Tom Mann
Encyclopedia
Tom Mann was a noted British trade unionist. Largely self-educated, Mann became a successful organiser and a popular public speaker in the labour movement
.
, now a suburb
of Coventry
, the son of a clerk who worked at a colliery. He attended school from the ages of six to nine, then began work doing odd jobs on the colliery farm. A year later he became a trapper, a labour-intensive job that involved clearing blockages from the narrow airways in the mining shafts. In 1870, the colliery was forced to close and the family moved to Birmingham
. Mann soon found work as an engineering apprentice
. He attended public meetings addressed by Annie Besant
and John Bright
, and this began his political awareness. He completed his apprenticeship in 1877 and moved to London, however he was unable to find work as an engineer and took a series of unskilled jobs.
In 1879, Mann found work in an engineering shop. Here he was introduced to socialism
by the foreman
, and decided to improve his own education. His reading included the works of William Morris
, Henry George
and John Ruskin
. In 1881 he joined the Amalgamated Society of Engineers
, and took part in his first strike
. In 1884, he joined the Social Democratic Federation
(SDF) in Battersea
. Here he met John Burns
and Henry Hyde Champion
, who encouraged him to publish a pamphlet
calling for the working day to be limited to eight hours. Mann formed an organisation, the Eight Hour League, which successfully pressured the Trades Union Congress
to adopt the eight-hour day as a key goal.
, rather than just to ameliorate the condition of workers under it. He moved to Newcastle
in 1887 and organised the SDF in the north of England. He managed Keir Hardie
's electoral campaign in Lanark
before returning to London in 1888, where he worked in support of the Bryant and May match factory strike. With Burns and Champion, he began producing a journal, the Labour Elector
, in 1888.
Along with Burns and Ben Tillett
, Mann was one of the leading figures in the London Dock Strike in 1889. He was responsible for organising relief for the strikers and their families. With the support of other unions and various organisations, the strike was successful. Following the strike, Mann was elected President of the newly formed Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union
, with Tillett as General Secretary. Tillett and Mann wrote a pamphlet called New Unionism
, which advanced the utopian ideal of a co-operative commonwealth. Mann was also elected to the London Trades and Labour Council
and as secretary of the National Reform Union, and was a member of the Royal Commission
on Labour from 1891 to 1893. In 1894, he was a founding member of the Independent Labour Party
and became the party Secretary in 1894. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the party in the 1895 General Election
. In 1896 he was beaten in the election for Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. He helped create the International Transport Workers' Federation
, and was its first President. He was deported from a number of European countries for organising trade unions.
Mann's religious belief was as strong as his politics. He was an Anglican and organised support from Christian organisations like the Salvation Army
during a number of strikes. In 1893 there were rumours that he intended to become a minister. He advocated the co-operative model of economic organisation, but resisted alliance between the ILP and other socialist organisations in Britain
, like the Fabians. In 1895, the Fabian Beatrice Webb
criticised Mann's absolutism and described his goal derogatorily as, "a body of men all professing exactly the same creed and all working in exact uniformity to exactly the same end". Philip Snowden, a member of the ILP, liked Mann but was critical of his inability to stay with any one party or organisation for more than a few years.
he was active in Australian trade unions and became an organiser for the Australian Labor Party
. However, he grew disillusioned with the party, believing it was being corrupted by the nature of government and concerned only with winning elections. He felt that the federal Labour MPs were unable and unwilling to change society, and their prominence within the movement was stifling and over-shadowing organised labour. He resigned from the ALP and founded the Victorian Socialist Party
.
Returning to Britain in 1910, Mann wrote The Way to Win, a pamphlet that argued that socialism could be achieved only through trade unionism and co-operation and that parliamentary democracy was inherently corrupt. He founded the Industrial Syndicalist Education League
, and worked as an organiser for Ben Tillett. He led the 1911 Liverpool General Transport Strike
. In 1912 he was convicted under the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
of publishing an article in The Syndicalist, as an 'Open Letter to British Soldiers', urging them to refuse to shoot at strikers (later reprinted as a leaflet, Don't Shoot); his prison sentence was quashed after public pressure. He was opposed to Britain's involvement in the first World War
on socialist and religious grounds and addressed pacifist rallies. In 1917, he joined the successor to the Social Democratic Federation
, the British Socialist Party
, which had affiliated to the Labour Party the previous year.
in 1917 and the Communist government, and called for soviets
to be formed in the United Kingdom; in 1920 he was one of many members of the British Socialist Party who were inspired by the Revolution to break with Labour and form the Communist Party of Great Britain
. Mann was chairman of the British Bureau of the Red International of Labor Unions and its successor, the National Minority Movement
, their formation in 1921 until 1929.
Tom Mann continued to actively champion socialism, communism and co-operation until his death in 1941. He published further pamphlets and regularly addressed public meetings in Britain and abroad, and he was arrested for sedition on several more occasions. He continued to be a popular figure in the labour movement, attracting large audiences to rallies and benefits. During the Spanish Civil War
he wanted to fight on the Republican side, but was by that time far too old. A unit of the International Brigade, the Tom Mann Centuria, was named in his honour.
