in the future
  • sympathy generated among Belfast working classes
  • ignored religious backgrounds (united p/c)
    = sectarianism rife, because of developments and question of home rule
    = before 1907, issue of religion effective, traditional means of diving the worlds population
  • feature of the growing competition for jobs (especially skilled trafes_
  • strike = potential to overcome religious battier and support one another in new, class-based diviosn against employers
  • powerful tool for labouring classes to utilise campaigh
5
Q

The Irish Transport and General Workers’ union

1909

A

• Belfast dock strike = growing strength of working-class voice and also confidence that had been instilled by organisation into a union
• The position of workers didn’t improve substantially
o Down to backtracking by the union leadership
 Especially James Sexton – General Secretary of the NUDL
• He had sought to diffuse the increasingly explosive situation after the August meeting
• Was an appropriate undertaking following the deaths from 2 bystanders and a desire to restore some clear order to the situation
• HOWEVER, securing a deal for particular sections of those on strike at the expense of others quickly led to the end of the strike
o Taking workers from position of strength to that of accepting a deal that was to the advantage of the employers
o Undermined the effectiveness of the strike action and left many workers vulnerable
 Especially the dockers who were the last to return to work
• Was to alienate Jim Larkin  he felt let down by the NUDL leadership and its conservative feelings towards the August meeting
o In the subsequent months…. Larkin organised additional branches of the NUDL in Ireland
 Encouraged militant stand against employers
• Brought him into further confrontation with Sexton
o Who seemed more inclined towards developing good relations with the employers?
o In many regards, this was an appropriate objective in terms of negotiating benefits
 Contrasted with Larkin’s more socialist stance
 Frustrated by the perceived softness of Sexton
• January 1909  organised a new union to co-ordinate Ireland’s workers
o Called the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU)
 Intended as a broad-based organisation for all trades
• But specifically, for the unskilled workers who otherwise had little interpretation in Ireland
• The significance of the ITGWU:
o Deliberately intended as a general union rather than a specific trades union
 Therefore, would promote a much larger membership
• This method paid off,
o Early 1911,  the membership was 5,000
o End of the year  18,000 = Ireland’s largest union
o Size and broad base of the organisation gave unskilled workers a much better chance to promote the interests because it increased the likelihood of broader and more impactful strikes
 Since anyone within the union would be required to strike if that was the overall decision
o Implication behind such an organisation was the creation of a much stronger workers union that could push and protect workers’ rights
o ITGWU signalled the birth of a more militant intention to address the issue of working conditions and to ensure that employers began to recognise the power of their employees
o Departure for Irish unionism since older unions were often inclined to try to negotiate with employers for better wages or shorter hours  there was usually the tactic acceptance that the employers were in the dominant position
o Consequently, unions would only seek to extract improvements that employers were willing to grant
o The suggestion with Larkin’s new organisation was that the power balance would shift, and the workers would be in a much more dangerous position to make demands of their employers
• It was the first Irish union to outwardly embrace a more radical agenda
• It adopted syndicalism as its central ideology
o It was a new economic system that offered an alternative it the capitalist system that existed
o Syndicalism is a form of socialism that encouraged the organisation of syndicates – small self-organising groups – to manage and run industries
 Groups would be made up of the workers themselves and therefore the differences between employers and workers would be removed
o Syndicalism was quite a radical pursuit in the early c20th

6
Q

Jim Larkin

1876-1947

A
  • sought to instil greater militancy and generate a more assertive attitude
  • ‘Irish Worker’ newspaper est. 1911
    = 20,000 copies per week in Dublin
    = mouthpiece of ITGWU
  • believed the means to attain grater benefits lay with working people - they could instil solidarity
  • organised masses of unskilled labour, reached out to skilled professionals through Irish Transport and General Worker’s Union
  • exceptional skill and energy (I.e. public speaking)
  • Nov 1908 - Caters Strike, Union recognised and wages increased
    = 3,000 on strike
    = but basic wages remained the same
7
Q

