Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Winston Churchill Defeat 1922



Never forget Winstin Churchill the man who was responsible for the massacre at Gallopili in WW1, Supporter of the unjustifiable Boer War, fought with the Spanish forces fighting Cuban Independence movement, Sending Troops against the Miners in Tonypandy, Supporter for the White Russians in 1917, Sydney Street Massacre, opposed Indian Independence, Support for Franco during the Spanish Civil War, Supported fascists to regain power in Greece after WW2, Supporter of the British Empire.

Saturday, December 08, 2012

Early Socialist Slide

Early socialist slide - 

Liberty, Progress and Socialism slaying Capitalism.

Looks like Social Democratic Federation ? early 1900's ?

Labour Party Fiftieth Anniversary Certificate - 1950



"The foundation of a true Socialist Society must be laid in the hearts & minds of men and women. Socialists will be judged not by what they say, but what they are"
Clem Attlee

"The secret of our success has been our ability to unite men of diverse gifts, giving to each an outlet for his special talents..... the Socialist Movement is not for a day, but for all time"
Kier Hardie

WI Sharp Shooters - WW2

WI or Women's Co-operative Guild in WW2

ok maybe not but still another rare picture of British women in  WW2 with guns

or maybe a future solution to the equal pay question

NOTE
In December 1941, a more organised but still unofficial Women's Home Defence (WHD) was formed under the direction of Dr Edith Summerskill, Labour MP for Fulham West. WHD members were taught weapons training and basic military training. 

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

The National Amalgamated Union of Labour 1888-1924


GENERAL UNIONS COME TO HAYES
"Not his masters voice, but the workers voice"

THE NATIONAL AMALGAMATED UNION OF LABOUR (NAUL)

The first "general" trade union to begin union organisation in the new factories of Botwell, Hayes, West London at the beginning of the twentieth century was the National Amalgamated Union of Labour (NAUL).

The Hayes branch of the National Amalgamated Union of Labour was established in September 1911 with a subscription rate of 4d per month, meeting every Friday evening at the Old Crown, Hayes. Middlesex.
Mr T.E. Smith of Gravesend was the National Amalgamated Union of Labour organiser, who began the union drive in the Hayes factory recalled that when he first came to Hayes he had found that the workers “had held aloof from the trade union for fear of being victimised”.



Smith himself had been active in NAUL recruitment on the Clyde in 1911 and was also working on the establishment of a Southall branch of the NAUL.

In September 1911 Joseph N Bell (later Labour MP for Newcastle) spoke to over hundred and fifty men in Clayton Road calling upon them to “combine against capitalism” and in January 1913 W. Watts at Clayton Road schoolstated “In Hayes the future had a bright outlook if only the workers will grasp the weapon within their reach (trade union organisation) there was no time for delay he went on 

"The meeting in Hayes had been called to show the workers of Hayes the value of organisation, and to give the reason why a living wage (30 shillings a week) cannot be obtained in Hayes without it"

" It was the workers duty and it could be done by them in Hayes,other places had already done it, and they were there that night to convince the hayes workers that they could do it by organsing themselves in a trade union.....In Hayes the future had a bright outlook, if only the workers would grasp the weopon within their reach, there was no time for delay"

T. E. Smith NAUL Organiser stated "there again, there was danger that the men of hayes would be replaced by females, who would work for less wages. But in large industrial centres, Lancashire especially, this could not happen as the workers were organised, and so their trade union stopped it....By joining the trade union they would improve their conditions, and at Hayes, it wanted improving. the whole responsibility rested with themselves"
The NAUL circulated a leaflet around the Hayes area advertising factory gate meetings, one in early 1913 stated

"The Value of Organisation" Come in crowds and hear the truth of why you do not get a living wage in Hayes, which is within the London County Council radius. Why remain outside and gamble ? Trust each other and join the union."

The local branch Secretary of the NAUL Mr W Watt stated
 "There is no reason why they should not call the local Gramophone factory, not his master voice but the workers voice"

An early test for the union was a strike at the Gramophone works, which erupted in June 1912, when over one hundred men struck. however the strike soon collapsed and non of the men on the original deputation to management got their jobs back.