Tom Mann died on 13 March 1941.
His great grandson, Nicholas Bennett, was Conservative MP for Pembroke 1987–92 and a Welsh Office Minister 1990–92.
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
.
Early years
Mann was born on 15 April 1856 in LongfordLongford
Longford is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 7,622 according to the 2006 census. Approximately one third of the county's population resides in the town. Longford town is also the biggest town in the county...
, now a suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, the son of a clerk who worked at a colliery. He attended school from the ages of six to nine, then began work doing odd jobs on the colliery farm. A year later he became a trapper, a labour-intensive job that involved clearing blockages from the narrow airways in the mining shafts. In 1870, the colliery was forced to close and the family moved to Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. Mann soon found work as an engineering apprentice
Engineering apprentice
An engineering apprenticeship is an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering or electrical engineering. A typical example is the apprenticeships formerly available at the BTH and EEC at Rugby in England...
. He attended public meetings addressed by Annie Besant
Annie Besant
Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...
and John Bright
John Bright
John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
, and this began his political awareness. He completed his apprenticeship in 1877 and moved to London, however he was unable to find work as an engineer and took a series of unskilled jobs.
In 1879, Mann found work in an engineering shop. Here he was introduced to socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
by the foreman
Construction foreman
A construction foreman is the worker or tradesman who is in charge of a construction crew. While traditionally this role has been assumed by a senior male worker, the title in the modern sense is gender non-specific in intent...
, and decided to improve his own education. His reading included the works of William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
, Henry George
Henry George
Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...
and John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
. In 1881 he joined the Amalgamated Society of Engineers
Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union
The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union was a British trade union. It merged with the MSF to form Amicus in 2001.The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the "Old Mechanics" of 1826, which grew into the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1851...
, and took part in his first strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. In 1884, he joined the Social Democratic Federation
Social Democratic Federation
The Social Democratic Federation was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on June 7, 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury and Eleanor Marx. However, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx's long-term...
(SDF) in Battersea
Battersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
. Here he met John Burns
John Burns
John Elliot Burns was an English trade unionist and politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly associated with London politics. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was anti-alcohol and a keen sportsman...
and Henry Hyde Champion
Henry Hyde Champion
Henry Hyde Champion was a socialist journalist and activist, regarded as one of the leading spirits behind the formation of the Independent Labour Party...
, who encouraged him to publish a pamphlet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
calling for the working day to be limited to eight hours. Mann formed an organisation, the Eight Hour League, which successfully pressured the Trades Union Congress
Trades 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...
to adopt the eight-hour day as a key goal.
Activist and leader
After reading the Communist Manifesto in 1886, Mann became a communist. He now believed the main purpose of the labour movement should be to overthrow capitalismCapitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, rather than just to ameliorate the condition of workers under it. He moved to Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
in 1887 and organised the SDF in the north of England. He managed Keir Hardie
Keir Hardie
James Keir Hardie, Sr. , was a Scottish socialist and labour leader, and was the first Independent Labour Member of Parliament elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
's electoral campaign in Lanark
Lanark
Lanark is a small town in the central belt of Scotland. Its population of 8,253 makes it the 100th largest settlement in Scotland. The name is believed to come from the Cumbric Lanerc meaning "clear space, glade"....
before returning to London in 1888, where he worked in support of the Bryant and May match factory strike. With Burns and Champion, he began producing a journal, the Labour Elector
Labour Elector
The Labour Elector was a British socialist publication. The Labour Elector was edited by Henry Hyde Champion and published from London. The newspaper was sold at one penny...
, in 1888.
Along with Burns and Ben Tillett
Ben Tillett
Benjamin Tillett was a British socialist, trade union leader and politician. He was born in Bristol and began his working life as a sailor, before travelling to London and taking up work as a docker....
, Mann was one of the leading figures in the London Dock Strike in 1889. He was responsible for organising relief for the strikers and their families. With the support of other unions and various organisations, the strike was successful. Following the strike, Mann was elected President of the newly formed Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union
Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union
The Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers Union was a British trade union. It emerged in response to the outbreak of the London Dock Strike in 1889 and rapidly became the principal union for dockworkers in London, Bristol, Cardiff, and other ports in the south and south-west. In South Wales...
, with Tillett as General Secretary. Tillett and Mann wrote a pamphlet called New Unionism
New Unionism
New Unionism is a term which has been used twice in the history of the labour movement, both times involving moves to broaden the trade union agenda.-1880s:First was the development within the British trade union movement in the late 1880s...
, which advanced the utopian ideal of a co-operative commonwealth. Mann was also elected to the London Trades and Labour Council
Labour council
A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or state level...
and as secretary of the National Reform Union, and was a member of the Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
on Labour from 1891 to 1893. In 1894, he was a founding member of 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...
and became the party Secretary in 1894. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the party in the 1895 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
. In 1896 he was beaten in the election for Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. He helped create the International Transport Workers' Federation
International Transport Workers' Federation
The International Transport Workers' Federation is a global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2009 the ITF had 654 member organizations in 148 countries, representing a combined membership of 4.5 million workers....
