The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 22, 1924, Page 5

Friday, August 22, 1924 THE DAILY WORKER Page Five An Eventful Year in British Trade Unionism By J. T. MURPHY. URING the last twelve months an entirely new attitude has been adopted by trades union officialdom of Great Britain towards the criticisms levelled by the Communist Party. I say “new” in the sense that a great change has been made, and not from the point of view of originality. Two years ago a hgndful of Communists at the Trades Union Congress suc- ceeded in making an exhibition of the trades union leaders. For months the Communist Party had been campaign+ ing in the union against the lack of real leadership, the sectionalism in union organization, etc. We were de- manding a greater centralization of power in the hands of the General Council of the Trades Union Con- gress. in order to bring greater forces into action in time of strikes. We had succeeded in getting a resolution thru one of the unions supporting our Proposals and it came before the Congress for discussion, Then we witnessed an amazing spectacle. Smillie of the Miners Fed- eration was in favor, tho somewhat half-hearted about it. Hodges of the same organization opposed it. Clynes of the General Workers opposed it; Thorne, a leader of the same organiza- tion, was in favor. And so it went on from union to union. The leader of the union who was on the General Council was in favor. The leader of the union who was not on the General Council was against in all cases. And everybody: could see that all of them were really scared at what was implied and preferred to speak of the Council as an instrument for peace, Of course the proposals were defeated but the parade of these people on the platform was something to be remem- bered. It was evident that for the first time the Communists had got them on the run. The Bureaucrats Retreat. The next year they were better pre- pared with changes of their own along the lines of making inquiries and test- ing the feelings of the union member- ship to see how far they would go. The Communists came to the attack again and it was due to their attacks on the trades union leadership that the, ““Back to the Unions Campaign” was initiated. Since the transforma- tion of the old Parliamentary Commit- tee of the Trades Union Congress into the bolder sounding General. Council of the Trades Union Congress these attacks as. well as the position into which the trades unions had drifted, made it imperative that the Council should function in a much larger fashion. The characteristic weakness of the Council is due to the fact that it was never intended to function as a fight- ing organization. While ‘all the big unions such as the Miners Federation with its million members, the Railway Union with its 350,000, the Transport Union with its 400,000 were all affill- ated, they never let any of their power go into the General Council, | & STYLISH SEASONABLE MODEL. 4838, Figured and plain crepe are combined in this styie. ‘bau wr. may be finished without the cupe, and with short or long sleeves. The pattern is cut in 3 sizes; 16, 1 20 years. An 18-year size re- quires 5% yards of one material 40 inclfes wide if made with cape and long sleeves. If made as shown in the large view it will require 3% yards of plain material, and 1% yards ‘of figured material 40 inches wide. 1% yards, ‘\ Pattern mailed to any address on receipt of 12c in silver or stamps. Send 12c in silver or stamps for ie UPTODATE FALL & WINTER they always reserved autonomous rights to decide what was best for their union and took care at any Trades Union Congress tliat no decis- fon would be taken committing them to any general action which might involve joint struggles. Joint propa- ganda? Yes. Joint strike action? No. They safeguarded’ this’ pdsition still further by always selecting the chair- man of the Council from one of the weakest unions, say from’ the Boot- makers Union or the Musicians Unton. Never have they given the weight and prestige of one of the big unions to the leadership of the Council and the whole union movement. i The new critics caught them -un- ready but without power to put any- thing thru. Had the Communists rested content with criticizing the ac- tions of the Council they could have been treated as disruptionists and de- nounced, but to face a proposal that they (the Council) should have more power and responsibility was an awk- ward proposition which had to be dodged. They dodged it by referring to the rank and file of the particular union, knowing quite well that there were sufficient interests at stake in the unions to get the proposal turned down. Side-Tracking the Unemployed. But it was clear to them that some- thing more must be done. The Un- employment Movement had become a factor during 1922 that they could no longer ignore. Again the Commun- ists were busy denouncing them for the isolation of the unemployed and demanding that they take action for joint campaigns of employed and un- employed workers. They had given lip service to the unemployed at}, previous congresses, permitted an un- employed worker to address the Con- gress, taken up a collection and wished them good luck. This would not do, They. were being denounced and losing prestige. Fortunately for ‘them at this stage the Secretary of the General Council, Mr. Bowerman, was retiring. He had never been any- thing more than an ornament and it was a general relief to everybody that age was solving a problém for them. A new Geenyal Secretary was The width of the skirt at the foot is needed capable of meeting ‘this new opposition with well thot out counter moves, They found the man in Mr, Fred Bramley. Enter Fred Bramley. Bramley is no fool. He is clever in all trade union affairs and has a fairly intimate contact will all phases of the workers movement. He is a mem- ber of the Furnishing Trades Union and is a chairmaker by trade, tho how many years ago it is since he worked at this job I do not know. For years he was a Clarion Van propagandist when Blatchford was pioneering “Birtain for the British.” Later he became a union branch secretary, made himself acquainted with the co- operative movement and the Labor Party. He claims to be “moderafely advanced” and as everyone knows, this type is very valuable for negotiat- ing with the “Left.” He can always OUR DAILY PATTERNS A PRACTICAL APRON FOR MOTHER'S HELPER. percale or cretonne, with pockets and binding of linene dr unbleached mus- lin. The pattern is cut in 5 sizes: 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 years, A 6-year size re- quires 1% yard of 27-inch material, Pattern mailed to any address on eceipt of 12c in silver or stamps. Send 12c in silver or, stamps for our UP-TO-DATE FALL. & WINTER 1924-1925 1K OF FASHIONS. Address; The DAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Bivd., Chicago, lil. TO Pp tell them that “he thoroly understands and admires them, and will help them to the best of his ability to work out ‘practial’ proposals.” So the 1923 Congress introduces us to Mr. Bramley as the General Secre- ‘tary and the first experiments in the “new Policy.” He at once proceeded to take out the sting of the Commun- ist contention that the General Coun- cil isolated the unemployed. There was danger that the joint Council pro- posal which had been pressed upon them was going to be ignored and a further justification of Communist criticism would be placed on record. ployed’s propaganda. A Joint Coun cil? Certainly, A joint campaign on behalf of the unemployed? Certainly. The negotiations were spread over. several months in which the whole aim is to extract from the unemploy- ment proposals any sting. which might appear to be “too revolutionary” and give it the color of “practicability.” The final outcome is “The Unemployed’s Six-point Char- ter,” which reads: We Demand: 1. “Work or effective maintenance for all unemployed workers, and in- creased government assistance to be provided thru’the trades unions. All unemployed relief to be completely dissociated from Poor Law adminis- tration. 2. “The immediate development of} government schemes of employment to absorb the unemployed in their own trade at trade union rates of wages and conditions. 3. “The establishment of state work- shops for the purpose of supplying the necessary service or commodities to meet the requirements of government departments. 4. “The reduction in the hours of Jabor necessary to absorb unemployed workers, the normal working day or week to be regulated by the require- ments of the industry. 5. “The establishment of occupa- tional training centers for unemployed workers, with effective maintenance, particu- larly for ‘unemployed boys and girls and able-bodied ex-service men. 6. “The provision of suitable hous- ing accommodations at rents within the means of wage earners, and the proper use of existing houses.” Only on one of these demands did the unemployed force the hand of Bramley from generalities to a speci- fic demand and that was on the scale of unemployed pay. In the leaflet is- sued ‘to explain the “Charter” an ef- fective piece of propaganda is con- ducted which throws a vivid light on social conditions in England. Itasks the question “What is effective main- ‘tenance?” and answers by comparing costs of the maintenance of criminals and inmates of Poor Law institutions, It says: “Mr. Neville Chamberlain informed the House of Commons on August 1, 1923, that the cost ‘per head in Poor Law institutions was £88—5s—3%4d Ber year. On Poor Law scale two adults would cost .. Two children (equal to one adult) Total cost per annum. Total cost per week (approx) £ 5 “Mr. Bridgeman, late Home Sec- retary, informed the House of Com- mons on August 2, 1923, that the cost of maintaining a convict in H. M. Prisons was £111 per year. On the convict scale two Two children (equal to an AAUIL) COBE sessssececsssseeecssseeersne LLL Total cost per per annum........ £333 | Total cost per week............ £6, 88 '“The Unemployed Workers have suggested the following scale for un- employed maintenance: Man and wife, per week £ 38— Two children, per week —18s Total cost per week....£ 3—188 Or an annual cost of....£202—16s “The question arises: Are Un- employed Workers entitled to main- tenance equivalent to that provid- ed for Poor Law Inmates and con- victs in H, M, Prisons?” . * ‘This is rei propaganda, but it will be obs that Bramley has successfully avoided committing the General Council to the scale as a de- mand and hid himself in generalities as a means of escape when chelleng- ed as to whether this is the demand of the trades unions, The other leaflets are not so spe- cific as this one, They are similar to the demands as quoted above. The ur-| Unemployed Organization and the pattern General. Council conducted joint meet- ‘as re-|{ngs and demonstrations with these utlent: | ttern 18] pay. Distribute a of the DAILY WORKER'S first special kal- dated Saturday, Bramley averted that and set to work not only to discount our criticism but to take the sting out of the unem- nothing from the state insurance for a@ period of three weeks. The Idea behind this was to drive the workers to “really look for work.” The effect was to drive to the boards of guardians for Poor Law relief. The unemployed seized hold of this griev- ance to make great demonstrations to the guardians. Now that the “gap” is abolished the unemployed receive unemployed insurance pay all the year round and the agitations at the Boards Guardians are accordingly di- minishing. So between the action of the Labor Government and the policy of the General Council the sting has been taken out of the unemployed agi- tation and it has become quite consti- tutional and peaceful. The Trades Councils’ Movement, A similar maneuver has been con- ducted in relation to the agitation for the re-invigoration of the Trade Coun- cils. Again on the initiative of the Communist Party a movement was set going to make of these local or- ganizations of the trades unions a rallying center for activity and strug- gle. Trades Councils arose early in the nineteenth century as local com: binations of unions in strikes and lock outs. They unite the unions of all industries in the council. They paved the way to the Trades Union Congress and at first were-constitu- ent parts of the Congress, but when the national trades unions became a force, they feared that these local combinations operating in the Nation- al Congress might be instrumental in checking the power of the growing bureaucracy in the unions and on the motion of John Burns, who pleaded a left wing program in the union movement. During the last twelve months there has grown a consider- able ferment amongst the trades un- ion leaders, Such men as Hutchinson of the Engineering Union, Hicks of the Building Workers’ Union, Purcell of the Furnishing Trades’ Union, Bramley of the Locomotive Engirieers’ and Firemen’s Union, Cook of the Miners, have been ventilating their views in the columns of the “Labor Monthly” and the “Workers’ Weekly” on the need for a left wing program and 4 new direction for the Trades Union movement. Bramley thought things over, searched in a business-like way thru the records of the Trades Union Con- gresses and sorted out the resolutions of national importance that had been passed by succeeding congresses stretching over a period of years. Then, combining his research work with the more recent decisions, he crystalized them into a program which he proposes to place before the Trades Union Congress as its “Char- ter.” Some of the demands appear most revolutionary, but the Charter must not be regarded as having any- thing to do with the means of getting the demands into operation. But first read: “The Workers’ Charter.” 1. Nationalization of the land. 2, Nationalization of the railways. 3. Nationalization of mines and minerals. 4, Hours of labor — a legal maxi- mum working week of 44 hours, 5. Legal minimum wage for each industry or occupation. ers drove the issue back to the masses themselves. The Minority Movement is the an- swer. Rising out of the economic struggle under the leadership of the Communist Party it forms the foun- dation of the oppositional movement to MacDonal(’s Labor Imperialist Gov- ernment. This is the section of the working class movement which is the first to feel bitter resentment against the union bureacracy and the Labor Government. At first it is stronger against the union bureacracy than the government and for that reason digs the unions round the conference table and remove the grievances by im- proved conditions of Gabor. The Minority Movement Arises. This rapid changing of position, of stroke and counter stroke is leading us quickly to exceedingly important developments. The formal accept- ance of the demands from the left wing of the movement has its limits. To accept them may