Another strike took place in June 1913 in the press room at the Gramophone Company in Blythe Road after a wage cut of 3d per hour was imposed, The strike involving over one hundred men and picketing , collapsed when management threatened to sack the strikers, the leaders being dismissed and victimised, Mr T.E Smith of the NAUL heavily criticism those that returned to work. 

A poem during the strike printed to the local paper gives some insight into conditions faced by the factory workers at Gramophone

Oh dear, oh dear, this awful heat
It nearly suffocates us
If were compelled to stick it long
'twill simply spiflicate us
It didn't seem so 'badly' hot
When we full price, were getting,
But now they've knocked us three pence off
It really is upsetting
We only asked for more fresh air
That we might work the faster
'tis true we struck it several years
But now it's got our master
If they had granted us more air
When we like men applied
We shouldn't have had so much by far
As they've given as now "outside"
Of course it wasn't only air
Alone that we were asking
A few more "extra brads" was what
The "fresh air wheeze" was masking
Still were inclined to try again
Even if our pledge be broken
But we are just a bit afraid
"His master's voice has spoken".

In March 1916 J.A. Seddon MP spoke at a NAUL meeting in Hayes stating that he was "astonished to learn of the low wages some of the girls in the Hayes factories, but was glad to learn thanks to trade union action a number of special improvements had been secured"

The local National Amalgamated Union of Labour (NAUL) branch Secretary was Mr F.G. Lingard of 9 Neild Road, Hayes

In 1920 The Hayes Branch Secretary of the NAUL was J.C. Haydon of 9 Glebe Road, Hayes, Middlesex. The Hayes NAUL was meeting in 1920 on Fridays at 7:30 at Hayes Restaurant. 

Other local NAUL branches in 1920 included West Drayton - Mr W.A. Taylor of 1 Victoria Cottage, The Green West Drayton meeting at the Kings Head Hotel on alternative Saturdays 7pm. 

Brenford NAUL union Mr W. Johnson of 52 Great Road, Brentford meeting at the George the Fourth: and at Chiswick Mr E. Archer 140 Duke Road, Chiswick W4 meeting at the Windmill Hotel: At Hammersmith a Mr E. Foscali of 48 Claxton Grove, Hammersmith meeting at the City Arms.

The NAUL had 44 branches in its London  Thames & Medway District in 1920 (383 nationally) mainly in Kent (especially Northfleet, Gravesend, Dartford area) and East London. 

The National Amalgamated Union of Labour

The NAUL was established as the Tyneside & District Labourers Union in 1888, It quickly spread along the Tyne and North East waterfronts mopping up in its wake a number of small locally established societies of Scrappers, Painters, Red Leaders, Helpers and other shipyard labourers. By 1890 it boasted 80 branches with a listed membership of 30,937

William Unwin (Financial Secretary), William Stanley and Joseph N Bell (Corresponding Secretary) with A.T. Dipper (General & Organising Secretary) together with six District delegates, 

The union soon grew away from it's North East base, but their task was constantly thwarted by strikes and lock-outs, being forced in 1890 to spend 25.18% of income in strike benefits.

The NAUL were soon boasting District organisations in the Clyde, Belfast, Mersey, Sheffield, Thames and Medway together with their more traditional districts in the North East. 

By the time of the 21st Anniversary Celebrations in 1910, by far the largest of the Districts numerically was Sheffield (9,271 members). Even the combined strength of the three Districts of Newcastle (3,294), Gateshead (1,597), and Mid Tyne (3,080), on which the strength of the union had earlier been centred, could not surpass it. Only Mersey (7,419), London, Thames and Medway (7,874), and Shields & Wear (6,617) could attempt to rival it.

