strike was cancelled. The Miners' Federation, after a long struggle,
was forced to come to terms, and to submit to large reductions in
wages, varying from district to district, and thus their object of
securing national minimum rates for mine-workers received, for
the time at least, a severe set-back. The issue of the miners' case
seemed to settle the fate of other industries. Few trade unions
pursued their resistance to wage reductions to the length of ceasing
work; and in fact wages in all industries were considerably lowered
during the year. Nor were reductions confined to cases in which the
rates were a matter of mutual agreement only; the Agricultural
Wages Boards, which fixed the rates for the poorly-paid agricultural
industry, were swept away on the repeal of the Corn Production
Acts, and an attempt was even made to abolish the Trade Boards.
The result of this was to turn the attention of the trade unions
from offensive to defensive action, from advancing wages and
shortening hours, to holding as much as they could of what they had
already gained, particularly in the matter of shorter hours, and from
enrolling thousands of new members to keeping those they already
had. It was to be expected that some of these would lapse ; and there
was a distinct fall in membership, particularly among the unions of
unskilled workers and women, towards the end of the year. But
the fall was considerably less in proportion than had been experi-
enced in any previous period of bad trade, and in the newer unions
of non-manual workers, whose members were less affected by un-
employment, it was comparatively slight. There was also, of
course, a depletion in the large reserve funds which had been built up
during the war, when unemployment benefit and strike benefit were
both at their lowest level. The new activities of trade unionism,
however, were not curtailed as might have been expected. Trade
unions continued to find money to pay the election expenses of
Labour candidates; they continued to show interest in research and
education, and one of the most important schemes, that for unifying
working-class education under the Trade Union Congress, was ac-
tually passed during the first year of the depression.
Organization in 1921. British trade unionism in 1921 presented
a picture which at first sight appears exceedingly confused. There
were upwards of a thousand trade unions, varying in membership
from a score to several hundred thousand, and organized upon all
manner of different bases, from the pure craft union to the " all-
grades " union enrolling everyone, skilled or unskilled, in any
industry; and these unions were united in many different federa-
tions and cross-federations. Only two or three hundred of these
unions were of national importance, the rest being mainly survivals
from an earlier date, or local societies organizing localized industries.
Even among the larger unions, however, there were important
diversities of scope and structure. The largest single unit, the
Miners' Federation, was industrial in its character, embracing most
of the workers in or about the mines. The Miners' Federation was
also the most important instance of a trade union basing its branch
membership upon the place of work of its members, most other
trade unions, except the postal unions, adhering to the " locality "
branch. Another large trade union on an industrial basis was the
National Union of Railwaymen, though in this case two other bodies
of some size, the Railway Clerks' Association and the Associated
Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, also organized
certain classes of railway employees. Other industries in which
industrial unions of this kind existed were the iron and steel trades,
the transport trades, other than railways, the distributive trades,
the agricultural industry, and the Post Office, though in all these
cases there existed rival societies of considerable importance, in
some cases claiming a section of the industry, such as in the case of
transport, the sailors and firemen of the merchant service, in some
cases such as the Workers' Union in agriculture, ready to embrace
the whole. On the other hand, the second largest group, the Workers'
Union, was an " all-grades " union open to any workman of any
trade, and this form of organization was to be seen, in a somewhat
less all-embracing form, in the other general labour unions, which
were allied with the Workers' Union in the National Federation of
General Workers. The third largest group, the Amalgamated En-
gineering Union, had yet another basis, being formed by a fusion of
kindred craft unions in the engineering trades, open to skilled
engineers in all_ industries, and making little claim upon the un-
skilled workers in the engineering industry proper. The same prin-
ciple was to be noticed in the chief trade union of woodmakers and
in the clerks' trade union. The confusion was, however, less than
would at first sight appear, owing to the existence of federation.
