Sheffield Trades and Labour Council
Encyclopedia
The Sheffield Trades and Labour Council, usually known as the Sheffield Trades Council, is a labour organisation uniting trade unionists in Sheffield
.
s in the city is the "Sheffield Mechanical Trades Association", created in 1822 to bring together six cutlery
trades. In 1830, a "Trades General Union" was created, with the aim of uniting workers and works owners; this dissolved the following year.
From the mid-1830s, there were occasional meetings open to all trade unionists in the town. Around 1838, an "Alliance of Organised Trades" was formed, producing the first permanent trades council-style body in Sheffield. This decided not to offer evidence into the Government inquiry into trade unions, and also voted against 20-12 against joining the Chartist
s, although it did actively oppose the Corn Laws
.
In 1843, the Alliance formed the "United Trades Union", but this undertook little activity and dissolved in 1847 after the Table Knife Hafters Society borrowed £750 of its funds, then withdrew without repaying the loan.
The Alliance was re-constituted in 1844 to counter a new employers' organisation. The new group, also known as the "United Trades of Sheffield" elected John Drury, leader of the Razor Grinders as its Secretary. He persuaded Thomas Duncombe
to become the President of a new National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labour
, but neither body had proved lasting. A large debt was left following the groups' collapse, and fear of inheriting this discouraged the formation of a replacement organisation for some years.
Charles Bagshaw, the local secretary of the Razor Smiths' Union, attempted to bring the parties together for conciliation
, but Harrison refused this. In response to his threat of litigation, a meeting of local trade unions was held in Sheffield's Town Hall
on 10 November 1858. The meeting, chaired by G. C. Holland, passed a resolution calling for the foundation of a local trades council. A committee was appointed to this end, which also managed to get Harrison to withdraw the charges against the printers. The committee called a series of further meetings, which finally agreed its rules and the title of Association of Organised Trades of Sheffield and Neighbourhood on 22 June 1859.
Although not the first trades council, only Glasgow and perhaps Aberdeen Trades Council can claim longer continuous histories.
In September, the compositors' leader William Dronfield
was elected as the trades council's first Secretary, a post he held until 1867; Charles Bagshaw became the first President, and William Broadhead
the Treasurer. Robert Applegarth
, George Austin and Joseph Rolley were also elected to the Executive. The new organisation declared itself dedicated to "the establishment and perpetuation of a more intimate relation between all branches of the operative classes, and giving increased efficiency to the operation of trade societies." In the first instance, it saw itself as an impartial arbiter of industrial relations, and where arbitration failed, as a supporter of its branches. The arbitration saw successes in various trades, in Sheffield, Rotherham
and Hathersage
.
The membership was mostly of unions based in the cutlery
trade. On formation, there were 17 branches, with 3,100 members, while by February 1860, twenty-two societies had joined, representing 3,536 workers. A recession
hit trade from 1861, and membership then fell, to a low of around 2,400 in 1863.
The Association actively supported the London Builders' Strike of 1859-60, which brought about the foundation of the London Trades Council
. It also supported a Bill to create courts for compulsory arbitration, working closely with Sheffield's Members of Parliament, George Hadfield and John Arthur Roebuck
.
Trades Council to hold a national conference. The strike was lost in June, but the conference went ahead.
Dronfield invited delegates from across Britain to Sheffield on 17 July 1866. 138 attended, representing around 200,000 members. The meeting resolved to found a national organisation of trade unions, the United Kingdom Alliance of Organised Trades. Most of its Executive Council came from the Sheffield area, and its executive was the same as that of the Sheffield Association.
A series of violent attacks on non-trade unionists by a small minority of unionist, the "Sheffield Outrages
", ran through 1866, so in November, the trades council joined with the London Trades Council
to call for a government enquiry. The Association formed a Trade Union Defence Committee, led by George Austin.
At the 1868 UK general election, Dronfield had on behalf of the trades council persuaded Anthony John Mundella
to stand in the Sheffield constituency
, believing that the Liberal
would act in the interests of Labour. However, some dissident trade unionists, including Broadhead, supported John Arthur Roebuck
and the Conservative
E. P. Price instead, on the grounds that they claimed to support a closed shop
policy backed by law. Mundella and George Hadfield, the other official Liberal candidate, proved successful.