Unlike the rival "Workers Union" the NAUL was seen as "anti-full time official' , and the NAUL extensive shop steward network in the North East which was already secure considerable power, a situation which developed still further during WW1

The NAUL union had a considerable hold in the cement works along the banks of the Thames. In London some engineering workers were in the N.A.U.L. and it had a few members in the south-west in cement and one or two other industries

From 1917 the NAUL was in discussions with the Workers Union on possible merger, but a loser Federation was established, with a joint executive committee, this loose Federation was joined by the Municipal Employees Association in August 1918 and by 1919 the three union Federation became known as the National Amalgamated Workers Union.
However, the NAUL became convinced that the Workers Union was using superior numbers and its full time officers to dominate the Federation, this inflamed local disputes between two unions, this coupled with an economic depression and massive reduction in union members (which hit the Workers Union membership and influence most acutely) led to the Workers Union withdrawing from the Federation in March 1922.

National Amalgamated Union of Labour  Membership

1890 82 branches 30,237 members
1900 177                  21.111
1910 177                  16,017
1911 227                   44,972
1912 236                   49,972
1913 255                  60,003
1914 277                  55,453
1915 287                  70,430
1916 292                   85,836
1917 323                123,627
1918 351                143,931
1919 370                155,220
1920 383                 151,922

* note the huge rise in National Amalgamated Union of Labour membership in 1911, 1913, 1915, and almost doubled in 1917



The NAUL would in 1924 join the National Union of General Workers to form the General & Municipal Workers Union , now known as the GMB

NOTE
The National Federation of Women Workers branch secretary was Mrs Hollings of 21 Leonard Road, Southall

1920 National Amlagamated Union of Labour Secretaries in
London, Kent, Essex, Middlesex, Manchester and Ireland, 
Mr T.E. Smith National Union of Labour organiser for London, Thames, and Medway District . Smith lived at 183 Old Road, West Gravesend and later (1920) Hillersland, Lennox Road, Gravesend 

(information on Mr Smith most welcome)



T.E. Smith (JP) was a NAUL Official Delegate, London, Thames & Medway District
BRANCH SECRETARIES OF THE NATIONAL AMALGAMATED UNION OF LABOUR 1920

KENT
E. J. Phillips, 1 Telegraph Hill, Higham, nr Rochester, Kent

F. Maton, 3 Essex Terrace, Lower Higham, nr Rochester, Kent
H.P. Dean, 6 Samaritan Road, Northfleet, Kent
H. James, 4 Overeliffe, Greenhithe, Kent
J. Sharpe, 4 Nelson Street, Queens Place, Maidstone, Kent
E. Payne, 39 St Martin's Road, Dartford, Kent
A. Holland, 44 Wellington Street, Gravesend, Kent
W.W. May, 20 Portland Place, Bull Fields, Snodland, Kent
A. Randall, 31 Turner Street, Cliff at Hoe, Kent
C. Wood, 8 Smith Street, Strrod, Kent
W.J. Hubbard, 21 Scarboro Terrace, Burnham, Kent
A. A. Howard 14 Harolds Road, Sittingbourne, Kent
G. Fairman, 2 Hillside, Lower Halling, Kent
H. Sands, Burke House, Wouldham, Kent
S. Croucher, 4 Parkers Villas, Cuxton, Rochester, Kent
W. Wansbury, 45 High Croft, Swanley, Kent
J. Watson, Green Street green, Dartford, Kent
A. Hayman, 9 Pleasant Cottages, Westbourne Grove, Bexley heath Kent
A. Colyer, 3 Cray Cottages, St Mary Cray, Kent
H. A. Burden, 28 winchelsea buildings, Rotherhithe, Kent
I.G. Foreman, Leg lane, Birling, West Malling, kent
G.D. Evans, Battle Street, Cobham, Kent
A.J. barber, Over the Bridge, Eynsford, Kent
S. Blackburn 28 Milton Road, Rainham, Kent
Miss F.(Florence ???)  Coveney, 12 High Steet, Greenhithe, Kent

F.H. Paddock, 4 Briton Street, Southampton

T. Boatman, 10 Foxton Road, South Stifford, Grays, Essex
E. Baines, 49 London Road, Grays, Essex
C.Nunn, Ivy Cottage, Bowers Gifford, Pitsea, Essex
A. Palmer, Southend Road, Stanford le Hope, Essex
W. J. Low, 4 lennards Row, Aveley, Purfleet, Essex 