Thus the transport trade union was united with other trade unions
in the transport industry, by means of the Transport Workers'
Federation, a printing federation included the various trade
unions in the printing industry, the textile federation most of those
in the cotton industry, an engineering and shipbuilding federation
those in the engineering and shipbuilding trades, whether they ca-
tered for skilled or unskilled workers and so on. Certain bitter
disputes continued to exist, of which the chief raged between the
National Union of Railwaymen and the engineering and wood-
working trade unions over the workers employed in railway
shops; but, speaking generally, most of the trade unions con-
cerned with a single class of workers or a single industry, whatever
their private disputes, were all represented in the particular federa-
tion, and had a means of acting together in case of emergency.
This applied for the most part only to the manual workers' unions.
The trade unions representing professional, technical and ad-
ministrative workers were only in a few cases affiliated to the man-
ual workers' federation. They had, however, federations of their
own which occasionally entered into cooperation, and individual
unions had sometimes close ties with those of the manual workers-
Larger groupings also existed. Of these by far the greatest con-
tinued to be the Trade Union Congress, to which all the important
trade unions of manual workers and a few of the unions of brain-
workers were affiliated. In 1921 an attempt was made to provide out
of the Trade Union Congress a more efficient governing machine for
the trade union movement by electing its General Council from vari-
ous industrial groups, instead of, as heretofore, electing it by general
ballot vote of the whole Congress. The experience of the Council of
Action and of the miners' strike of 1921 had convinced many of
the need for a central executive and direction. Trade unions, how-
ever, are slow to surrender their individual autonomy, and little but
general powers were given to the new General Council at first, though
an increase in affiliation fees provided it with additional funds.
It was instructed to work in cooperation with the political Labour
party in order to arrange for a separation of function between the
industrial and political sides of the Labour movement, and for their
cooperation in policy. Such separation and cooperation were long
overdue. Owing to the much greater age of the Trade Union Con-
gress, it had formed the habit of dealing with political questions
long before the Labour party was founded, and continued to do so.
It thus happened that the same items, both industrial and political,
would appear for discussion both at the Trade Union Congress and
at the Conference of the Labour Party, and this led to a great deal
of useless overlapping, even apart from cases, such as the miners'
demand for nationalization, which might be considered both in-
dustrial and political. At the same time the machinery for consulta-
tion between the two bodies was very inadequate, and it often hap-
pened that they would take opposite lines of policy. The new scheme
of cooperation was intended to remedy these defects. An alliance
between the trade unions, the Labour party, and the working-class
cooperative movement was also frequently proposed, but was never
consummated except on specific occasions, though the cooperative
societies frequently rendered assistance to members of trade unions
in disputes. There were also other general groupings of less impor-
tance. The General Federation of Trade Unions, once regarded
a body almost coequal with the Trade Union Congress, had
gradually declined in power to the position of a strike insurance
society covering about one-sixth of the trade union movement. The
Triple Industrial Alliance was founded in 1915 by the Miners'
Federation, the National Union of Railwaymen, and the Transport
Workers' Federation, avowedly for the purpose of securing united
action by those three bodies on industrial questions. At the time of
its formation it excited a great deal of interest, and had it ever
752
TRADE UNIONS
succeeded in functioning effectively it would undoubtedly have
wielded immense power ; but owing principally to lack of coordina-
tion between its three constituents, it never took effective action
upon an important question, and its last failure to act in the miners'
strike of 1921 destroyed much of its prestige among the trade
unions. Locally the branches of trade unions were united in Trade
Councils, which in some cases were separate from and in other cases
united with the local Labour party. These Trade Councils, _of
which there were several hundreds in the United Kingdom, varied
greatly in size and importance. In large towns where the Trade
Council could often trace its history as far back as the eighteen-
sixties it sometimes wielded important industrial and political
influence, while in remote places it was little more than a rallying
ground for a few trade union branches to discuss matters of com-
mon interest. The Trade Councils for the most part, being com-
posed of trade union branches with little money to spare, suffered
from a lack of funds, though in times of crisis these could be partly
increased by means of local levies. Their functions were not gen-
erally defined. This meant in practice that they were limited by
opportunity, and might include many types of activity, from the
providing of a hall for local meetings or a local Labour weekly
paper, to the temporary control of the whole life of a town during a
general strike.