James Connolly

1868-1916

A
  • organiser of ITGWU - Larkin’s right hand amn
  • won a pay rise for seamen and firemen
  • established Irish Textile Worker’s Union for female linen workers
  • Irish workers becoming organised
  • was theoretician of labour movement
  • organised the Irish labour party in 1912
    = to represent the working class
    = industrial action took over attempts in 1913
  • better grasp of socialist theory
8
Q

William Martin Murphy (1844-1919)

A
  • Ireland’s wealthiest business man, employers rallied to
  • catholic
  • Home Rule MP
    = lost seat in Parliament after split I 1892
  • made fortune in transport business (railways/tramways)
  • in Dublin…
    = controlled the United Tramway compay
    = owned largest hotel, Clergy departments and 2 newspapers
  • paid for wages and tolerated unions of the skilled workers
  • opposed to militancy (i.e. Larkin and Connolly)
  • defeated strike action
    = 1911, by the Society of Railway Servants (ASRS)
    = threatened them with lockout
  • determined to suffocate the ITGWU in Dublin
    = found Dublin Employer’s Federation in 1911
    = employers didn’t employ members of the ITGWU
  • July 1913
    =called meeting of his employees from Dublin United Tramway Company (to form ‘legislative union’)
  • Aug 1913 - sacked all members of the ITGWU
    = 40 men and 20 boys
9
Q

Events and Significance of the Dublin General Strike

1913-14

A

• Actions of William Murphy = industrial action
o General strike by the ITGWU
 Began on 26th August 1913
 Followed the dismissal of Murphy’s ITGWU employees
 First day of the Dublin Horse Show  strike among transport workers = maximum disruption
• 10:00am, trams and buses were stopped, conductors abandoned their vehicles
• 700/1700 of the Dublin United Tramways Company went on strike
o Supported by the distributors of Murphy’s Irish Independent  refused to handle paper
• Eason and Co. – Ireland’s largest newsagent – refused to refrain from selling the paper when asked by Larkin
o ITGWU members on Dublin’s Dun Laoghaire docks refused to handle any of the company’s goods
 Extended the strike into broader action, dockers came out in sympathy, violent response
o Retaliatory lockout by the employers of Dublin
o Began in August 1913
o Paralysed Dublin for 6 months – threatened trade
o Sympathy from:
 Keir Hardie  leader of the Independent Labour Party in Britain
• Openly supported the ITGWU’s actions
 Broader labour movement  financial;; and food aid for Ireland’s striking industrial workers

10
Q

Involvement of the Dublin Metropolitan Police in strike

A

• 28th August  Larkin and the ITGWU leadership were arrested and charged with seditious libel, conspiracy and assembly
o A union demonstration in O’Connell Street arranged for the following Sunday was banned
o City authorities clearly throwing their support behind the employers, used tools at their disposal to destroy strike
o Dublin-Metropolitan Police Force used as strike-breakers
• Weekend 30-31 August  baton charged a crowd of workers in O’Connell Street = further violence
• 2 fatally injured James Byrne and James Nolan
• More than 200 injured
• Over 500 people had received hospital attention

11
Q

The British Labour Movement becomes aware of the strike

A

• The actions of the strike promoted the workers’ cause in GB
• The scale of violence and brutality in the stories were published in British newspapers, i.e. the Daily Herald
o Dublin correspondent = Francis Sheehy-Skeffington
 Graphically conveyed the events, his own words but also the strikers that he interviewed
 Brought the situation in Dublin to the forefront of British Trade unionists’ minds
 September 1913  William Partridge (member of the ITGWU) travelled to Manchester to address the Trade Union Congress
• Spoke of his union fighting for its survival and that of a wider trade unionism in Ireland
o Keir Hardie, leader of the British Labour Party went to Dublin to see the situation
 Visited Larkin in prison
 Attended the funeral of James Nolan
o General strike was given greater exposure to the broader labour movement in Britain

