Trade Unions

The active agitation of the theorists and the rapid growth in trade union membership in the years immediately prior to the war, brought the general labour problem into greater prominence than ever it had enjoyed. The World War broke out and Trade Unionism was faced with new problems.

The War and After.

From the period immediately prior to the outbreak of the World War down to the present time, the chief features of British trade unionism have been :— (i). The improved organization of and extension of trade unionism amongst "general workers" and women, in agriculture and on the railways, and in the public services and professions ; (2). The increasing importance of the trade unions in the com munity, and in the administration of legislation ; (3). The consolidation of trade union forces through the processes of amalgamation and federation; (4). The growing authority of the executive body of the Trades Union congress.

(5). The "General Strike" and the Trade Union and Trade Dispute Act 1927.

Growth of Membership.

Trade union membership increased bef ore and during the World War, especially among women, the curve rising rapidly during its later years, and culminating in the peak period of 192o, after which it progressively declined during the years of depression, recovering a little during 1924, but falling away again especially after the "general strike" in 1926.

The highest degree of organisation amongst women is to be found in the cotton industry, where about 62% of the women workers are in the unions. In the bleaching and dyeing trades, which are closely associated with the cotton industry, 50% of the women are organised ; in the boot and shoe trade 48% ; in printing, paper and bookbinding 36% ; in the wool textile trades 32%; in linen and jute 281 per cent. Amongst shop assistants and clerks, and in the food, drink and tobacco trades, on the other hand, which employ in all over 750,000 women workers, the degree of organisation is very small. Only 8% of the women shop assistants and clerks are members of unions and 2% of the female employees in the food, drink and tobacco trades.

Before the war the battle for the recognition of trade unionism was really won and the principles of trade unionism, which had been laid down primarily by the craft unions, were applied on the one hand by the larger body of semi-skilled and unskilled work ers, and on the other hand by the "black-coated proletariat"—the salaried employees and professional people, such as public serv ants, draughtsmen, actors, salesmen, teachers and journalists.

After 1914 new organisations arose and others which existed precariously before the war were put upon a firm foundation.

Some of the new bodies, such as the Bank Officers' Guild, have Trade Union Membership (All trade unions, registered and unregistered, in Great Britain and Northern Ireland) The following table shows the total number of unions known to have been in existence in Great Britain and Northern Ireland in each year from 1913 to 1926, and their aggregate membership to the nearest thou sand. (The figures of membership include members in overseas branches and in Irish Free State branches of such unions, but wholly exclude unions having their head offices in the Irish Free State) : not as yet affiliated with the Trades Union Congress, but they nevertheless exist for avowed trade union objects. The National Federation of Professional, Technical, Administrative and Super visory Workers was established in order to bring together the various organizations of non-manual workers.

The steady growth in trade unionism immediately prior to the war may be attributed partly to a trade prosperity and partly to a recognition amongst all grades and types of workers of the need for effective organisation. Certain legislation, such as the Trade Boards Act, 1909, and the National Insurance Act, 1911, strengthened the position of the trade union movement.

The increased membership during the World War was partly due to the influence of higher wages—which invariably result in enlarged trade union membership. As the war went on high hopes were held out of a brighter future for the workers; the workers themselves, whose services, the community had realised, were essential to the prosecution of the war and to the satisfac tion of the nation's needs, visualised more clearly their power in the State and saw in trade unionism a weapon to enable them to maintain in the time of peace the place their services had won for them in time of war. But there were other factors operating. Particularly in the munition trades, trade union membership be came virtually compulsory. The Government itself, and a large number of employers actually encouraged workers in the larger industries to join a union. Towards the end of the war the pub lication of the reports of the committee on employers and em ployed (better known as the Whitley committee) and their adop tion by the Government, gave a new importance to the organisa tions of employers and workers, and in their desire to promote the establishment of joint industrial councils (and interim indus trial reconstruction committees when the joint industrial council was not possible), members of the Government emphasised the value of effective organization (see INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS).