5. The “Pompous Trades”¶
Core Argument¶
The collapse of Chartism in 1848 ended the first independent workers’ party and inaugurated a quarter-century of “pompous trades” unionism, dominated by skilled craft unions pursuing “Defence not Defiance”. This shift was rooted in Britain’s industrial monopoly and world market domination during its “Golden Age”, which generated super profits. These profits allowed the ruling class to grant concessions—such as the 1847 Ten Hour Act—to an “aristocracy of labour”, cultivating a conservative, privileged layer that spurned class struggle. The “new model unions”, epitomised by the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (founded 1851), adopted high dues, centralised control, friendly benefits, and class collaborationist policies. Their leaders, known as “the Junta”, formed a trade union bureaucracy favouring arbitration over strikes. Despite this, strikes continued, including the 1852 ASE lockout and the Preston lockout. Working-class pressure forced the 1867 Reform Act, extending the vote to urban male ratepayers, and the 1871 Trade Union Act, improving unions’ financial status. The Paris Commune of 1871 inspired workers and prompted further concessions from Disraeli to avert revolution.
Marx and Engels closely followed the Chartist movement, with Engels contributing to the Northern Star. Under their influence, Julian Harney launched the Red Republican, publishing the first English edition of the Communist Manifesto in 1850. Harney and Ernest Jones helped establish the Fraternal Democrats, which merged into the International Working Men’s Association (IWMA), founded by Marx and Engels in September 1864. The IWMA drew in British trade union leaders like Robert Applegarth. Marx drafted its founding Rules and Address, skilfully uniting divergent factions. The International established close working relations with trade unions for the first time in over twenty years. Minutes of the General Council show numerous British unions joining. Marx defended trade unions’ role while stressing the need to abolish wage labour. British union leaders valued the International for practical solidarity, especially against international strike-breaking. The Trades Union Congress originated from a proposal by Manchester and Salford Trades Council in 1868. Gladstone’s 1871 Acts protected union funds but criminalised peaceful strike persuasion. Mass demonstrations forced repeal of the Criminal Law Amendment Act and Master and Servant Act in 1875. However, judges created new civil conspiracy offences. Agricultural labourers’ unions grew to 150,000 members but were crushed by 1874.
Engels argued the British labour movement was trapped in a narrow circle of strikes for wages and hours, and would only develop a real movement when Britain’s world monopoly was broken. Britain’s relative industrial decline signalled the breach of that monopoly, ushering in a new crisis for British capitalism. Competition from Germany and the USA began to weaken Britain’s dominant position, entering the world market with devastating consequences for British industry. As Engels had foreseen, these radically different circumstances brought about a new social realignment. The mass of unskilled workers, ignored and isolated for so long, were about to explode onto the stage of history. The days of the conservative “Junta” and “pompous trades” were rapidly coming to an end.