Ireland. Irish trade unionism, in its later stages, needs separate
treatment. Originally trade unionism in Ireland was a weak copy
of the British model ; but in the first decade of the twentieth century,
it became imbued with ideas derived from the American Industrial
Workers of the World. Under the leadership of James Larkin and of
Connolly (executed after the Easter Rebellion of 1916) militant
industrial unionism attained to great power. Its strongest exponent
was the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, which was the
leader in the Dublin strikes of 1913, and subsequently went through a
period of severe repression. It survived, however, and in 1921 was
by far the largest constituent element in the Irish Trade Union
Congress and Labour Party. The latter body, which adopted polit-
ical as well as industrial functions in 1912, acts far more as a central
executive for its affiliated societies than does the British Trade
Union Congress. Affiliated to it are all the important Irish trade
unions, with the exception of some located in Ulster, which are kept
apart from it by political and religious differences. There are also
affiliated a large number of Trade Councils (including the Trade
Council of Belfast), which in weakly-organized districts serve as
organizing centres, workers being invited to join the Trade Council
until a branch of the appropriate trade union can be founded. This
is an important respect in which the Irish Trade Councils differ
from those of Great Britain. The Irish movement was strongly re-
publican in its political policy, and had close relations with Dail
Eireann on the one hand, and with the Irish agricultural cooperative
movement on the other. Most of the Irish industries are organized
in the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, though in
certain cases British trade unions have a large Irish membership.
The most important Of these are the railway and postal employees
(organized respectively by the National Union of Railwaymen, the
Railway Clerks' Association, and the Union of Post Office Workers,
though a purely Irish Postal Trade Union also exists), the engineering,
shipbuilding and woodworking employees in Belfast and Dublin
and some other large towns, and some women workers, mainly in
the east and north, who are organized in the National Union of
General Workers. There are also separate Ulster unions, principally
jn the textile industries, but trade unionism in Ulster, especially
in Belfast, is liable to be rent asunder from time to time by political
and religious upheavals.
Legal Status. There were few changes during 1911-21 in the laws
relating to trade unionism. The most important of these was the
Trades Disputes Act of 1913, which partially undid the effect of the
Osborne Judgment. It provided that any trade union might take a
ballot of its membership on the question of establishing a fund for
political purposes. If a majority of the members is in favour of its
establishment, contributions for political purposes may be levied,
but no member can be forced to contribute to the political fund who
does not wish to do so. In cases where there is a composite sub-
scription, covering all purposes of the trade union, any member can
reclaim that part of his subscription which would be devoted to
political purposes. The political fund must in all cases be separately!
administered from the general funds. The Trade Union Amalgama-
tion Act, passed in 1917, removed some of the previous legal restric-
tions on the amalgamation of trade unions by providing that, where'
a ballot is taken upon the question of amalgamation, it will be
sufficient if fifty per cent of the membership votes, aTid if of those
voting a majority of twenty per cent is in favour of it. Despite 1
this Act, a number of amalgamations have failed owing to an in-
sufficient total of votes having been recorded, and various devices
have been adopted for getting round the difficulty.
Finance. The finance of trade unions showed little change dur-
ing the decade. Most trade unions slightly raised their subscrip-
tions during the war, in about the same proportions, so that the
unions of skilled workers have still a far higher subscription and
provide on the average a larger number of benefits to their members i
than the unions of the unskilled. Again, most trade unions built
up fairly large reserve funds during the war which were consider-
ably depleted during 1920-1, but here again the increase was
greater in the case of the skilled unions. All trade unions made
large use of the levy, which is one of the most important elements of
trade union finance. It is obvious that strike and unemployment
funds, particularly strike funds, cannot be put upon an actually
sound oasis, so that in most trade unions the method is adopted,
when a particular fund seems to be in low water, or some special
object demands that an immediate sum of money be available, of
imposing, generally after a ballot vote, a levy upon the whole mem-
bership. Thus, a trade union may levy itself to provide assistance
to a particular branch or strike, or to another trade union, or to
finance the Daily Herald, or for any other of a variety of purposes,
and the practice of imposing levies frequently renders the obligation
of a member to his trade union very much greater than would ap-
pear from the subscription rates laid down in the rule book.