mean for a time that the central authorities in the Trades Union Movement has suc- ceeded in driving the left wing to new positions. But acceptance has also its obligations. And the limits of|itself deeper into the Labor Move- their poli¢y are nearly reached. This|ment. It feels that it is the union bu- is made clear in the replies of Bram-|reacracy that is letting them down in ley concerning the- unofficial strikes,|the actual fight before the Labor Gov- Here he is brought up against the|ernment is called into action. For actual struggles of the workers |this reason the movement surges against the bosses and has to call to|against the union leaders before it the employers for help. So long as|reaches the government driving some the demands of the left were within |to fight for and some to fight against the mits of propaganda and inter-un-|them. Those leaders who want to line fon relations he had scope for maneu-|up with the workers develop a resent- vering. Now he must appeal for ment against the government because “goodwill” where there is none. The |they feel that it is making the situa- failure of the bosses to come to his |tion more difficult by the continual aid simply intensifies and strength-|pleas concerning the difficulties of @ ens the position of the left wing in|Minority Government. These are be- the unions who are insisting on a fight- jcoming susceptible to the criticism of ing policy and organizing their agita-|the Communist Party and begin to tion in the development of what has |feel that their interests are bound up become known as the Minority Move- | with a leftward movement. Theri the ment. . fact that the Labor Party is com- This movement is the result of the | posed in the main of all these unions initiative of the Communist Party.|causes a draught within its ranks Starting with the most important in-|which would rapidly fan the flames of dustries, such as mining, engineering |discontent were it not for the mod- and transport, the party propagated |jerating influence’ of MacDonald's the idea of organizing the union lo-|excuse—that he has not a majority in providing proper training that many unions were being repre- sented twice over in the Congress thru the Trades Council, they were disaffiliated. Trades Councils were either isolated helped to revive interest in again after the war. feats of the unions. ship was becoming precarious. The num liation of the unions. trial matters by the Trades Councils during a period when the unions were suffering heavy defeats thru section- al action. pointed at once to the fact that they had machinery to hand in the Trades Councils for uniting the workers in common struggle and made capital out of the fact that the Labor Party had contributed to the weakening of the situation by concentrating the Trades Councils on electioneering at the expense of the industrial strug- gles. The agitation spread until a few months ago a national conference of Trades Councils was held in Birming- ham led by Comrade Pollitt, an ex- ecutive member of the Communist Party. This conference demanded re- affiliation to the Trades Union Con- gress amongst a number of other de- mands, both political and industrial. Again Bramley on behalf of the Gen- eral Council; countered the proposal by calling a conference of the Trades Councils “with a view to the better co-ordination of the work of Trades Union Congress and the Trades Councils.” This was a much cleverer move than that adopted by his predecessors who had wanted to stamp out any such activity from the beginning. The conference met and Bramley presented them with a series of pro- posals which ignored the principal de- mand of the Trades Councils and yet made a very plausible alternative. In- stead of direct affiliation to the con- gress, he argued that it would make the congress too cumbersome and it would be better if the National Com- mittee of the Trades Councils .sef up at the conference were represented on the General Council. In addition, in order to destroy the impression that the councils were of no value to the Trades Union Congress, they should become the means of distribut- ing the literature of the congress, and joining with the General Council in trades union recruiting campaigns in the various localities. The Trades Councils are discussing these propos- als at the present tim: d no doubt will have made a decision by the time of the Trades Union Congress in September.: Their weakness lies in the fact that the trades unions con- trol the union funds and they have no sufficient resources to develop rapid- ly in opposition to these maneuvers. With a few slight modifications, it is most probable that Bramley’s propos- als will carry thru and once more the reformist elements will have at least temporarily drawn the sting from the agitation. The Left Wing Program. A third big development is the re- sponse of the General Council thru wena ‘“ The national unions thus scored a big victory and for many years the or turned into electoral machinery for parliamentary aspirants. Two factors them The growth of the Labor Party and the sectional de- The Labor Par- ty is based on the unions and as it grew in power the leaders became ex- ceedingly conscious of the fact that without a strong individual member- subscribing to their program their position as leaders in politics ber of middle class people anxious to join the Labor Party encouraged them to launch the campaign for individual members as distinct from mass affi- This led to the neglect of indus- The Communist Party 6. Pensions for all at the age of 60. 