12
Q

The general strike and the Catholic Church

A

• Majority of ITGWU = practising Catholics
• Larkin = catholic
• Growth of ITGWU and its militant attitude = source of concern for Catholic Church because of its socialist leanings
• Mid c19th, the Church adopted a more formal position that reflected and helped to reinforce a more conservative set of social values, preferable to new middle class
• Catholic Church had become more increasingly critical of new ideas
o Including socialism and revolutionary nationalism as embodied by the Fenian Movement
o Basically, objected to anything that threatened the status quo and its own position
• Father John Condon
o Wrote several withering attacks in local newspapers decrying the union’s socialist tendencies and how it was compatible with capitalism
• Critical nature of church showed in the ‘Save the Kiddies’ scheme
o Archbishop of Dublin, William Walsh  open letter to the Dublin newspapers condemning mothers and suggesting they had abandoned their faith, sending kids to strangers who may not be C
o Significant attack against ITGWU
o Placed CC support with employers
o HOWEVER, the rank and file membership remained focused and refused to let their faith affect the principle of unionisation
• The actions of the Dublin police force and the general broadening of the strike affected other employers and individuals
o The strike became a battle for the working class and their employers
o It was the struggle for the principle of workers to be able to collectively stand up for their employment rights and to join union for their self-protection within a Capitalist environment hostile to their interests

13
Q

The lockout and the implication for workers and employers

A

• 2nd September  the employers rallied together in Dublin and agreed to a lockout
o Coal merchants locked their doors to their workforce, union members or not
o Mineral water producers, Bewley and Draper  locked out 200 people
o Jacob’s biscuits employed 2,000 members, small percentage were unionists
• End of September 25,000 people had been put out of work by 400 firms
• Employees had been asked to sign document pledging not to join the ITGWU or support it, or they were dismissed
o Thousands refused to sign
• Purpose of lockout  to break the solidarity of the working class that the militant ITGWU stimulated
• Murphy recognised the power of the union lay in the collective approach it adopted
• Lockout undermined this tactic by uniting the employers in solidarity and then taking advantage of the superior financial resource they had at their disposal to wage a war of attrition against the union
• Began to take effect at the end of September, many strikers had been put out for nearly a month and were beginning to suffer the privations of surviving on meagre strike pay
• Employers did not go financially unscathed as the overall cost to their profits during the lockout amounted to £300,000
o Murphy’s Dublin Tramway Company  its net profit drop from £142,382 to £119,871
• Relief on 28th September  ship called the Hare docked
o Carrying 60,000 boxes of food, each able to feed a family of 5
o Come from the GB working class who were aware of the situation following the August brutality
• Next few months, more ships arrived
• October  £13,000 worth of aid was sent
• November  £16,000
• December  £21,000
• Enhanced the morale by showing the working class that they had the sympathy of their fellow classes in Britain

14
Q

The Askwith Commission

A

• Late September  Board of Trade announced there was to be an inquiry into the dispute in Dublin
• Chairman  Sir George Askwith
• Intention was to fins a mutually agreeable solution to the industrial dispute which would end the confrontation and also the paralysis of the city
• After meeting with both employers and representatives of the strikes, following proposals
o The withdrawal of the employer’s ban on ITGWU membership
o The end to sympathy strikes
o The creation of the Conciliation Boards
• Very acceptable to the IGWTU
• The provision of the Conciliation Boards to arbitrate any further dispute offered a more impartial means of securing any improvements required
• Recommendations dismissed by employers
o Their intention of the strike was to destroy the ITGWU
o 14 October  presented their own terms
 Demanded the unions’ leadership be replaced with men amenable to the employers
 Any striking worker would be reappointed into their position when there was a vacancy
o Distasteful to the ITGWU
• Significance of the Askwith Commissions failure to end the lockout and strike was that it sent a clear message to the country that the intention of the employers was to destroy Larkin and his brand of militant unionism
• Presented the employers as vindictive and unwilling to compromise, turned public opinion against them
• It was the employers who sought to continue the trouble
• Gave the ITGWU wider public support, enhanced the morale but didn’t improve its standing in terms of financial and employment benefit