J. C. Haydon, 9 Globe Road, Hayes, Middlesex
W. A. Taylor, 1 Victoria Cottage, the Green West Drayton, Middlesex

E. Foscali, 48 Claxton Grove, Hammersmith
W.Johnson, 52 Great Road, Brentford, Middlesex
E. Archer, 140 Duke's Road, Chiswick W4

S. Daniel, 189 Eversleigh Road, Battersea, London
A. A. Humphrey, 157 St Leonard's, Poplar, London
A. Knights, 125 Long Lane, Bermondsey London
H. Smith, 48 Ireton Street Bow E3 London
J.T.. Clark, 10 Morris Road, Poplar E14
A.E. Duff, 8 Cook Street, Poplar E14
S.R. Brown, 116? , Barking Road, Plaistow
J. W. Marsh, 91 Glengall Road, Millwall, Poplar E14
B. Easterbrook, 37 Deptford Green, Deptford SE
J.W. Watson, 3 Park Place Poplar E14
H. Cornish, 273 Rotherhithe St Rotherhithe SE16
J. R. Henry, 67 Ordance Road, Canning Town E16
W. Clay, 87a Wakefield Street, East Ham

Wright 130 Ross Street, Cambridge
A. Marshall, Blackhill, Ely, Cambridgeshire 

J. W. Hobbs, Poplar Cottages, Toddington, Bedfordshire

Miss F. Coveney 12 High Steet, Greenhithe, Kent

IRELAND NAUL UNION BRANCH SECREATRIES 1920

J. Maxwell, 40 Paxton Street Belfast
J. Campbell, 5 Loftus Street Belfast
S. Underwood, 13 Walnut Street, Belfast
J. Long, 33 Beit Street, Belfast
R.A. Boyd, 188 Hillman Street Belfast
E. W. Findlay, 142 Templemore, Belfast
A. Hamilton, 19 Newington Avenue, Larne
J.H. Saunderson, Boragh, Portadown, Antrim
 J. Todd,  Lle-Ballyclare, Antrim
 D. Lynch, 79 North Street, Lurgan
W.J. Tweed, Main Street, Bushmills, co Antrim
G. McFadden 83 Causeway Street, Portrush, Antrim
J. McGrott, Dervock, Antrim
J. Stewart, Station Road, Antrim
 J. Mallon. Colane, Aghagallon, Lurgan, Ireland

J. Mc Clea, 17 Howard Street, Derry
M. McChrystal, 11 North Street Derry
J. Dooney, Bonemaine, Bridgend, Derry
A. McMaster, Kinney Glass, Macesquin, PO Derry

T. McNamee, Main Street, Convoy, Donegal
J. O. Gorman, Bunderan, Donegal
W. McIntyre, Ravencliffe, Melville, Donegal
J. Daveney, Newton Cunningham, Donegal


 P. Daveney, Sandville, Burndennet, Tyrone
J.J. Keily, 5 Kennedy Street Strabane, Tyrone
J. McCormick, Diumeagle, Sion Mills, Tyrone
l. Bradley, Glebe, Sion Mills, Tyrone
J. Jones, 2 Corportaion Street, Enniskillen

J. Doherty, Castlemellon, Dunnamana

NAUL MANCHESTER 1920

E. Kitson, 40 Poplar Street, Failsworth, Manchester
H.G. Blythe, 501 Fifth Street, Trafford Park, Manchester
J. Whittle, 2 Belgrave Street, Radcliffe, Manchester
W. Stubbs, 19 Lord Street, Heywood, Manchester
C. Schofield, 55 Kemp Street, Oldham Road, Manchester

Another women NAUL branch secretary in 1920 was
Miss B. Thompson, 51 City Bank, City Road, Newcastle


NAUL trade union meetings held in 1920 at

NAUL Rooms Dumbarton, Dalmuir
Labour Club Westgate
NAUL Kirkland Street, St Helens
NAUL Rooms, Kirkland Street, Lancashire
NAUL 24 Cloth Market Newcastle
NAUL Rooms, Mersey Street, Widnes
ILP Hall, Netherton St Anniesland
Labour Club, New Ferry, Cheshire
Labour Hall, Nelson Street, ConsettLabour Hall, Market Street, Greenock
Labour Rooms, Liverpool
ILP Rooms High Street Musselburgh
Labour Rooms Cavendish St
Labour Hall, Rosherville, Kent
SLP Halls CauseysideStreet, Paisley

