ANGER against the war profiteers fuelled militancy in Glasgow — photo shows union leader Robert Smillie addressing Glasgow for a 40-hour working week. Army as strike breakers.
The strike wave which hit Britain at the end of the First World War was a reflection of a revolutionary ferment which was spreading in many parts of Europe.
There was the Spartacus rising in Berlin in January 1919; a Hungarian Soviet Republic existed from March to August 1919; in June there was an unsuccessful rising Ireland the War of Independence was being waged.
The crisis took a particular form in Britain.
The end of the war saw militancy among engineering workers at a high pitch. The number disputes in the last half of 1918 was double that of the first six months.
Fear of unemployment from the rundown of the munitions industry gave rise to the demand for a shorter working week, from the shop stewards movement which had grown in strength and authority during the war.
In an attempt militancy and to regain the initiative within the industry, the executive of Amalgamated Society Engineers met the days Armistice.
AGREEMENT Six days later agreement reached on a reduction of hours from 54 to 47. A ballot of union members was rushed through with a majority voting in favour of the agreement.
But there was a great deal of dissatisfaction about the way the vote had been conducted. The ballot paper had been worded in such a way that a vote against 47 hours seemed a vote in The areas in which the shop stewards movement was were determined to press on with the demand for 40-hour 30-hour week. With the introduction of the new hours in January 1919, strikes broke out in the shipyards of Tyneside, Teesside, and Humberside; but the discontent was highest 40-HOUR STRIKE/ 35-HOUR WEEK DAY SCHOOL Sat 10 February, 10.30-4.30 Cowane Centre, Cowane St, Stirling Speakers: Harry MeShane; Martin Ross (POEU. Dundee): MacDougall (Scottish Labour History Society).
Sponsors: Central Region Federation of Trades Councils; Stirling Trades Council;
Grangemouth CLP: Stirling District Labour Party; Stirling (Hospital) NUPE: and branches of CPGB, SWP, IMG.
Further information: Gordon Love, 23a Wallace St, Stirling.
Socialist Challenge 1 February 1979 page 6 It was no ordinary strike, but a major working class offensive against British capitalism, described at the time as 'a Bolshevik uprising' by the Secretary of State for Scotland. Many of the questions raised in the current crisis were also raised then — mass picketing, the role of union officials, the use of the So in marking the anniversary of the Glasgow 40-hour strike we should learn from yesterday the lessons for today.
| Glasgow.
They rejected of cutting unemployment.
attracted in Vienna; in Committee initiative Trades involved PERSUASION AL the resulting especially committee stewards and all the bodies present. control the from 27 January.
employers' claim was Future Labour dECI WAS put in charge of tactics revolutionary lacher, Arthur Tommy Clark)
struggle VaLuc. place in the strongest newspaper of December 1918: "Issue your in overwhelming Hours.
On the first pproximately the industries.
Plan UNOFFICIAL and Area Stirling ging' them to close.
closed in a couple of days.
On 5 January a conference of Clyde shop stewards, called by the Clyde Workers Committee, met in Glasgow.
the and demanded a reduction to 30 as a way A recall conference on 18 January delegates. The movement had been unofficial, but the response to the Clyde Workers was so great that the Scottish TUC, the Glasgow Council, and the Clyde District Committee of the Shipbuilding and Engineering Trades were all forced to support the conference.
conference itself the majority of speakers were in favour of the 30-hour demand, but the full-time officials persuaded the delegates to leave the final decision to a joint representing SERG shop trade union However, the conference rejected the advice of the officials in voting for strike action When the joint committee met the amended to MP Emmanuel Shinwell, chairperson of the Glasgow centre. Trades Council and official of the seamen's union, was elected chairperson of the committee, and future Communist MP Willie Gallacher was The shop stewards movement and reedie Wy so Costs like led by whole socialists MacManus, and force behind the 40 hours movement.
But their conception of how the should be conducted was Nor did any discussion take Clyde Workers Committee on what tactics to follow. They seemed to have a blind faith in their ability to win. Thus the CWC ultimatum him he enemy and fight him satisfaction is not forthcoming. The advantage or man power [sic] is on our side. It only requires organisation and victory is day of the strike 70,000 came out.