15
Q

‘Save the Kiddies’ Scheme

A

• Enhanced the position of the ITGWU
• Proposal to send kids of Dublin striking workers to GB until dispute was resolved
• Tabled by Dora Montefiore  a GB socialist and feminist who sympathised with the Dublin workers and was associated with the Daily Herald newspaper
o She felt that it would be a very practical assistance, the strike continuation made it harder for families to feed themselves
• Also be a public relations coup that would expose the heartless nature of the employers
• Arrangements made in October 1913
• The union undertook the first consignment of children out of Dublin
• Attempt was a failure
• C Church and the Archbishop of Dublin opposed the scheme and had publicly condemned it in the press
• Priests and lay opposition to the scheme lined the railway stations to prevent the children from leaving
• Motivation behind the Archbishop’s objection was his belief that Montefiore and her colleagues were agents of the white slave trade
• To overcome this, the union tried to send the children to C homes in Belfast
• This was objected to, confrontation developed that eventually saw he police intervene to prevent the children from boarding

16
Q

Importing scab labour

A

• Employers began to import scab labour
• 29th October  50 scabs arrived from Manchester to work in the timber yards
• Strong police present, men made deliveries around the city
• Further 160 arrived the following week
• Undermined the impact of the strike on employers whilst exacerbating the impact of the striking workers
• The prospect of employers’ position having improved not only weakened striker morale
• But jobs disappearing as roles were filled with new labour
• Increase in confrontation as the ITGWU tried to picket the scab workers and prevent them carrying out their tasks
• Intended to force the employers to abandon their policy of bringing in alternative labour
• Failed to have any substantial effect as the scabs were well protected
• Workers not entirely confident to stand against the scabs
• Larkin and Connolly felt they needed to strengthen their position
• Connolly  creation of the Irish Citizen Army
o Disciplined force of 300 union members
o Armed with wooden staves and hurling sticks  intended as protection against the police in the city
• L+C also sought to close the port of Dublin by calling out workers whose employers hadn’t joined the lockout
o Controversial action, resented by dockers
o Did support fellow workers
• L sought to spread strike in GB by developing greater solidarity with the labour movement

17
Q

The role of GB trade unions in the attempt to unionise the workers

The GB labour movement

A

• British trade unionism had been the periphery of Ireland’s working-class despite with Dublin employers throughout late 1913
• Become aware of the situation as early as August, following police baton charge in O’Connell street and Daily Herald articles
• Food parcels and financial aid collected on behalf of Dublin workers – sympathy
• ITGWU needed more support following scab labour if it were to survive lockout
• L believed worker solidarity was the key to success  embarked on a tour of GB to encourage the backing of Dublin traffic – goods and personnel travelling there and back – denying Murphy and his allies and scab labour and also disrupt trade
• Tour = ‘Fiery Cross Crusade’, began 16th Nov 1912 at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester
o Described situation and acknowledged the financial support that GB had offered, urged those to stand by people in Dublin and not agree to work for or handle goods from Dublin’s businesses
o London, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield and Bristol
o Met with enthusiasm
o Tour was successful
o Early as 10th November 1913, more than 130 British Nation Union of Railwaymen (NUR) branches had called for joint action with the transport workers and miners
• Growing support = difficult challenge for their trade union leaders who were keen to build relations with employers rather than be tarnished with radicalism
o Used same tactics as James Sexton - integrate themselves with employers so negotiation would be more achievable instead of using combative industrial action
o 18th Nov, Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) called a special conference to consider the events taking place in Dublin
o L encouraged by this action, undertook to help convince GB trade union leaders to support his cause by appealing to their rank and file members in a manifesto
 Published in the Daily Herald on 22nd Nov
 Encouraged the ordinary worker to demand of their leader’s definite solidarity with the Irish and a refusal to be talked out of such action
 Believing 1913 was a chance to empower unionism and the working classes of each nation