, and was its first President. He was deported from a number of European countries for organising trade unions.
Mann's religious belief was as strong as his politics. He was an Anglican and organised support from Christian organisations like the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
during a number of strikes. In 1893 there were rumours that he intended to become a minister. He advocated the co-operative model of economic organisation, but resisted alliance between the ILP and other socialist organisations in Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, like the Fabians. In 1895, the Fabian Beatrice Webb
Beatrice Webb
Martha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield was an English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield...
criticised Mann's absolutism and described his goal derogatorily as, "a body of men all professing exactly the same creed and all working in exact uniformity to exactly the same end". Philip Snowden, a member of the ILP, liked Mann but was critical of his inability to stay with any one party or organisation for more than a few years.
Australia and Liverpool
In 1901, Mann emigrated to Australia to see if that country's broader electoral franchise would allow more "drastic modification of capitalism". Settling in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
he was active in Australian trade unions and became an organiser for the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
. However, he grew disillusioned with the party, believing it was being corrupted by the nature of government and concerned only with winning elections. He felt that the federal Labour MPs were unable and unwilling to change society, and their prominence within the movement was stifling and over-shadowing organised labour. He resigned from the ALP and founded the Victorian Socialist Party
Victorian Socialist Party
The Victorian Socialist Party was a socialist political party in Victoria, Australia in the early 20th century. The VSP was founded in 1906 in Melbourne, bringing together a number of older socialist groupings. A leading influence in the VSP's formation was the British trade unionist Tom Mann, who...
.
Returning to Britain in 1910, Mann wrote The Way to Win, a pamphlet that argued that socialism could be achieved only through trade unionism and co-operation and that parliamentary democracy was inherently corrupt. He founded the Industrial Syndicalist Education League
Industrial Syndicalist Education League
The Industrial Syndicalist Education League was a British syndicalist organisation which existed from 1910 to 1913.In May 1910 Guy Bowman and Tom Mann, two dissident members of the Social Democratic Federation travelled to France visiting members of the syndicalist General Confederation of...
, and worked as an organiser for Ben Tillett. He led the 1911 Liverpool General Transport Strike
1911 Liverpool General Transport Strike
The 1911 Liverpool General Transport Strike involved dockers, railway workers and sailors, as well people from other trades. It paralysed Liverpool commerce for most of the summer of 1911. It also transformed trade unionism on Merseyside...
. In 1912 he was convicted under the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
The Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 was an Act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act was passed in the aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies and aimed to prevent the seduction of sailors and soldiers to commit mutiny....
of publishing an article in The Syndicalist, as an 'Open Letter to British Soldiers', urging them to refuse to shoot at strikers (later reprinted as a leaflet, Don't Shoot); his prison sentence was quashed after public pressure. He was opposed to Britain's involvement in the first World War
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...
on socialist and religious grounds and addressed pacifist rallies. In 1917, he joined the successor to the Social Democratic Federation
Social Democratic Federation
The Social Democratic Federation was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on June 7, 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury and Eleanor Marx. However, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx's long-term...
, 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...
, which had affiliated to the Labour Party the previous year.
Veteran campaigner
In 1919 he again ran for election as Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, and was this time successful. He held the post until 1921, when he retired at the age of sixty-five. He welcomed the Russian October RevolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
in 1917 and the Communist government, and called for soviets
Soviet (council)
Soviet was a name used for several Russian political organizations. Examples include the Czar's Council of Ministers, which was called the “Soviet of Ministers”; a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia; and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union....
to be formed in the United Kingdom; in 1920 he was one of many members of the British Socialist Party who were inspired by the Revolution to break with Labour and form 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:...
. Mann was chairman of the British Bureau of the Red International of Labor Unions and its successor, the National Minority Movement
National Minority Movement
The National Minority Movement was a British organisation, established in 1924 by the Communist Party of Great Britain, which attempted to organise a radical presence within the existing trade unions...
, their formation in 1921 until 1929.
Tom Mann continued to actively champion socialism, communism and co-operation until his death in 1941. He published further pamphlets and regularly addressed public meetings in Britain and abroad, and he was arrested for sedition on several more occasions. He continued to be a popular figure in the labour movement, attracting large audiences to rallies and benefits. During the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
he wanted to fight on the Republican side, but was by that time far too old. A unit of the International Brigade, the Tom Mann Centuria, was named in his honour.
Tom Mann died on 13 March 1941.
His great grandson, Nicholas Bennett, was Conservative MP for Pembroke 1987–92 and a Welsh Office Minister 1990–92.
Additional reading
- Hyman, Richard Workers’ Union, 1898–1929 Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 0198282524
- PollittPollittPollitt is a surname, and may refer to:* Alice Pollitt , American baseball player* George Pollitt , English cricketer* Harry Pollitt , trade unionist, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain...
, Harry Tom Mann: A Tribute 1941 - Torr, Dona Tom Mann Lawrence & Wishart, 1944
- Torr, Dona Tom Mann and his times Volume 1 Lawrence & Wishart, 1956
- Williams, David Not In the Public Interest Hutchinson, 1965
External links
- Tom Mann Archive Marxists Internet Archive