7. Pensions for mothers pendent children. 8. Adequate provisions for unem- ployment, with proper maintenance for the unemployed. 9. Establishment of training cen- ters for unemployed boys and girls, with the extension of training facili- ties for adults during periods of de- pression. with de- commodation. schools to universities. ice, one time or another in the Trades Union Congress. The Charter will no doubt be passed at the next Trades Union Congress. All the propaganda thunder will have thus been stolen from the ‘left’ and their complaints dismissed by refer- ence to the Charter. It will drive them to the issue of constitutional versus unconstitutional action. The Trades Union Congress led by the General Council will say “Here is our Program of demands. It is impossible to secure them without the people vote for them thru parliament. It is the duty of those who now complain to awaken the unions to a sensé of its parliamentary responsibility. Prac- tically all the unions in the Trades Union Congress are affiliated to the Labor Party and we should strengthen its hands by a powerful campaign in the unions. The alternative is un- constitutional action against which the Trades Ynions haveset their face. Unconstitutional action means acting utrary to the rules and regulations of the unions and we are the custod- jans of these rules and regulations. Do you suggest that we should break our own trade union laws established thru many years of struggle?” The “Charter” therefore represents a clever move to place the whole of the left wing in the trades union movement into an awkward position, with most of their immediate de- mands agreed upon insofar as they have put them forward as program de- mands for the unions. When placed in relation to the Unemployed Char- ter and the Trades Council proposals it represents the culmination of twelve months’ strategy against the awak ing left wing of the unions, Parallel with it there has been a consistent campaign against strikes and for in- dustrial peace, goodwill between the workers and the employers. At the same time the General Council has been tolerant towards the unofficial strikers while dissapproving of their actions. For example when the capi- talist press came out with a vicious campaign against the Communist Party and t! trikers during the re- cent unofficial strike on the railways, Bramley issued a statement to the ef- fect that this was a useless and mis- leading campaign and that it was usually found that workers did not go on strike for fun. Invariably there was a good foundation for every strike other than mere agitation. In every one of the strikes of recent date, he stated, the workers who struck their work had been and were suffering un- der intolerable conditions and if those who complained ‘of the strikes really wanted to see these unofficial out- [breaks stopped they must join ‘with é 10. Provisions of proper housing ac- 11. Improved facilities to be pro- vided by the state from elementary 12. The extension of state and mu- nicipal employment for the purpose of prompting social necessities and serv- There have been resolutions passed affirming each of these demands at cals on the basis of immediate de- mands such as improvement in wages, shorter working hours, nationalization of certain industries, etc. In the min- ing industry the campaign has been particularly successful and the Party can say without hesitation that the election of A. J. Cook to the secretary- ship of the Miners Federation of Great Britain is directly due to its in- itiative thru the Miners Minority Movement. The measure of progress in the Engineering unions is Tom Mann in the recent ballot in the Engineering Union for Paliamentary candidates. Mann topped the poll. But more significant still is the de- velopment of shop committees in the recent unofficial strike. For more than two years the men working in these workshops have been the vic- tween the craft unions and the Na- tional Union of Railwaymen. The ‘Communist: Party declared that the only possible means of, combatting this state of affairs was to create workshop committees and use them as a driving force against the union bureacracy. The strike came before the workshop committee organization had spread thruout the country. From this point of view the strike may be deemed premature. But with this point of view