Trade Unions

The Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act, 1875 super seded the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1871 which had been opposed by the trade unions and which had proved to be an in strument of coercion. It laid down that an agreement or combina tion by two or more persons to do or procure to be done any act in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute should not be indictable as a conspiracy if such act committed by one person would not be punishable as a crime. The act legalised peaceful picketing and cases of intimidation or violence were to be left to the courts of summary jurisdiction.

The "New Unionism..

The period of inflated trade which began in 1871 caused as usual, another rapid growth of trade unions, of which the most characteristic feature was their exten sion to agricultural and general labourers. The years of depression, 1875-1880, were marked by a series of unsuccessful strikes against reductions of wages, and by a general decline of trade unions, which did not again revive until nearly ten years later, when the new wave of prosperous trade brought with it an out burst of strikes, chiefly among unskilled labourers, for improved conditions, of which the most notable was the strike of the London dock labourers in 1889. These trade movements were accompanied by the formation of a large number of unions of a type more akin to those of 1830-1834 than to the more modern trade friendly society with its high contributions and benefits.

The nineties also saw the spread of trade unionism to the black-coated workers. The National Union of Clerks came into existence in 189o, followed shortly by the Shop Assistants' Union and the Amalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees.

Trade Union Membership, From 1892 onwards the progress of trade unionism can be traced statistically (see the table). The depression of trade, 1892 1895, brought with it, as usual, some decline in trade unionism; but though many of the "new unions" collapsed, some of the more important have survived to the present time. The revival of trade which began in 1896 was naturally accompanied by an increase in the strength of trade unions; but the most marked characteristic of this period was the extension and consolidation of employers' associations, of which perhaps the most notable is the Engineering Employers' Federation, which was originally formed on the Clyde, but gradually extended to other districts and became a national organisation of great strength during its successful struggle with the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1897-1898. Among the other more important Employers' Asso

ciations and federations of a national character may be men tioned the Shipping Federation, the Mining Association, the Shipbuilding Federation, the Federation of Master Cotton-Spin ners' Associations, the National Federation of Building Trade Employers, and the Incorporated Federated Associations of Boot and Shoe Manufacturers.

At the beginning of the loth century the trade union move ment was fairly established. The local trade clubs had given way to national organisations of considerable size and unions existed for practically every type of worker. The opening years of the century prior to the outbreak of the World War saw a considerable expansion of trade unionism. The number of trade unionists doubled between 190o and 1913.

The Taff Vale Decision.

During the last quarter of the 19th century there were many cases in the law courts affecting trade unionism, but by far the most important was the Taff Vale case. This famous case which was largely responsible for the rapid growth of the Labour Party arose out of a local dispute, when in 190o railway workers employed by the Taff Vale Railway Company in South Wales came out on strike without any authority from their union—the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. The introduction of blacklegs by the management brought the A.S.R.S. officially into the arena. The society granted strike pay to the strikers, and did its best to dissuade the blacklegs from continuing at work. The strikers undertook picketing, and there was some violence, for which, however, the society was in no way responsible. It neither instigated nor authorised violence. The company, besides prosecuting individual employees, took legal action against the A.S.R.S. itself. In the first place, it brought an action for damages against the society, and in the second place it sought an injunction to restrain the union and its officers from committing acts calculated to damage the company in its business.