AUTHORITIES. The volume of publications on British trade
unionism has increased very rapidly. Official statistics are to be
found in the Labour Gazette, published by the Ministry of Labour,
in the reports of trade unionism issued by the Board of Trade
(not since the war), and in the reports of the Chief Registrar of
Friendly Societies. Most of the available information will be found
collected in the Labour Year Book. For the history, organization
and theories of trade unions the standard works are The History
of Trade Unionism (new edition, 1920) and Industrial Democracy
(new edition, 1920) by Sidney and Beatrice Webb; Trade Unionism
by C. M. Lloyd (revised edition, 1921); and An Introduction to Trade
Unionism (1918) by G. D. H. Cole. All these contain full bibli-
ographies. _ There are also special studies of trade unionism in
particular industries. Of these may be mentioned Trade Unionism
on the Railways (1917) by G. D. H. Cole and R. P. Arnot ; Village
Trade Unions (1920) by Ernest Selley; and Women in Trade Unions
by Barbara Drake (1920). The standard work on trade union law
is The Legal Position of Trade Unions, by H. H. Slesscr and W.
Smith Clark, and a smaller work by H. H. Slesser, The Law Relat-
The Progress of British Trade Unionism, IQIO-Q.
Industry
I'lIO
I9II
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
Building and
156,985
173-182
203,773
247,685
236,524
234,000
231,000
259,000
324,000
437,000
Woodworking
66.OOO
69,000
83,000
96,000
125,000
Mining and Quarrying
731-370
752,527
757,351
914,989
912,577
844,000
884,000
944,000
992,000
1,069,000
Metal, Engineering and
Shipbuilding .
370,093
414,896
479,308
538,751
557,741
641,000
699,000
849,000
952,000
1,074,000
Textiles and
380,541
437,856
479,266
518,871
498,232
449,000
457,000
543,000
616,000
706,000
Dyeing, etc. .
64,000
75,000
87,000
91,000
104,000
Clothing and
67,124
74-423
91,832
105,975
102,318
65,000
51,000
78,000
120,000
156,000
Boots and Shoes
49,000
72,000
81,000
91,000
107,000
Railways ....
116,214
185,513
202,329
326,192
336,671
385,000
425,000
499,000
530,000
624,000
Other Transport
(land and water) .
129,009
328,023
312,345
374-588
379,016
304,000
313,000
326,000
376,000
528,000
Printing ....
74-275
77,252
76,949
84,429
92,055
98,000
99,000
113,000
143,000
192,000
Agriculture and
69,171
176,211
187,831
331,234
366,539
26,OOO
29,000
59,000
130,000
203,000
General Labour
523,000
589,000
815,000
1,205,000
1,491,000
Others, including Pottery,
*
Glass and Chemical
24,000
32,000
42,000
55,ooo
65,000
Food, Drink, etc.
Clerks, Shop Assistants, etc.
303,039
349,154
434,515
485.477
488,190
36,000
III.OOO
35,000
120,000
36,000
150,000
46,000
193,000
63,000
267,000
Teachers ....
I29,OOO
134,000
143,000
167,000
183,000
Public Authorities
244,000
251,000
310,000
353,000
390,000
Miscellaneous Trades
96,000
104,000
123,000
163,000
260,000
Total number of members
2,397,821
2,969,037
3,225,499
3,928,191
3,959,863
4,388,000
4,669,000
5,540,000
6,64-5,000
8,044,000
TRADE UNIONS
ing to Trade Unions (1921). For Irish trade unionism see The
Irish Labour Movement by VV. P. Ryan (1920).