we are not particularly concerned. True the strike was de- feated, but it has given an impetus to th campaign for the shop commit- tees and exposed the leaders of the unions as treacherous reformists. What answer can the General Coun- cil of the Trades Union Congress or the trades union bureaucracy give to this new development. It is useless to accuse the Minority Movement of the aim to smash the trades unions for they are continually campaigning tor new leaders and slowly getting them. It is useless also for them to reply that they have put thé demands of the Minority Movement on their | program, for the demand of this move- our | indicated in the success of Comrade | ‘railway workshops which led to the tims of the inter-union wrangling be- | Parliament. This is the one big fac- tor which militates against the rapid development of a left wing force in the Labor Movement directed against the Labor Government. If the Labor Government does not try to hold on to office longer than next year’s bud- get we shall not see a very large po- litical opposition in the Labor Party for a considerable time, and the op- positional movement will be directed against the Trades Union bureacracy which in turn will endeavor to give it a political direction by holding out the golden dream of what will come when Labor has really a majority in parlianment. This latter maneuver is the only reply that the Bramleys can give to the growing Minority Movement in the unions. To a large extent it will carry weight in the minds of the workers but it will not stop the move- ment growing. On the other hand it will help the Communist Party to give the Minority Movement a deeper po- litical consciousness. The Communist Party is the ohly body which has nothing to fear from these develop- ments and everything to gain. It is laying the foundations of a revolu- tionary opposition to reformism in a manner characteristic of British La- bor thruout its history. The Labor Party itself sprang from the trades unions as their experience destroyed their belief in the capftalist parties. Today the revolutionary opposition to reformism is developing in similar fashion as the actual experiences of, the unions show the futulity of re- formist policy and leadership. The Trades Union Congress, meet- ing in September, will be able to look }back upon an eventful year and be brought face to face with new develop- }ments in all the large unions. It yi |try to escape under the influence’ of jits parliamentarians. The voice of the Minority Movement and the Com- }munist Party will be heard. The |parlfamentarian reformists will suc- ceed in carrying the Congress with jthem without leaving any lasting im- ment is to fight for the program as pression. The Congress will pass and well as to propogate it. A number ot |the forces I have described will take leaders are already affected by this|their course leading to a first class new development and are sensitive to | battle between the protagonists of Re- any accusations against their willing- ness to fight. The coming Minority Conference to be held in August of this year will be of immense impor- tance and will indicate how far we have got in the devlopment of this oppositional movement. It proposes on the basis of a common program of action to unite all the minorities into one big Minority Movement. If it is successful in this task the fight be- tween the ‘left’ and the ‘right’ is likely to become hotter and hotter within a comparatively short period and affect the Labor Party pro- foundly. The Labor Party “Left.” Immediately after the last general election and the formality of the Labor Government things pointed to the formation of a left wing in the Labor Party out of the Scottish mem- bers of parliament from the Glasgow I. L. P. This project was scuttled thru the inclusion of Wheatley in the Labor Cabinet. By this means Mac- Donald took the sting out of it, and its actions became more and more feeble, At the recent Conference of the Independent Labor Party, at which all its members were present not one offered the slighest criticism to Mac- Donald's betrayal of Socialism. It was profoundly clear from that mo- ment that any opposition tb MacDon- ald would have to begin in some other direction, .. The failure of these lead- |form versus Revolution for the leader- ship of the labor movement. Calles Stays Awhile. HAMBURG, August 21.—President- elect Plutarco Calles of Mexico will stay here until Friday, when he will go to Berlin to be received by his friend, President Bbert. A good time will be had by all. From Alphone to Gaston. VIENNA, Aug. 21.—Chancellor Ste pel of Austria today sent a congratu- latory message to, German Chancellor Marx on his supposed success at the London conference. Siepel thinks it guarantees world peace at last! Send in that Supscription Today. Night and Morning to keep them Cie, Ceara Resi Write for Free “Bye C or dye Beauty Book Murine Co., Dept. H. S.,9B. Ohio St., Chicago