18
Q

The Trade Union Congress Special Conference, 9th Dec 1913

A

• Not as L expected
• Anticipated a majority rank and file delegates
• Conference overwhelming union officials with a conservative agenda who wanted to end militancy
• Leaders were concerned for the reputations of their own unions
o In rank and file were unofficially in favour of supporting more direct militant action on behalf of the workers in Dublin
• British officials sought to undermine L and force an end to the lockout themselves
• L was criticised for his outwardly hostile approach and his attacks on union officials generally
• Prominent union leader, Ben Tillett, issued a motion condemning his actions
o Carried almost unanimously, 6 delegates voted against
o Personal attack against L
• Motion proposed by J.W. Kelly, offered no further help to the ITGWU and authorised reopening negotiations with the Dublin employers
o An amendment was suggested by that Gas workers’ representative Jack Jones
o Regarded the ultimatum to the employers:
 If no satisfactory terms could be agreed then Dublin ‘tainted’ goods would not be handled
o Lifeline as far as L was concerned, offered some ‘muscle’ for union negotiators in talks with employers
o Voted down
 203,000 for
 2,280,000 against
• Outcome of conference:
o ITGWU and the Dublin workers went out on strike were left isolated by officials within the British Labour movement
o These men had sought to undermine militant unionism having been challenged by L’s passionate calls for solidarity which had emboldened GB workers and potentially threatened their relationship with GB employers
o In their attempt to maintain their own relationship, they were prepared to cut the Dublin workers adrift, offering no support other than sympathy and food aid

19
Q

The impact of the TUC decision

A
  • Left ITGWU and its workers in a vulnerable position
  • Organisation continued to resist the lockout and maintained its strike action
  • Increasingly difficult to maintain an effective resistance  growing number of scab workers arriving
  • L wanted support of GB unionists, forcing the employers to back down as they would have had no source of alternative labour and would have suffered a disruption of trade
  • ITGWU had become marginalised
  • Larkin drew audience of 4,000 inn Glasgow the day after the conference  their unions would not countenance any official action beyond donations
  • ITGWU lost much of its determination and secret advice was given to its members to return to work if they could ensure reasonable terms from their employers
  • Mid-December  some workers began to go back
  • Majority the strike continued
  • Clashes between strikers and scabs increased
  • 11th December a scab fired into a hostile crowd of picketers but wounded the vice chairman of the Port and Docks Board
  • 15th December  a scab was fined £2 for firing a revolver in public
  • 16-year-old Alice Brady was shot on 18th December and died in January
  • Determination of employers remained absoluter
  • Larkin had to concede
  • 18th January 1914  the ITGWU formally gave instructions for its members to return to work on whatever conditions they could secure for themselves
  • Strike was over
20
Q

The return to work

A

• Gradual process
• Many were reluctant to go back on unfavourable terms
• E.g. Jacob’s Biscuits only took back 100/672 ITGWU men and cut their wages between 2 and 4 shillings a week
• Many blacklisted by their employers
• The dispute failed to achieve any benefits for the Irish working class
• ITGWU survived
• The employers of Dublin were victorious
o Taken on and defeated the largest and most militant trade union more dominant position
• Militancy had been defeated and L attempt to use solidarity was unrealised
• L travelled to USA on 24th October 1914 and didn’t return to Ireland until 1923
• Failure of GB trade unionist leaders to support L and the ITGWU was a momentous personal blow for L
• Significantly weakened his trade union
• L perceived betrayal
• Left his membership vulnerable to punitive measures from Dublin employers
• Many ITGWU members struggled to return to work on the same conditions they had before the strike