By far the most important up-to-date source of information,
statistical and historical, for other countries is the Labour Inter-
i national Handbook. See also G. D. H. Cole, The World of Labour.
. For Germany see Trade Unionism in Germany by W. Stephen
Sanders (1916). For Russia see A. Losovsky, etc., Trade Unions
in Soviet Russia (1920). (M. I. C.)
UNITED STATES
From 1898 to 1904 craft unions in the United States grew in
importance, and made substantial gains by aggressive action.
In 1905 with a slackening of business prosperity came a loss of
faith in trade unionism as the one sure solution of the problems
of the working class. The American Federation of Labor had
organized the skilled trades but the unskilled had been practically
i neglected. The crafts seemed unable to cope with the trusts and
with an open-shop campaign which drew employers together.
Attempts were made to capture the American labour movement
1 for a more radical class struggle. In 1905 the Industrial Workers
of the World were organized. A movement to organize the
building trades into an industrial union was resisted by the
American Federation of Labor, but resulted in the establishment
in 1908 of the Building Trades Department of the Federation.
In 1909 the United Mine Workers announced their championship
of the principle of collective ownership of the means of produc-
tion. In 1911 the machinists followed. From 1903 we find
increasing tendency toward concerted movements of the railway
crafts. In 1908 the Railway Employees' Department was formed
; in the American Federation of Labor to include all the railway
; unions affiliated with the Federation. In 1916 the four railway
brotherhoods, not affiliated with the Federation, acted together
, to demand the eight-hour day. In 1912 the national convention
of the Federation voted down the minority report of the Com-
mittee on Education in favour of the principle of industrial
unionism, 72 for and 264 against; voting strength, 5,929 f r
and 10,983 against. The two miners' unions voted solidly in
favour of the change. Others in favour were the bakers and
confectioners, iron, steel and tin workers, printing pressmen,
railway carmen and journeymen tailors. In 1912 labour was
weak economically but strong politically, due to its support of
. the Democratic party, then coming into power. Public hearings
before the United States Commission on Industrial Relations in
1914 brought industrial conditions into the light of public opin-
ion; for the first time a commission representing the Govern-
i meat not only pronounced the trade union movement harmless
to the best interests of the country, but gave its unqualified
approval to labour organization as an institution indispensable
in a democracy. The return of business prosperity in 1916,
coincident with the sudden decrease of immigration, gave labour
a new economic advantage. In 1917 the Government asked and
won cooperation of organized labour in producing military
supplies. Organized labour was given recognition on Government
committees, and the policy of boards which represented the
Government in its relations with its employees was to recognize
trade union standards of working conditions. The leadership
of the American Federation of Labor was strengthened by the
attitude of the Government; possibly it was weakened by the
fact that the War Labor Board dealt with groups of disaffected
workers in the local unions rather than with the national officers,
and so made for decentralized control in the unions. After the
Armistice labour was again on the defensive, and the increasing
number of the unemployed were more ready than they had been
to listen to the philosophy of the radical, who can always
promise a steady job and a pay envelope every week in the
Utopian state. The membership in the relatively conservative
American Federation of Labor increased nearly threefold be-
:ween 1910 and 1920. In 1910 there was a paid-up membership
)f 1,562,112; in 1915 1,946,347; and 1920 4,078,740. If we
nclude also the membership of organizations suspended from
;he Federation, the total for 1920 was 4,509,213. Outside the
federation are the four brotherhoods of railway employees with
i membership of over 400,000, the Amalgamated Clothing
Workers, 200,000, the Amalgamated Textile Workers, 40,000;
753
and other smaller independent organizations. There are five
industrial departments in the American Federation of Labor
building trades, metal trades, railway employees, union label
trades, and mining. The six largest of the affiliated unions are
the United Mine Workers', the Carpenters' and Joiners', the
Machinists', Electrical Workers', Railway Carmen, and the
Ladies' Garment Workers.
The National Women's Trade Union League of America was
founded in 1903 for the purpose of investigating and giving