National Transport Workers' Federation in 1914, the program for nationalization of mines and railroads, and the threat of a general strike in support of the miners in the spring of 1921, have stirred the imagination of thousands in this country and elsewhere. Without some knowledge of the rapid progress of events in the labor movement across the water, we cannot hope to understand the various currents in the labor world of America.

The first significant expression in England of the spirit, of industrial unionism and the aspiration of the workers for the control of industry was in the wave of revolutionary communism which swept the country in 1833-34 under the inspiration of Robert Owen. The Grand Consolidated Trade Union formed at that time. recruited masses of the unskilled as well as of the skilled, and within a few weeks had half a million members from many different industries.2 The amazing growth of the movement and its revolutionary hopes terrified the government and the employing class, and roused such opposition that in only a few months the whole thing had collapsed. The ideals of the movement lingered on for a time, but after the decline of Chartism, British trade unions settled down to seek very limited ends, tacitly accepting the existing organization of industry and being content to include only the skilled workers in their ranks. A new movement among the unskilled occurred in the late eighties and resulted in the great dock strike of 1889, which under the leadership of Tom Mann and John Burns paralyzed the port of London for over four weeks. The decided victory which was finally won led to the formation of a large number of unions among unskilled laborers, and the opening of the doors of many old unions to them. This "new unionism," as it was

2

Webb, History of Trade Unionism (London, 1920), p. 135.

then christened, was distinctly class conscious and vaguely Socialistic in its aims. It did not seek to overthrow existing organizations, however, but to sweep into them great masses of hitherto unorganized workers and break down the selfish spirit of exclusiveness which dominated them.3 Although in the succeeding depression large numbers of the unskilled fell away from the unions, the new spirit of solidarity remained.

The Transport Workers and Railwaymen

The development of industrial unionism in England has been chiefly by means of the drawing together of different craft unions into larger units, rather than by building up competing unions on an industrial basis. The movement toward federation or amalgamation of all the craft bodies in an industry has been very strong in the last decade, due partly to the influence of Guild Socialists and similar groups, who are in favor of industrial unionism not so much for its immediate advantages, as because they believe that only in this form can unions express the aspirations of the workers for the control of industry. The mining, railroad, transport, and engineering industries furnish the best illustrations of the process that is going on. The National Transport Workers' Federation, which was formed in 1911 after the great dockers' strike of that year, unites numerous bodies of seamen, coal porters, lighters, dockers, carmen, stevedores, and other workers in waterside transport work. The National Union of Railwaymen was formed in 1913 by a merging of three of the principal railroad unions which had acted together in the strike of 1911. The Railway Clerks' Association works in harmony with this organization, although it has not yet joined it. A Webb, op. cit., p. 418.

third body, the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, has hampered the National Union somewhat, although it cooperated with it in the great railroad strike of 1919. The strike, in which half a million men went out and disorganized the railroad service of the country for nine days, was settled through the mediation of the other members of the Triple Alliance. The aim of the National Union of Railwaymen is to secure a complete organization of all connected with the railroads in any way, including not merely those working on the trains but also the mechanics in the workshops; cooks, waiters, and housemaids employed at railroad hotels; sailors and firemen on board the steamers owned by the railroads; compositors, lithographers, and bookbinders employed in printing tickets and timetables; and even the men whom one of the largest companies keeps in constant employment manufacturing crutches and wooden legs for disabled members of the staff. This has brought the organization into conflict with many craft unions, and the problems of jurisdiction have not yet been settled. The membership of the union was said to be about 450,000 in 1920.5 For years it has advocated nationalization of the railroads and direct participation in the management of them by the workers.

The Miners' Federation

The third member of the famous Triple Alliance, the Miners' Federation, had a membership of about 900,000 in 1920. It was established in 1888, and since then has gradually absorbed all the district associations of coal hewers and other underground workers, and some of the organizations of enginemen, firemen, mine mechanics,

Webb, op. cit., p. 532.

Gleason, What the Workers Want (New York, 1920), p. 212. • Webb, op. cit., p. 549.

colliery clerks, cokemen, and other workers employed in or about the mines. There were still about forty small independent unions of men about the mines in 1920, however, and some of these had formed a National Council of Colliery Workers Other than Miners for the purpose of maintaining a separate existence. As its name suggests, the Miners' Federation is only a federation of autonomous district associations, yet it has been very successful in centralizing the general policy of the whole mining industry, through a strong Executive Committee and frequent conferences. It has for several years been working vigorously for the nationalization of the mines, and has presented a detailed scheme for their administration by means of a mining council, district councils, and pit committees, all of which are to be composed of an equal number of miners and of technical experts. A general strike to enforce this and other demands was averted in 1919 only by the appointment of a government Commission to investigate the industry and make recommendations in regard to it. The hearings held by the Commission, which included three miners and three economists appointed by the miners as well as six representatives of capital, brought forth many sensational facts in regard to the inefficiency of the management of the industry under private hands, and the large profits made by the most advantageously situated mines. The final report presented by Justice Sankey, chairman of the Commission, and supported in general by the six representatives of the miners, declared for the nationalization of the mines and a system of control in which the workers were to have a large share.

Coal Strike of 1921

Although the miners claim that Lloyd George had promised beforehand that the recommendations of the

Commission would be carried out by the government, which was still directing the mines under its war powers, these recommendations were not adopted, but certain compromises were offered instead. The miners have. continued to be dissatisfied in spite of the wage concessions granted at that time, and those which followed the brief strike of 1920. When the government gave up its control of the mines on March 31, 1921, thereby putting an end to the system of regulating wages on a national rather than a district basis, and the system of pooling the profits by which the poorer mines had been able to keep going by sharing the profits of the richer ones, the trouble broke out anew and a strike of all the miners in the country was called. Although the immediate demands were for the maintenance of a national standard of wages which would be adequate for decent living, and the continuance of the national pooling of profits, it was understood that this was only a step toward the nationalization which was desired by the miners. The other members of the Triple Alliance, and some other labor groups, voted to join in a general strike in support of the miners, and for a few days it looked as if this powerful coalition was about to put all industry in England at a standstill. The day before the railroad and transport workers were to go out, however, the miners' spokesman, Frank Hodges, expressed willingness to postpone consideration of the national standard of wages and pooling of profits if a temporary wage agreement might be reached. This proposal was at once repudiated by the other members of the Miners' Executive, but the difference of opinion undermined the determination of the allied unions to support the miners, and as a result the general strike order was canceled. This cancellation aroused much indignation on the part of certain groups of railroad and