, and in 1874 it hosted the event at Sheffield's Temperance Hotel.
For the remainder of the century, the organisation focussed on promoting itself as an arbitrator in trade disputes and preventing wares being falsely stamped. While it had limited success in arbitration, Stuart Uttley's campaigns on stamping brought about the Merchandise Marks Act, 1887.
In 1885, the leaders of the Trades Council formed the Sheffield Labour Association to campaign for the election of workers to public bodies as members of the Liberal Party. Memmott, Uttley, Charles Hobson and William F. Wardley were all elected to Sheffield Town Council as Lib-Labs
. However, Hobson was rejected as a Lib-Lab candidate for the Sheffield Attercliffe by-election, 1894
. Although the Executive of the Trades Council drew up an electoral agreement with the Liberal selected, a delegate meeting instead voted to support the Independent Labour Party
(ILP) candidate.
Membership of the Trades Council reached 16,000 by 1892, and by this point, a majority of its affiliated membership worked in the heavy trades. Hobson and Uttley were elected to the national Industrial Union of Employers and Employed in 1895, but this organisation soon dissolved.
The Trades Council affiliated to the Labour Representation Committee, but did not agree to the foundation of a local organisation until 1903. In 1904, this became the "Sheffield Trades Council and Labour Representation Committee", an auxiliary of the Trades Council, with the Building Trades Federation, the ILP and the Sheffield Socialist Society
also represented. While this Committee dropped "Trades Council" from its name again the following year, its promotion of labour candidates independent from the Liberal Party increasingly brought it into conflict with the Federated Trades Council. The Committee became the Sheffield Trades and Labour Council in June 1908, severing all links with the Federated Trades Council.
The ILP disaffiliated from the Trades and Labour in 1910, after local ILP leader Alf Barton proposed to stand as a local election candidate without the sanction of the Trades Council. However, Barton left the ILP soon after to form a local branch of the British Socialist Party
, and the ILP reaffiliated the following year.
At the start of World War I
, both Trades Councils supported Army recruitment campaigns, but from 1916, the Trades and Labour opposed the war. In 1917, it passed a motion congratulating the Russian people on the February Revolution
, and in December, another congratulating "the Socialist Proletariat of Russia on their present achievement (i.e. the Bolshevik Revolution) and wishing them success in their endeavour to build up a real Socialist Commonwealth". A strong shop stewards' movement, with J. T. Murphy
a leading figure, and a wave of strikes strengthened the position of the Trades and Labour. In 1920, it protested against the Labour Party's refusal to permit the Communist Party of Great Britain
(CPGB) to affiliate.
By 1920, the Trades and Labour represented almost 60,000 workers. The Federated's membership had not grown, and remained at around 15,000. It also remained a far less radical organisation, and had readily joined the Alliance of Employers and Employees. After many attempts to reunite the two, they finally reunited in July 1920 as the Sheffield Federated Trades and Labour Council, under the Presidency of Gertrude Wilkinson.
During the 1920s, the Trades Council was prominent in supporting strikers, such as during the engineering lockout of 1922, and measures to benefit the large numbers of unemployed workers. It also published Sheffield Forward, and provided a twenty-four hour Central Committee to organise the city's workers during the General Strike.
, Sheffield Trades and Labour Council's Secretary was Bill Ronksley and its President was John Campbell.
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
.
Precursors
The earliest recorded attempt to found an alliance of trade unionTrade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s in the city is the "Sheffield Mechanical Trades Association", created in 1822 to bring together six cutlery
Cutlery
Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments. This is probably the...
trades. In 1830, a "Trades General Union" was created, with the aim of uniting workers and works owners; this dissolved the following year.
From the mid-1830s, there were occasional meetings open to all trade unionists in the town. Around 1838, an "Alliance of Organised Trades" was formed, producing the first permanent trades council-style body in Sheffield. This decided not to offer evidence into the Government inquiry into trade unions, and also voted against 20-12 against joining the Chartist
Chartism
Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
s, although it did actively oppose the Corn Laws
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were trade barriers designed to protect cereal producers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports between 1815 and 1846. The barriers were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 and repealed by the Importation Act 1846...
.
In 1843, the Alliance formed the "United Trades Union", but this undertook little activity and dissolved in 1847 after the Table Knife Hafters Society borrowed £750 of its funds, then withdrew without repaying the loan.
The Alliance was re-constituted in 1844 to counter a new employers' organisation. The new group, also known as the "United Trades of Sheffield" elected John Drury, leader of the Razor Grinders as its Secretary. He persuaded Thomas Duncombe
Thomas Slingsby Duncombe
Thomas Slingsby Duncombe was a Radical politician, who was a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Hertford from 1826 to 1832 and for Finsbury from 1834 until his death. Duncombe was a tireless champion of radical causes in the 27 years he served the North East London borough of...
to become the President of a new National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labour
National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labour
The National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labour was an early trade union federation in the United Kingdom.No attempt had been made to co-ordinate the activities of trade unions in various industries across the country since the failure of the Grand National Consolidated...
, but neither body had proved lasting. A large debt was left following the groups' collapse, and fear of inheriting this discouraged the formation of a replacement organisation for some years.
Foundation
The organisation originated in 1858, when many Sheffield compositors were involved in a dispute with S. Harrison, owner of the Sheffield Times newspaper, who wished to reduce their wages. When members of the Journeyman Printers' Society refused to accept the reduced terms, Harrison recruited non-union labour from London and attempted to prevent any of his remaining workers belonging to a union. The union branch printed a statement, "The Press Trampling on the Rights of Labour", in response to which, Harrison took up proceedings for libel, claiming £2,000 in damages.Charles Bagshaw, the local secretary of the Razor Smiths' Union, attempted to bring the parties together for conciliation
Conciliation
Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution process whereby the parties to a dispute agree to utilize the services of a conciliator, who then meets with the parties separately in an attempt to resolve their differences...
, but Harrison refused this. In response to his threat of litigation, a meeting of local trade unions was held in Sheffield's Town Hall
Sheffield Old Town Hall
Sheffield Old Town Hall stands on Waingate in central Sheffield, England, opposite Castle Market.The building was commissioned to replace Sheffield's first town hall, which had opened in 1700 to a design by William Renny...
on 10 November 1858. The meeting, chaired by G. C. Holland, passed a resolution calling for the foundation of a local trades council. A committee was appointed to this end, which also managed to get Harrison to withdraw the charges against the printers. The committee called a series of further meetings, which finally agreed its rules and the title of Association of Organised Trades of Sheffield and Neighbourhood on 22 June 1859.
Although not the first trades council, only Glasgow and perhaps Aberdeen Trades Council can claim longer continuous histories.
In September, the compositors' leader William Dronfield
William Dronfield
William Dronfield was a British trade unionist.Born in Sheffield, Dronfield became a compositor. In 1849, he was a founder member of the Provincial Typographical Association, and from 1852 to 1855 served as its President....
was elected as the trades council's first Secretary, a post he held until 1867; Charles Bagshaw became the first President, and William Broadhead
William Broadhead
William Broadhead was a British trade unionist and saw grinder.Born in Whirlow, Sheffield, Broadhead worked as a saw grinder from childhood, later becoming the landlord of a public house in Owlerton...
the Treasurer. Robert Applegarth
Robert Applegarth
Robert Applegarth was a prominent British trade unionist and proponent of working class causes.-Biography:Robert Applegarth was born in Hull in the United Kingdom. His father was the captain of a whaling brig. He spent a brief period in a dame school but had no other formal education and began...
, George Austin and Joseph Rolley were also elected to the Executive. The new organisation declared itself dedicated to "the establishment and perpetuation of a more intimate relation between all branches of the operative classes, and giving increased efficiency to the operation of trade societies." In the first instance, it saw itself as an impartial arbiter of industrial relations, and where arbitration failed, as a supporter of its branches. The arbitration saw successes in various trades, in Sheffield, Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
and Hathersage
Hathersage
Hathersage is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. It lies on the north bank of the River Derwent, approximately 10 miles west of Sheffield...
.
The membership was mostly of unions based in the cutlery
Cutlery
Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments. This is probably the...
trade. On formation, there were 17 branches, with 3,100 members, while by February 1860, twenty-two societies had joined, representing 3,536 workers. A recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
hit trade from 1861, and membership then fell, to a low of around 2,400 in 1863.
The Association actively supported the London Builders' Strike of 1859-60, which brought about the foundation of the London Trades Council
London Trades Council
The London Trades Council was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades Councils...
. It also supported a Bill to create courts for compulsory arbitration, working closely with Sheffield's Members of Parliament, George Hadfield and John Arthur Roebuck
John Arthur Roebuck
John Arthur Roebuck , British politician, was born at Madras, in India.After the death of his father, a civil servant, his mother's second marriage transferred him to Canada, where he was chiefly brought-up. He came to England in 1824, was called to the bar John Arthur Roebuck (28 December 1802...
.
UK Alliance and the Sheffield Outrages
In 1864, the grinders' union issued a wage claim. This was ignored, and when a new claim the following year was also passed over, they joined with the smiths' union, the largest in the town, in calling a strike in February 1866. Some large employers retaliated by installing file cutting machines. The Association's attempt to mediate failed, and the employers rejected a compromise. In order to bolster the strike, the Association appealed for funds from trades in other areas of the country, and having received some, it agreed a proposal from the WolverhamptonWolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
Trades Council to hold a national conference. The strike was lost in June, but the conference went ahead.
Dronfield invited delegates from across Britain to Sheffield on 17 July 1866. 138 attended, representing around 200,000 members. The meeting resolved to found a national organisation of trade unions, the United Kingdom Alliance of Organised Trades. Most of its Executive Council came from the Sheffield area, and its executive was the same as that of the Sheffield Association.
A series of violent attacks on non-trade unionists by a small minority of unionist, the "Sheffield Outrages
Sheffield Outrages
Sheffield's early success in steel production had involved long working hours, in desperately unpleasant conditions which offered little or no safety protection. quotes a local doctor, Dr. Knight, regarding the so-called "Grinder's Asthma" suffered by the Sheffield cutlery workers in the mid 19th...
", ran through 1866, so in November, the trades council joined with the London Trades Council
London Trades Council
The London Trades Council was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades Councils...
to call for a government enquiry. The Association formed a Trade Union Defence Committee, led by George Austin.
At the 1868 UK general election, Dronfield had on behalf of the trades council persuaded Anthony John Mundella
Anthony John Mundella
Anthony John Mundella PC , known as A. J. Mundella, was an English manufacturer, reformer and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1897...
to stand in the Sheffield constituency
Sheffield (UK Parliament constituency)
Sheffield was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom 1832 to 1885. It elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of elections....
, believing that the Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
would act in the interests of Labour. However, some dissident trade unionists, including Broadhead, supported John Arthur Roebuck
John Arthur Roebuck
John Arthur Roebuck , British politician, was born at Madras, in India.After the death of his father, a civil servant, his mother's second marriage transferred him to Canada, where he was chiefly brought-up. He came to England in 1824, was called to the bar John Arthur Roebuck (28 December 1802...
and the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
E. P. Price instead, on the grounds that they claimed to support a closed shop
Closed shop
A closed shop is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times in order to remain employed....
policy backed by law. Mundella and George Hadfield, the other official Liberal candidate, proved successful.
Federated Trades Council
The repercussions of the Outrages left the Association moribund, but in October 1872 the trades council reconstituted itself as the Sheffield Federated Trades Council, with William Rolley as Chairman, James Pryor as Secretary and Edward Memmott as Treasurer. The following year, the organisation sent delegates to the national Trades Union CongressTrades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
, and in 1874 it hosted the event at Sheffield's Temperance Hotel.
For the remainder of the century, the organisation focussed on promoting itself as an arbitrator in trade disputes and preventing wares being falsely stamped. While it had limited success in arbitration, Stuart Uttley's campaigns on stamping brought about the Merchandise Marks Act, 1887.
In 1885, the leaders of the Trades Council formed the Sheffield Labour Association to campaign for the election of workers to public bodies as members of the Liberal Party. Memmott, Uttley, Charles Hobson and William F. Wardley were all elected to Sheffield Town Council as Lib-Labs
Liberal-Labour (UK)
The Liberal–Labour movement refers to the practice of local Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions...
. However, Hobson was rejected as a Lib-Lab candidate for the Sheffield Attercliffe by-election, 1894
Sheffield Attercliffe by-election, 1894
A by-election was held for the British House of Commons constituency of Sheffield Attercliffe on 5 July 1894. It was the first parliamentary election contested by the Independent Labour Party.-Background:...
. Although the Executive of the Trades Council drew up an electoral agreement with the Liberal selected, a delegate meeting instead voted to support the Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
(ILP) candidate.
Membership of the Trades Council reached 16,000 by 1892, and by this point, a majority of its affiliated membership worked in the heavy trades. Hobson and Uttley were elected to the national Industrial Union of Employers and Employed in 1895, but this organisation soon dissolved.
The Trades Council affiliated to the Labour Representation Committee, but did not agree to the foundation of a local organisation until 1903. In 1904, this became the "Sheffield Trades Council and Labour Representation Committee", an auxiliary of the Trades Council, with the Building Trades Federation, the ILP and the Sheffield Socialist Society
Sheffield Socialist Society
The Sheffield Socialist Society was an early revolutionary socialist organisation in Sheffield, England.The Society was founded in 1886 on the initiative of Edward Carpenter. Carpenter was influenced by Henry Hyndman's book England for All, and struck up a friendship with William Morris...
also represented. While this Committee dropped "Trades Council" from its name again the following year, its promotion of labour candidates independent from the Liberal Party increasingly brought it into conflict with the Federated Trades Council. The Committee became the Sheffield Trades and Labour Council in June 1908, severing all links with the Federated Trades Council.
1910s and 20s
Many of the lighter trades remained with the Federated Trades Council, the heavier trades mostly affiliated solely to the new organisation. A few groups remained affiliated to both Trades Councils; for example, Hobson remained President of the Federated, but also held membership of the Trades and Labour.The ILP disaffiliated from the Trades and Labour in 1910, after local ILP leader Alf Barton proposed to stand as a local election candidate without the sanction of the Trades Council. However, Barton left the ILP soon after to form a local branch of the British Socialist Party
British Socialist Party
The British Socialist Party was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw the defection of its pro-war Right Wing...
, and the ILP reaffiliated the following year.
At the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, both Trades Councils supported Army recruitment campaigns, but from 1916, the Trades and Labour opposed the war. In 1917, it passed a motion congratulating the Russian people on the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
, and in December, another congratulating "the Socialist Proletariat of Russia on their present achievement (i.e. the Bolshevik Revolution) and wishing them success in their endeavour to build up a real Socialist Commonwealth". A strong shop stewards' movement, with J. T. Murphy
J. T. Murphy
J.T. "Jack" Murphy was an English trade union organiser and Communist.-Early years:J.T. Murphy, best known by his nickname of "Jack," was born in 1888 and grew up near Sheffield and became a metal-worker...
a leading figure, and a wave of strikes strengthened the position of the Trades and Labour. In 1920, it protested against the Labour Party's refusal to permit the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
(CPGB) to affiliate.
By 1920, the Trades and Labour represented almost 60,000 workers. The Federated's membership had not grown, and remained at around 15,000. It also remained a far less radical organisation, and had readily joined the Alliance of Employers and Employees. After many attempts to reunite the two, they finally reunited in July 1920 as the Sheffield Federated Trades and Labour Council, under the Presidency of Gertrude Wilkinson.
During the 1920s, the Trades Council was prominent in supporting strikers, such as during the engineering lockout of 1922, and measures to benefit the large numbers of unemployed workers. It also published Sheffield Forward, and provided a twenty-four hour Central Committee to organise the city's workers during the General Strike.
Later years
The organisation continued to move to the left, and was threatened with disaffiliation by Labour in 1940. This threat was lifted after CPGB member and President C. S. Darvill was removed from office. During the 1960s, the Trades Council was run by communists., Sheffield Trades and Labour Council's Secretary was Bill Ronksley and its President was John Campbell.