Note Miss F. Coveney NAUL Branch secretary Kent possible 1901 census match

Florence Coveney
16 Cheriton Kent Kent Cheriton Genl Servant Domestic

The Welsh Tradition -1939


Friday, November 30, 2012

Origins of May Day - London May Day 1890, 1891 and 1892

Above Mayday 1891
Below May Day 1892


Origins of May Day

The first modern May Day was in 1890. At that time the main immediate aim of the Labour movement was to establish the legal eight-hour day. In 1889, delegates to the Paris foundation congress of the Second International decided to launch an international campaign for the eight-hour day:

" Congress decides to organise a great international demonstration, so that in all countries and all cities, on the appointed day, the toiling masses shall demand of the State authorities the legal reduction of the working day to eight hours." 

May Day was chosen as " the one appointed day " because already since 1886 the Amer-'can unions had organised strikes for the eight-hour day on that day.

Demand for Socialism
The next two congresses of the International strengthened and widened the May Day demonstration by adding to its objects improved working conditions, the preservation of peace between nations, and the achievement of the classless society. The 1893 Congress resolved :

" The demonstration on May the First for the Eight-Hour Day must serve at the same time as a demonstration of the determined will of the working class to destroy class distinctions through social change and thus to enter on the road, the only road, leading to peace for all peoples, to international peace."

The May Day demonstration became a symbol of the strength of the working-class forces and a rallying-point for working-class struggles in all countries.
The First May Day in Britain


In Britain at that time the unskilled were beginning to organise. The first May Day demonstration in Britain (May 4, 1890—the first ;Sunday in May) was a victory for the New Unionists and the pioneers of Socialism. 

The demonstration was organised by the Central Committse for the Eight Hours Legal Working Day Demonstration, created by Eleanor Marx and Edward Aveling.

The London Trades Council, at that time dominated by the " old unions ", was brought to participate by the efforts of Tom Mann, then delegate from Battersea Amalgamated Society of Engineers. The craft prejudices of its old leaders prevented the Council from demon strating for legal enforcement of the eight-hour day, but the support of the Council for the demonstration helped to bring half-a-million people to Hyde Park. 

Landmark in Working-class Organisation
On that May Day for the first time the dockers, till recently the despised outcasts, marched in their rough working clothes next to the aristocracy of labour, the " gentlemen comps " in kid gloves and top hats. British workers proclaimed their organisation as a class, skilled and unskilled united for an immediate demand; and despite the distrust of " wild " Continental Socialists felt by the old T.U.C. leaders, the masses demonstrated for international solidarity.
Engels wrote of this demonstration as "the grandest and most important part of the whole May Day festival" in Europe.

" On May 4, 1890, the English working class joined up in the great international army. . . . The grandchildren of the old Chartists are entering the line of battle. . . . What would I give if Marx had lived to see this awakening." (Article in Vienna Arbeiterzeitung, May 23, 1890.)

[For a vivid summary of this demonstration, see " Fifty Years of May Day ", by Dona Torr, Labour Monthly, May 1940.] 

May Days of Struggle in Britain

Some of the high points in the  history of May Day in Britain.

1918. Wednesday, May 1, Clydeside struck work, led by the Clyde Workers' Committee and William Gallacher, and 100,000 marched to Duke Street Prison, shouting " Release John Maclean " (revolutionary fighter against the imperialist war).

1921. Building trade unions held " national holiday " (one-day strike) on May Day in support of their demands. 

1926. At the greatest-ever May Day demonstration (three-quarters of a million out in London) it was announced that a General Strike had been decided on by the General Council of the T.U.C.
The Right-Wing Leaders and May Day

The right-wing in the Labour movement consistently tried to weaken the class demonstrations on May Day— e.g., to prevent them being held on a week-day, involv ing strike action; tried to split them (as in London since 1946) or opposed them entirely. In 1929 the Social-Democrat police chief in Berlin, Zorgiebel, banned the May Day demonstrations and workers who took partwere shot down. 