Although not the entire workforce they represented the key sections of engineering and shipbuilding and The national executives of the unions were opposed to the action, so the battle was against not just the government and the emplovers bu the official union leadership as well.
he unotticial nature or une stuke confused some workers, but on the second day mass pickets up to 10,000 strong toured the factories 'encouraSubsequent v most factories were Those remaining open were shut on the third wartime protest meeting.
day when the workers at Port Dundas power station struck.
These initiatives were strengthened as the strike committee extended its organisation. A daily Strike Bulletin was produced from 30 January, and district strike committees formed to which each workshop in the area sent delegates.
Sub-committees for picketing, entertainment, relief, and informanon were set up, and an claborau system of keeping everyone informed was evolved with the establishment of an information bureau in the city TROOPS By the middle of the first week the strikers seemed to be winning their DALEC LO spread the dispute.
of the shipbuilding industry had stopped. The Scottish miners were also out under the influence of the Miners Reform Committees, favoured a five day week six-hour day.
With the convening of the Scottish conference on 1 February, a Scottish general strike was looming. In addition Belfast was also stopped by a general strike and the English centres looked ollowing. A nationwide stoppage vas on tic card The way the Tory-Liberal coalition government intervened can be seen the minutes of meetings. The policy adopted was to try to strengthen the hands of the union officials.
As Bonar Law said, the trade union organisation is the only thing between us and anarchy, and if the trade union organisation was against us the position would be hopeless.
But the trade union leaderships were very much with the government, the Cabinet arrangements to arrest the strike leaders. The War Office was told to 'consider arrangements for placing troops in the vicinity of Glasgow'.
main problem racing government was that they dared not send in troops without some sort of "provocation' from the strikers. That provocation was carefully arranged by the Glasgow city authorities On Wednesday 29 January a mass meeting of 50,000 workers took place followed by a demonstration to the city centre. Then a deputation went to visit the Lord Provost, who agreed to write to the government asking it to intervene on behall of the strikers. The deputation was invited back on Friday to receive were another demonstration was arranged for that lunchtime.
JONE MacLean Scottish Marxist leader, warned the strike committee Provost was preparing a trap — to along to the Friday meeting would be to play into the hands of the city council and the government.
He pleaded that the strikers should at least be prepared themselves from attack. But the strike leaders like Shinwell were in no mood to throw away what they saw as a chance to The settle and quickly. been On Friday demonstrations of workers streamed into the city centre. who deputation duly went into the City with a Hall.
Willie Gallacher was addressing the demonstration outside when suddenly the police, after incident on the edge of the crowd, waded in with their batons. They went wild, batoning down men, like and children — whosoever was within reach.
PROVOCATION
Cabinet The crowd began to fight back, and the police started to get the worst of the melée. But orden prest Act las read by the Lord Provost, another leader, David Kirkwood, by this time under arrest, appeared on a balcony and asked disperse. This they did, strike leaders were marched off to jail.
the the reply and SHOU the best-known RISING that the Lord defend and the demonstration peacetully and government's morning massed The 11-strong was called off.
provoking an WOlLCI the state itself.
file militancy, limitations.
Gallache revolutonary the crowd to while the they were, SOCIALIST CHALLENGETRADE UNION DAYSCHOOL on Rebuilding the Left in the Unions Saturday 17 February 1979 This was just what the government had been waiting for. By 10 pm that night troops and tanks were pouring into Glasgow. By the next morning the city was an armed camp, and the government declared that they were dealing with a strike but a "Bolshevik uprising'.
Nothing could have been further from the truth as far as most of the strike leaders were concerned. Gallacher wrote afterwards: *A rising was expected. A rising should have taken place. The workers were ready and able to effect it; the leadership had never thought of it.' Consequently the leaders of the no show of force. The Cabinet rushed through an Order in Council making the strike illegal, while the engineers' union executive stepped in and suspended the district committees in Glasgow, Belfast and London. On 12 February the strike The defeat came about because the government realised what the strike leaders did not; that essentially wha was involved was not a fight for 40 political struggle for control of the streets, the factories, the unions, and ultimately So although the Glasgow 40 hours strike can and should be remembered for an amazing display of rank and should also be remembered as an illustration of its Without a clear political alternative, and without a well-organised party, TRE Glasgow strike was almost doomed to failure once the stakes were raised as high as
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