6. From a Spark to a Blaze¶
Core Argument¶
The 1880s marked a decisive turning point for British trade unionism, as the nation’s declining industrial monopoly—challenged by the rapid industrialisation of Germany and the USA—shattered the conditions that had sustained a labour aristocracy. Although Britain retained a vast empire and overseas investments yielding £100 million annually, periodic crises and chronic stagnation from 1876 plunged workers into destitution; by 1880, real wages had fallen to levels comparable with the fifteenth century. The old amalgamated unions, led by the “Old Gang” such as Henry Broadhurst, had become politically tied to the Liberal Party, stagnant in their craft exclusivity, and devoid of class politics.
Socialist ideas revived in this fertile ground. The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) and the Fabian Society emerged, but both initially ignored trade unions. However, SDF trade unionists like Tom Mann, John Burns, and Will Thorne rejected sectarianism and campaigned to transform the unions from within. The spark came in 1888, when a strike at Bryant & May’s match factory, led by socialists Annie Besant and Herbert Burrows, won concessions and formed the Matchmakers’ Union. This ignited the “New Unionism”. In 1889, Will Thorne organised gasworkers at Beckton, winning an eight-hour day within months and forming the National Union of Gasworkers & General Workers. The dockers’ strike followed, demanding sixpence an hour, supported by Australian solidarity funds, and established the Dockers’ Union. Between 1889 and 1891, over sixty new Trades Councils formed. Marxist activists played a vital role, recognising the changed objective situation and providing leadership.
Engels praised the new unions for being founded when faith in the wages system was shaken, led by socialists, and drawing on unskilled workers whose minds were free from bourgeois prejudices. The “Old Gang”, including George Shipton, attacked New Unionism, denouncing its closed shops, strikes, and use of “outsiders”. Shipton dismissed the new unions as “mushroom growths” and unskilled workers as incapable of unionisation. Ben Tillett and Tom Mann retaliated by mocking Shipton’s petty-bourgeois lifestyle. At the 1890 TUC Congress, the eight-hour day resolution passed, forcing Broadhurst’s resignation. The following two Congresses confirmed the socialists’ victory. Employers counter-attacked, notably in the coalfields. The 1893 miners’ lockout successfully resisted a 25 per cent wage-cut. The 1898 strike led to the formation of the South Wales Miners’ Federation. New Unionism transformed even craft unions like the ASE, which elected Tom Mann as general secretary. The process culminated in the formation of the Labour Representation Committee at the turn of the century.