The Ban on May Day in London, 1949

Twenty years later the Labour Government bans the May Day demonstration of the London trade unions, which has been held continuously for nearly sixty years.
The excuse was that the Fascist attempt to march through Hackney and Tottenham on March 20, with the protect on of 400 police, had resulted in disorder. 

The Home Secretary immediately banned all " public processions of a political character " in London for three months.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Stalingrad November 1942

To guard the Fatherland
is a sacred duty of every
citizen of the USSR !


  Stalingrad
 
“For us there is no land beyond the Volga,”
Vasily Zaitsev

Hillsborough and The Miners Strike


The recent revelation that Police colluded to ensure the prosecution and jailing of miners during the 1984-85 miners strike, comes as no surprise to those active at the time.



The only surprise is that it has been revealed in our lifetime, a fact only due to the tireless efforts of the Hillsborough campaign for justice, which highlighted the establishments successful attempts to hide the truth of what really happened to 96 innocent Liverpool supporters killed at Hillsborough on 15th April 1989

Not only were the 96 football fans who died, defamed but the Tories and their establishment friends attempted to vilify the whole City of Liverpool, that rallied to support the families. 



The Hillsborough Inquiry, highlighted establishment collusion and police collusion at the highest levels and it soon became evident that the same tactics used to marginalise the Hillsborough families, had also been used extensively during the miners strike.

During the Miners  strike 11,291 people were arrested, of whom 8,392 were charged, we now know many of those charged were totally innocent.

COHSE activists at the time feared that the sequestration and imprisoning of miners was simply an attempt by the establishment to smash a democratic and free trade union in Britain.


COHSE had always had a strong bond of friendship towards the miners and a "debt of gratitude" had grown over many years, not least because the miners had often taken action in support of nurses and NHS staffs pay and they campaigner alongside us to defend hospitals from closure.


So it was that a "middle of the road" union like COHSE would play a critical role in ensuring, that to the surprise of Neil Kinnock and Labour Party apparatchiks a resolution at the October 1985  Labour Party conference was carried calling for a future Labour Government to investigate the jailing of miners and a full scale amnesty. 

The Labour Party leadership were sure of victory so it was to their great shock to find that the decisive vote in favour was cast by COHSE. 

To COHSE's great pride and the Labour Party leadership's shock.





Of course the Blair government did nothing about the Amnesty or for that matter Hillsborough, but the truth has finally begun to appear and those of us who stated that the jailing were a simply political act have been vindicated. 

Unfortunately many convicted and framed miners lost their pensions and employment, many died not knowing that their innocence would one day be revealed.

We salute those brave striking miners once again for their courage and fortitude against overwhelming forces.

NOTE:Hillingdon Miners Support Group raised over £12,000 pounds (about £50,000 today) during the 1984-85 miners strike.

Miners from Kent slept at the Hillingdon TUSU in the High Street, West Drayton. Special recognition should go to Mothers Pride Bakery workers, and the Bakers Union who organised a very effective 50p a week levy.

Hillsborough: The London Borough of Hillingdon made a donation of £10,000 to the Liverpool Mayors Hillsborough Appeal, one of the largest donations made to the appeal. Having have had at least one of it's young residents killed at Hillsborough, The Hillingdon Labour Group felt honour bound to move a resolution to make the donation, which secured the support of just one Liberal councillor (The others abstained), this was enough on the "Hung Council" to secure the donation was made. The Conservative Councillors to their utter shame opposed, referring to the anti Liverpool fans statements in the press.

Below: NUM Coal not Dole snowman, Hayes, Middlesex 1984










Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Hammersmith Clarion Cycling Club Estb 1895



Hammersmith Clarion cycling club take off
Clarion By Swiftsure
9th November 1895

A Clarion Cycling Club has been started in Hammersmith; meeting place Temperance Hall, Cambridge Road, Tuesdays 9 p.m. 

The secretary is
H. Cailay, 23, Fulham Palace Road, S.W. 
All unattached Clarionettes are invited to join.

Note:

Hammersmith Clarion Cyling club would be the first club in West London


Not sure about the spelling of H Cailay ???